HomeNewsBriefMicrosoft Opens Anti-Cyber Crime Office in Colombia
BRIEF

Microsoft Opens Anti-Cyber Crime Office in Colombia

COLOMBIA / 19 NOV 2013 BY CHARLES PARKINSON EN

Technology giant Microsoft has selected Colombia's capital Bogota as its outpost in Latin America, as part of a network of offices across the globe which will collaborate with regional authorities to address cyber crime.

Announcing its new Cybercrime Center in Redmond, Washington, on November 14, Microsoft identified 12 locations across the globe for satellite offices and regional laboratories, including five in Europe, four in Asia, one in Australia and one in Washington DC.

According to El Espectador, there are six million annual victims of cyber crime in Colombia and the new Microsoft office will liaise with authorities on matters of "information regarding vulnerability and viruses," according to the company's Latin America Director for Cybercrime Andres Rengifo, although he guaranteed that would not involve passing on personal details.

The new global scheme will bring together security engineers, digital forensics experts and lawyers specialized in cyber crime, and will combine massive data gathering and analysis, traditional detective work, high-level diplomacy and legal action, reported Reuters. Microsoft software will create maps of online criminal networks and gather intelligence on cyber threats obtained through operations to destroy botnets -- collections of programs that communicate with each other to send spam or flood the bandwidth of a targeted system. Another program, PhotoDNA, is used to prevent child pornography by turning images into hash values that are very hard to alter.

InSight Crime Analysis

Organized crime has never been slow to adapt, and as technology has advanced Latin American criminal groups have learnt to harness it for their purposes in increasingly imaginative ways, outpacing law enforcement. InSight Crime has reported on the use of the internet to promote criminal activities and offer services, make graphic threats and gather information on new recruits or kidnap victims. Cyber crime has become a major problem across the continent, with over half of companies in the region reporting some sort of cyber attack in 2012, according to internet security firm ESET. Earlier this year, Mexico was identified as one of the top ten countries in the world for identity theft, while a study by computer security firm Norton reported that cyber crime now costs $3 billion each year in Mexico alone -- almost double what it cost in 2011. 

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Cyber Crime

State institutions have been targeted for cyber-attacks in recent years, including in MexicoBrazil and Guatemala. Latin American governments have been criticized for failing to keep up with the technology used by organized crime, making the Colombia Microsoft office a very positive step.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BRAZIL / 5 JAN 2022

A recent cyberattack that hit government websites in Brazil, including platforms that track vaccinations and epidemiological data on COVID-19, has…

AUC / 26 JUN 2022

The former paramilitary commander and drug lord, alias “Memo Fantasma,” may walk out of prison in Colombia on June 28.

COCA / 14 JUL 2021

Recently published data has shown that deforestation in Colombia soared last year, as a number of illegal activities drove forest…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…