APWG Establishes First Electronic Crime Academic Research Conference With Florida State Law Enforcement and Universities.

Symantec Research Labs Lends Support as Patron of Crime-Fighting Researchers

LOS ALTOS, Calif. & ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) eCrime Researchers Summit convening today and tomorrow in Orlando features some of the most advanced applied research into electronic crime ever assembled in a single venue - and establishes the first academic computer science research conference focused exclusively on electronic crime detection, prevention and forensics.

The conference is being organized by the by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Cybersecurity Institute and is co-hosted by the National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS) at the University of Central Florida at the Radisson University Hotel Orlando at UCF.

Symantec's Symantec Research Labs was the principal underwriter for the eCrime Fighter Scholarship Program which funded the participation of researchers and allowed them to attend the conference.

During the two-day conference on Nov. 16 and 17, leading researchers from around the world are presenting their findings on: phishing, the criminal art of stealing consumers' online credentials; techniques for detecting and visualizing Internet servers that have been commandeered by criminals; automated systems for investigating online scams; and digital forensics tools. As well, the summit will present panels and keynotes by industry experts and an executive cybercrime agent from the United States Secret Service. The agenda is at this URL: http://www.antiphishing.org/events/2006_researchSummit.html

Hacking, phishing, Botnets, zombies, hacking, seemingly overnight have entered the everyday lexicon. A US Secret Service/Carnegie Mellon University survey coordinated with CSO Magazine released in September found that while adverse security event declined, dollar losses increased, on average, from $507,000 in 2005 to $740,000. With the expansion of criminal activity on the public Internet has come interest from computer scientists worldwide and, indeed, academic conferences have begun accepting papers in the field of electronic crime and computer forensics.

The APWG and its conference co-sponsors, the NCFS, FDLE and FSU understood the need to promote innovative research into electronic crime and allied to establish the very first applied research conference completely dedicated to work in the disciplines of electronic crime research, computer forensics and counter e-crime technologies and techniques. The new conference provides a central mustering point for e-ecrime research in the same way that the APWG since 2003 has provided a mechanism for counter e-crime stakeholders from industry, government and law enforcement to advance their understanding of electronic crime.

APWG Chairman David Jevans said it was important to establish an e-crime research conference in order to effectively engage the organized e-crime plexus developing ever more sophisticated electronic crime technologies. This year's revelations about stock manipulation schemes using phishing techniques are a good example.

"The research community predicted this kind of stuff more than a year ago. Working with researchers can help keep us ahead of the curve. It will also help that community get their dialogue going with industry and that will help with development on the solutions side, too."

The papers being presented at the conference that have been accepted (and are being published in the Journal of Digital Forensic Practice) fall into roughly 4 groupings: articles, work-in-progress, tools/techniques and security/forensic policy.

The listing of papers, keynotes and panels being presented is listed at this URL: http://www.antiphishing.org/events/2006_researchSummit.html#agenda

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is an industry association focused on eliminating the identity theft and fraud that result from the growing problem of phishing, email spoofing and crimeware. Membership is open to qualified financial institutions, online retailers, ISPs, the law enforcement community and solutions providers. There are more than 1,500 companies and government agencies participating in the APWG and more than 2,500 members. The APWG's web site (http://www.antiphishing.org) offers the public and industry information about phishing and email fraud, including identification and promotion of pragmatic technical solutions that provide immediate protection. APWG's corporate sponsors include: 41st Parameter, 8e6 Technologies, Able NV, ActivCard (ACTI), Adobe (ADBE), AhnLab, Aladdin Knowledge Systems (ALDN), Anakam, Anonymizer, BBN Technologies, BlueStreak, Brandimensions, Clear Search, Cloudmark, Comodo, Corillian (CORI), Cydelity, Cyveillance, DigitalEnvoy, DigitalResolve, Earthlink (ELNK), eBay/PayPal (EBAY), Entrust (ENTU), Experian, eEye Digital Security, F-Secure, GeoTrust, GoDaddy, ING Bank, Iconix, InternetIndentity, Internet Security Systems, IOvation, IS3, Kaspersky Labs, Lenos Software, LightSpeed Systems, MailFrontier, MarkMonitor, McAfee (MFE), MasterCard, MessageLevel, Microsoft (MSFT), Mirapoint, MX Logic, NameProtect, Netcraft, NetStar, PassMark, Panda Software, Phoenix Technologies, Inc. (PTEC), Quova, RSA Security (RSAS), SAIC, SecureBrain, Sigaba, SOPHOS, SquareTrade, SurfControl, Symantec (SYMC), The 41st Parameter, Trek Blue, Trend Micro (TMIC), Tricerion, TriCipher, Tumbleweed Communications (TMWD), SurfControl (SRF.L), Vasco (VDSI), VeriSign (VRSN), Visa, Websense, Inc. (WBSN), WholeSecurity and ZixCorp.

About the NCFS: The National Center for Forensic Science provides research, education, training, tools and technology to meet the current and future needs of the forensic science, investigative and criminal justice communities. The NCFS is a program of the National Institute of Justice http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/ hosted by the University of Central Florida http://www.ucf.edu