Inaccurate Data Plagues FBI System for Alerting Cybercrime Victims

The FBI’s systemfor notifying and engaging with victims of cybercrime has been plagued with bad and unreliable data, and the bureau needs to now address the shortcomings, according to a new audit.

In a redacted report released Monday, the FBI’s Office of the Inspector General found that the data in Cyber Guardian, the platform for tracking whether cyber victims had been notified, was “incomplete and unreliable,” resulting in the bureau being unable to determine if victims are being notified

The IG also found that the Department of Homeland Security, which uses Cyber Guardian, wasn’t entering information into the system as needed, resulting in incomplete data.

These shortcomings contributed to some notifications not being tracked properly or taking place too long after the cyberattack took place.

While some cybercrime victims did receive notification letters, many victims in cyber cases tied to national security didn’t, the IG said. Currently, there is no process for getting cybercrime victims' information from national security cases into the Victim Notification System, the FBI system used to inform crime victims of their rights, the report noted.

The IG made 13 recommendations to the FBI on how to fix these challenges, chief among them were ensuring victim notifications are tracked in Cyber Guardian and informing cybercrime victims of their rights

With the KPMG Government Cyber Brief, I’m ____ on Washington’s wonk fm.

Internet crime concept.

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