Boston university and its partners, working in collaboration with ojjdp leadership, will produce a new investigation training to support icac task force investigations

This $437,500 cooperative agreement from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention will support the development of new investigative training to enhance Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force capabilities. Under the Missing Children's Assistance (CFDA 16.543) program, Trustees of Boston University will produce four courses on Internet of Things forensics and cryptocurrency tracking techniques. Subrecipients the University of Texas at San Antonio and Endicott College will assist in drafting training manuals, delivering online and in-person sessions from FY2023-2024, and preparing progress reports. The goal is to improve law enforcement investigations of child sexual abuse material crimes involving emerging technologies and virtual currencies, thereby reducing child victimization.

The goal of icac investigative tool and technology training is to introduce a new dimension into IOT forensics and cryptocurrency tracking investigation techniques as IT creates a new composite relation characterized by a starting entity type, an ending entity type, a given set of intermediate entity types, and a sequence of interactions. Despite the increasing use of cryptocurrency in various csam-related activities, the existing capabilities of many law enforcement agencies to investigate csam crimes that involve cryptocurrency are limited. Many local and state law enforcement officers lack the expertise to identify and acquire potential evidential artifacts from contemporary consumer technologies as well as utilizing osint (open-source intelligence), which can then be used to support the elements of proof required in a successful prosecution. This necessitates the design of courses at different levels (e.g., basic, intermediate, and advanced) to train investigators in undertaking the required forensic analysis. This new icac taskforce training will enhance the capabilities of law enforcement and support cross-border cooperation. There is a pressing need to undertake this project for additional development and design of icac training and the improvement of icac task force investigations. The underlying theory of change is that the development of icac investigative training will lead to improved investigations and successful prosecutions, ultimately resulting in reduced internet victimization of children.