McGruff the Crime Dog is back, and this time he's taking on cyber crime. The popular icon from the 1980s unites with the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), the Chief Marketing Officer Council (CMO) and the Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience (FAME) to educate people about the threats of computer viruses, worms, spam spyware, phishing, identity theft, online predators and other computer-related hazards.
According to their website, bytecrime.org, McGruff will work with "Junior Cyber Guards" to recognize and report cyber crime and "Cyber Crime Scene Investigators" who will look into cases of cyber security breaches in homes and businesses across the country. The public awareness campaign will also include public service announcements and educational booklets that can be downloaded from the website. McGruff will also work with basketball, ice hockey and soccer franchises to "Guard Your HomeNet with McGruff," and will attend various events in the next few months. Program sponsors include Comcast, CNET Network, Intel, McAfee, USATODAY and VeriSign.
"Information security has gone beyond warding off annoying spam and hacker intrusions," says NCPC president and CEO Alfonso Lenhardt. "It's now about protecting our identities, and our finances from thieves that exist specifically to commit cyber crime." The FBI estimates that computer crimes cost $67 billion dollars a year, and the National Cyber Security Alliance reports that a third of people in the U.S. have been affected by data compromises over the last 18 months.
"We're excited about the impact and potential of this coalition campaign to bring McGruff to the cyber crime scenes of America," says the CMO Council's executive director Donovan Neale-May. "We expect to put more bite into the fight against cyber crime in the months ahead."