Peter Fifka – Microsoft detective

WSJ.com – In Eastern Europe, A Gumshoe Chases Internet Villains

One hot day in August 2003, Peter Fifka sat in a rental car in the Czech city of Brno. He was hunting “Benny,” a member of the notorious 29A computer-virus-writing group. Internet searches had turned up a photo of Benny and enough clues to his whereabouts that Mr. Fifka had narrowed down a likely address to a few streets.

Mr. Fifka says he was about to start asking neighbors if they knew the man in the photo when his quarry walked out of a nearby house. Mr. Fifka tailed Benny for the rest of the day, at one point following him into a shop, where he stood next to the suspected virus writer as he bought mineral water and bread.

Mr. Fifka soon tipped off the Czech police, who launched their own probe. Last November, the police raided Benny’s home and seized several computers and data-storage files. While he hasn’t been charged or arrested, the Czech police say Benny is being investigated in connection with several viruses, marking one of the first times the Czech Republic has tackled a virus-writing case.

Mr. Fifka isn’t a cop. He works for Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Safety Enforcement Team. Created in 2002, the group is part of the U.S. software giant’s intensifying efforts to combat cyber crime at a time when consumers and businesses are becoming increasingly frustrated with fraud and virus attacks on their personal computers, most of which use Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Wow, now that’s a cool job.