[ISN] Wanted : top hackers as trackers

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Tue May 13 2003 - 22:17:29 PDT

  • Next message: InfoSec News: "[ISN] Coke says internal hacker got personal info on 450 employees"

    http://itjobs.mycareer.com.au/elements/itnews/2003/05/09/FFXC6HDSMFD.html
    
    Les Kennedy
    09 May, 2003
     
    Police are offering 20 computer nerds the opportunity to become highly
    paid spies working for the NSW counter-terrorist unit.
    
    Successful applicants will not have to undergo the rigours of police
    academy training or uniform duties but will be designated special
    constables, with wage offers above the $44,000 starting rate for
    regular police constables.
    
    The computer spies most likely university computer science graduates
    or highly skilled IT workers will be offered wages of between $60,000
    and $103,000.
    
    The high wage offer to civilian employees is a first for the police
    service but seen as necessary by the Commissioner, Ken Moroney, to
    recruit the best computer specialists from the private sector.
    
    The successful applicants will join a newly created unit within the
    police Special Service Group that will be called the State Electronic
    Evidence Branch.
    
    Superintendent Tony Jeffries said advertisements for the hacker
    sleuths would be placed in newspapers tomorrow.
    
    The Special Service Group also hopes to recruit civilians with
    technical inventing skills a sort of James Bond-style agent "Q" to
    develop or adapt new equipment for use by police in covert or
    day-to-day field operations.
    
    A unit called the Advanced Technology Centre was created last year
    within the SSG to develop equipment for police operations. It has
    already created a "dog cam" that can be attached to a police dog that
    is sent into situations such as sieges.
    
    The Advanced Technology Unit is developing a video camera for police
    vehicles that will film encounters with the public.
    
    The electronic evidence recruits will not be allowed to tell anyone
    even their partners the nature of projects assigned to them.
    
    They will examine computer drives and even microchips from cars and
    mobile phones of people suspected of having links with terrorist
    organisations.
    
    Superintendent Jeffries said the cyber sleuths would examine computer
    pathways for hidden information and that staff selected would undergo
    training in forensic analysis so that any potential data relating to
    terrorist activities in NSW could be used in court in prosecutions of
    suspects.
    
    In the past NSW police have had to contract out such work to private
    enterprise, but last year Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione, the
    overall commander of counter-terrorism units within the force,
    successfully lobbied the Government for an extra $1.75 million to
    create the computer spy unit.
    
    "We will have to train them in skills of forensic analysis but we
    don't have to train them [successful applicants] in any computer
    sciences because they will already have that expertise,"  
    Superintendent Jeffries said. "In the past the force has paid for
    officers to obtain their IT qualifications only to see them lured away
    to the private sector.
    
    "We have had trouble retaining the officers with the skills we need,
    so recruiting from outside is a better option."
    
    
    
    -
    ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org
    
    To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn'
    in the BODY of the mail.
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Wed May 14 2003 - 00:37:21 PDT