Each year, cybercrime takes a toll on 400 million consumers and costs businesses, governments and economies across the world $113 billion a year. To address this growing concern and to make the Internet a safer place for consumers, our member, Microsoft, recently opened the Microsoft Cybercrime Center.

The Microsoft Cybercrime Center consists of a team of experts including investigators, intelligence specialists, and forensic analysts, among others, making up what is called the Digital Crimes Unit (DCU). The DCU develops tools and techniques to track and catch cybercriminals engaging in malicious software crimes, counterfeit drug sales, and child exploitation. Once a cybercriminal is discovered, the Center shares the information with law enforcement from around the world.

In a recent Redmond Reporter article, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs, explained how the idea for the Cybercrime Center stemmed from a visit made to South Korea’s national cybercrime headquarters. According to Smith, “it was clear this was the time to make sure that we harnessed the power of that technology so that we have the most powerful ability in the world to fight crime on the Internet.”

In the same article, Bonnie MacNaughton, assistant general counsel for the DCU explains how the Microsoft Cybercrime Center was “designed with various partners in mind.” According to MacNaughton, partnerships with government agencies, law enforcement, and additional stakeholders have “led to more than 20,000 illegal online pharmacies selling dangerous counterfeit drugs being shut down. By bringing together partners in a state-of -the-art, secure facility, Microsoft is better able to “connect the dots, follow leads, share expertise, and bring combined resources to fight against online criminals.”

While the threat of cybercrime is growing, efforts of CSIP members, such as the Microsoft Cybercrime Center, only enhance our ability to fight rogue online pharmacies. We were truly impressed when visiting the Center, and commend Microsoft and all of our members on their efforts to protect and educate consumers.”

Microsoft is a founding member of CSIP.

####

The Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP) and our 13 member companies have the shared goal of helping address the growing problem of consumer access to illegitimate pharmaceutical products on the Internet. Continue to read this blog for updates on CSIP’s education, enforcement and information-sharing efforts.

This item was highlighted in CSIP’s May 2014 newsletter.