Press Release  AG Healey Hosts Sixth Annual National Conference to Provide Law Enforcement With Tools to Detect, Defeat Cyber Crime

BOSTON — This week, Attorney General Maura Healey hosted the sixth annual National Cyber Crime Conference, the largest multi-day conference of its kind to help equip law enforcement officials and prosecutors with the tools and skills to effectively detect and defeat cyber crime in the 21^st century.

More than 650 law enforcement officers, prosecutors and investigators from across the nation and Canada attended the three-day conference. During her opening remarks to kick off the event on Monday, AG Healey stressed the importance of this annual conference due to the evolving nature of technology.

“As hackers and cyber criminals continue to take advantage of new advances in technology, law enforcement is tasked with keeping pace in this digitized world,” said AG Healey. “We must be prepared to take on the challenges and threats we face today, while anticipating the emerging ones we expect tomorrow. This conference helps provide the necessary skills and knowledge to law enforcement to make our communities safer.”

After AG Healey’s remarks, Robert S. Mueller, III, Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, delivered the keynote address. He was sworn in as Director on September 4, 2001, just one week before 9/11 and served a 12-year term. Mueller discussed the transformation of the FBI in the wake of 9/11, counterterrorism efforts, and cyber threats in 2001 compared to the cyber threats we face today, including from Russia, North Korea and ISIS.

The conference also featured four notable lunchtime speakers over the three days, including Sy Ray, the founder of ZetX Corporation and Lead RF Engineer for 10-2 Technologies, who spoke about cellular geo-location mapping and analysis.

On Tuesday, Angelyn Bayless, Director of Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) – Arizona, presented to attendees about sex trafficking awareness, prevention, education, research and policy.

Today, Michael Menz, Director for the Hewlett Packard Global Cyber Security Investigations and Forensics group, and Kipp Loving, formerly of the FBI’s Cyber Crime ICAC Task Force & Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force, presented tips, tricks, and free tools for law enforcement. 

The conference was hosted by the AG’s Office in partnership with Microsoft, the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), SEARCH, and the National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute.

“As a perennial partner and training provider at the National Cyber Crime Conference, SEARCH recognizes the vital need for law enforcement to have access to resources and training when handling digital evidence or investigating crimes,” said Timothy M. Lott, Director of High-Tech Crime Training Services and Operations at SEARCH. “The NCCC provides law enforcement with skills and knowledge to combat one of the largest issues facing the criminal justice community today. SEARCH is honored to be part of the NCCC and looks forward to our participation next year and years beyond.”

“This conference has lived up to its reputation as the best cyber crime conference in the country with the most diverse training, breakout sessions, and speakers,” said Glen Gainer, President and CEO of the National White Collar Crime Center.

Exhibitors participating in the conference include AccessData, ADF Solutions, Belkasoft, Berla Corporation., Cellebrite, DME Forensics, Griffeye, IBM, iNPUT-ACE, Magnet Forensics, Microsoft, MSAB, Oxygen Forensics, the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI), NW3C, Paraben Corporation, PassMark Software, Salient Solutions, ScanWriter, SEARCH, Sumuri, LLC, SysTools, Teel Technologies, Vound, LLC, and ZETX.

“Cellebrite was pleased to participate in the 2017 National Cyber Crime Conference,” said Cellebrite CEO Jim Grady. “As a leader in digital forensics, the conference provided us with quality interactions in the community and allowed us to share insights on how examiners, investigators and prosecutors can leverage digital evidence. The conference exceeded our expectations and we look forward to next year.”

“NCCC is the best conference for any investigator interested in expanding their knowledge in the world of digital and mobile forensics,” said Mica Sadler, MSAB Director of Sales. “As a vendor we find it truly valuable to interact with investigators, prosecutors and analysts at this show.”

Attendees at this week’s conference represented 38 states and Canada. Law enforcement, prosecutors, and investigators attended from, among many others, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marshall Service, U.S. Probation Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Massachusetts State Police, Boston Police Department, and district attorney’s offices and police departments across the country.  

The conference consisted of more than 160 breakout sessions of labs, lectures, and certification programs in which attendees were trained on a wide range of topics pertaining to digital forensic analysis, including mobile device forensics, decryption, and the newest analytic software. Attendees learned how to identify and analyze evidence from basic mobile devices, iPhones and other Apple products, GPS devices, DVRs, gaming consoles, social media applications, and from the “cloud.”

Other seminars addressed social engineering, social media networks, gaming, terrorism, child sex trafficking, and electronic currency. Seminars to improve the prosecution of cyber crimes were also provided, as well as tracks dedicated specifically to human trafficking, child exploitation, and terrorism. Nearly 90 speakers conducted 150 sessions on various topics. 

The AG’s Office has long made the prevention and prosecution of cyber crime a priority. The Office has a state-of-the-art Digital Evidence Lab in Boston, which has statewide capacity to deal with cyber crime and more efficiently process digital evidence that is present in virtually every investigation. Since 2008, the AG’s Office has provided cyber training for more than 17,000 state and local law enforcement personnel from across the Commonwealth and the nation. 

A list of participating agencies and police departments in this year’s conference include:

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