GAO/OSI-97-2 Investigators Guide to Sources of Information

Chapter 5
Investigators' Guide To the Internet

Internet: the Storehouse of Government Information
Accessing the Internet
Examples of Internet Functions and Tools
Searching the Net
Internet Sites Provide Valuable Information
Security on the Internet

The Internet is made up of more than 80,000 academic, commercial, government, and military interconnected communications (computer) networks in over 200 countries. Originally developed for the military, the Internet became widely used for academic and commercial research in the 1980s. Currently, the number of Internet users is estimated to be over 70 million; some 10 million users are said to be connected to the &quotNet" at any given time. It is not unreasonable to expect that, by the year 2000, some 1 billion users will have access to the Internet.

For the investigator, there may be significant advantages to accessing sources on-line rather than using a library or another information medium. The Internet provides enormous resource potential for investigators in a timely and cost effective manner and is often more up-to-date than its paper counterparts.

For those who seek to defraud the public, the Internet provides a ready avenue for their schemes. Credit card fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, and extortion are only a few of the ways that high technology criminals are using the Net. Criminal investigators are using both traditional and &quotcyberspace" techniques to identify and apprehend the malefactors.

INTERNET: THE STOREHOUSE OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

The Internet has become a rich resource for government information, in part, because work produced by many government agencies is not eligible for copyright protection. Many local, state, and federal agencies have &quothome pages," or information sites, on the Internet, thus enabling law enforcement investigators to gather information in cyberspace. Internet users can access hundreds of sources of current government information from around the world--census data, Supreme Court decisions, property and vehicle ownership records, lien filings, company financial reports, and much more.

One way to access government agencies on-line is a system called FedWorld (sometimes referred to as the National Technical Information Service System). FedWorld provides access to detailed information from over 50 agencies and includes access to about 100 government information systems. FedWorld file libraries provide on-line access to more than 14,400 files, including the full text of selected U.S. government publications.

Another system, Marvel from the Library of Congress, is considered to be a one-stop source for a multitude of government material taken from a variety of sources such as census data, congressional information, White House documents, crime statistics, and Department of State reports.

ACCESSING THE INTERNET

With a computer, a telephone line, a modem, and an Internet service provider, anyone may access the Internet. Many government organizations establish a direct connection to the Internet and route it through the office LAN, or local area network, to benefit the largest number of employees. You will also need a &quotweb browser," which is software that converts messages to a graphical user interface. Two popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you are connecting to direct dial-up systems, you will need software that supports that function. Some Internet service providers provide other popular browsers free with your subscription.

Internet browsers are designed to make your search easy, but with the tremendous amount of information and the number of systems available, finding what you need may still be difficult. To help you to maneuver through the system are many different &quotsearch engines" that allow keyword and directory-type searches and respond to your search request with an organized group or category. The various search engines use their own unique methods to catalog information. Yahoo, AltaVista, Web Crawler, Infoseek, Lycos, and Magellan are a few of the search engines on the Internet.

EXAMPLES OF INTERNET FUNCTIONS AND TOOLS

Most people interact with the Internet using one or more tools that are fairly standard in their functionality. These tools let you send someone a message, retrieve a file from another computer, log onto another network, access databases, participate in newsgroups and forums, and so on. Two primary tools of the Internet are electronic mail (e-mail) and the World Wide Web (WWW). Many of the functions provided by traditional sources described in the following table are Internet utilities that can be used in connection with the WWW.

**Table 5:1: Tools of the Internet**
Component	Function
Electronic Mail (E-Mail)	E-mail allows the user to send and receive electronic messages and files.
List Server (LISTSERV)	LISTSERV is an automated mailing-list distribution system that responds to subscribers' requests to add or delete their names to/from a particular discussion list. An Internet user may subscribe to a LISTSERV mailing list by sending an e-mail to the computer on which LISTSERV is running. By addressing a message to the list, subscribers may exchange messages with others on the list. Any replies to messages will be delivered to all subscribers.
Usenet & Bitnet	The basic building block of Usenet is the newsgroup, which is a collection of messages with related themes. On other networks these would be called conference, forums, bulletin boards, or special interest groups. Users may access Usenet from the Internet. On the other hand, Bitnet discussion groups and mailing lists take place in e-mail.
The World Wide Web (WWW)	The WWW links different Internet servers together all over the world. WWW uses "hypertext links" that can move from one reference page to another with a single mouse command. That is, the user clicks on icons or word groups with the mouse in order to call up the information requested.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)	FTP is a tool used to retrieve copies of files from other computers on the Internet to your own computer.
Telnet	Telnet lets you log on to other servers on the Internet and run a program. After log on, telnet will provide you with a set of commands or menus to access the functions it provides. You can "telnet" into databases or into libraries around the world to perform research. The commands and functions that can be performed will vary with the particular system.
Gopher	Gopher is a utility that lets you search hierarchical menus describing Internet files. Gopher servers were set up to provide a menu for accessing documents that exist on different computers on the Internet in a manner similar to the WWW. The primary difference is that gopher servers do not provide hypertext; they are strictly menu-driven. A gopher menu item will take you to a document or to a list of relevant documents. One menu can take you to another, which can take you to Internet sites all over the world.
Veronica	Veronica is a keyword search tool used to search gopher menus and text. Veronica will search all gopher text to find the key words you are looking for.
Archie	Archie is a database system that calls up file libraries and finds out what they have available. You can dial into Archie, type in a file name, and see where on the Internet it was available. Archie currently catalogs close to 1,000 file libraries around the world.
Wide Area Information Server (WAIS)	WAIS is a system designed for retrieving information from networks. With WAIS, you enter a set of words that describe what you are looking for, and WAIS digs through whatever libraries you specify, looking for documents that match your request.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC)	IRC is computer conferencing on the Internet. There are hundreds of IRC channels on every subject conceivable from more than 60 countries on the Net.

SEARCHING THE NET

This is a sample Internet search for the full text of U.S. copyright laws. This Netscape browser screen provides hundreds of choices. The purpose of the search is to find information about violations of copyright law and penalties assessed for such violations.

Figure 5.1: Selecting From the Search Menu

In figure 5.1, samples of various topics are shown in the left column, while choices of search engines are listed closer to the center of the page. For this particular search, we select &quotLegal" as the general topic area. We also select the Yahoo search engine.