Keith Mularski, FBI Cyber Expert, Speaks at CyberPoint on "What Keeps Me Up at Night"
Keith Mularski, Supervisory Special Agent of the Cyber Squad, Pittsburgh Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spoke on December 12, 2012. An expert in cyber crime fighting, Keith Mularski shared his experience and insight into this most modern form of organized crime.
Mularski pointed out that organized crime and criminal fraud have a similar structure whether they're conducted in cyberspace or ordinary physical space. He outlined the criminal underground economy (complete with the criminals' own project diagrams and organization charts). He also touched on the convergence of hacktivism and cybercrime—sharp hackers doing it for the lulz will inevitably realize they can make some money working for a cyber gang, and they'll be sorely tempted to do so.
Special Agent Mularski also conducted a special session for a group of students from Baltimore-area high schools and colleges. The students were particularly interested in cyberspace's emerging threats. Mularski's short answer: the coming crime wave will exploit mobile devices.
A Special Agent since 1998, Mularski began his FBI career investigating national security cases from the Washington Field Office. Among his cases were the Robert Hanssen espionage investigation and the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Since 2005, Mr. Mularski has served in the FBI's Cyber Division, where he has worked on proactive targeting of international cyber criminal gangs. His successful undercover penetration of cyber mobs led to the dismantling of the Darkmarket criminal-carding forum.
Mularski also has a connection to a past CyberPoint Speaker Series guest author: Joseph Menn discusses Mularski's role as an investigator of the sophisticated and dangerous cyber gangs Menn chronicles in his book Fatal System Error.
The event was made possible in part by the generous support of the BW Tech at UMBC Cyber Incubator, the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and the Harbor East Development Group.