Using the Internet to catch traditional (non-cyber) criminals

It can happen to anyone…and when it does it usually catches everybody – the victim and his relatives – completely unprepared. I’m talking about kidnapping. Twice in my life I’ve been involved in helping the police track down and arrest gangs of kidnappers. The first case didn’t directly affect me or my family, but the second time a close friend of mine was kidnapped. And it turns out that our work in tackling cybercrime can also be useful to catch criminals who seem to have little connection with high-tech wrong-doing. The Internet is not just a tool for cybercrime – it is also often used to communicate with the families and friends of kidnap victims, especially to demand a ransom. When this happens, our work can be vital: evidence collected on the Internet as well, as the errors made by criminals, can help to track them down, identifying their location via their IP address.

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