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I was a Cybercrook for the FBI

February 3rd, 2007 Leave a comment Go to comments

There's an interesting article on Wired News (Hat Tip: PCI and Data Security Compliance Bog). It tells the story of David Thomas, a fraudster turned FBI informant for an 18-month period from 2003 - 2004. I find parts of this story alarming... Thomas was living in an apartment paid for by the FBI... he was a free man... Not rotting in jail as he should have been. At a time when phishing and cyber scams are at an all time high, we're publishing stories telling these criminals that you can cut a deal and avoid jail time... I'm not sure I overly agree with that concept but either way... it's an interesting story to read.

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  1. Datasecurity
    February 3rd, 2007 at 20:07 | #1
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    Hi, I enjoy reading your stuff on Security Bloggers Network, but I disagree with your analysis of this case. Yes, prosecution is the best approach to criminals, but law enforcement has been using people like David for years to reach higher level members of organized crime.

    Had snitches been locked away they never would have taken down ShadowCrew.

    p.s. Thanks for the link, it’s what bloggers do.

  2. Tyler Reguly
    February 3rd, 2007 at 21:09 | #2
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    Hey,

    I agree that this is the way that law enforcement has been doing it for years… and I can understand that… I can even accept that… The blame here falls more on Wired than the actions of the FBI..

    It’s kind of like making media icons out of people like Kevin Mitnick, Kevin Poulsen (Figures that Wired would put a bright twist on the Thomas story… considering they were willing to hire Poulsen), Phiber Optik, etc… Criminals should not be media icons…

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