Operation Swordphish
Operation Swordphish was a program established by UAB, the Alabama Department of Public Safety and the Alabama District Attorney’s Association to investigate and enforce "cyber-crimes" such as identity theft and consumer fraud, which make use of the internet.
The program was initiated as the "UAB Birmingham Anti-Cybercrime Computational Operation", which was awarded a $447,174 grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance's Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program in 2008 (link). The grant funded the development of a "Cybercrime Prevention Computational Operation" designed primarily to fight unsolicited emails, or "spam", with a specific goal of identifying newly-launched attacks and providing forensic evidence to investigators and prosecutors.
It was expanded in 2010 with another $500,000 Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants allocated by Robert Aderholt which designated the program as a "Model State Partnership for Cybercrime and Security".
The "Operation Swordfish" website was launched in March 2012. UAB Department of Justice Sciences chair John Sloan served as principal investigator. The UAB Center for Information Assurance and Joint Forensics Research within the UAB Computer and Information Sciences provided support for the project.
References
- Bakken, Jim (March 1, 2012) "Operation Swordphish to target cyber-criminals for prosecution." UAB News