Cybercop Enforces Computer Law
The global fight against organized Internet crime has a new Cybercop on the beat. Steve Santorelli is a former Scotland Yard investigator who left that organization to join Microsoft's Internet Crimes Investigation Team and in so doing he entered the computer law enforcement field. His first big case came when he heard colleagues discussing the creator of the infamous Zotob computer virus. He overheard them mention the nickname "Coder", which was spelled uniquely with a zero in place of the "o". And he knew exactly who it was, as his department had been tracking the guy for some time.
Zotob was making headlines as it infected the computer services of major news organizations and government institutions. In an ironic twist, when it was being reported on CNN the screen behind an anchor went blank on live TV due to the virus. Santorelli and his team raced to trace the location of the suspects, and after two weeks of 20 hour days, the finally sent the FBI a detailed report which resulted in the arrest of two young men from Morocco and Turkey.