The FBI's National Computer Crime Squad home page and the RCMP's Computer and Telecommunications Crime page provide the public with anti-virus software, bulletins and contacts for further information on protection. Satan is a diagnostic program designed to point out security flaws in a computer network. Ironically, while Satan was intended to help system administrators tighten up security, hackers have turned the tool to their advantage, and now use it to find computer systems they can attack. The list of tools a hacker can have is long. Virus construction kits abound, including utilities, tools, tutorials, and tips.
Home pages selling the component parts for hacking equipment are also online.
A compromised telephone system is the most valuable tool a computer criminal can have. Breaking into a series of telephone exchanges allows hackers to get free use of a phone line, while helping to hide their tracks at the same time. The more phone systems they can breach, the more time-consuming and expensive it becomes for police to trace them. Often, the investigator can turn the hacker's tools around by following the trail of computer logs left behind at each jeopardised system. Because following the trail when it reaches across borders is more difficult, the RCMP has formed close relationships with other international agencies to allow the sharing of information or evidence.