How Miami's top cybercrime unit is teaming up with FIU to fight back

Miami has a cybercrime problem unlike any other city in the U.S. Wealth flows through it from around the world. Tourists arrive by the millions. And bad actors have taken notice.

To fight back, FIU's College of Engineering & Computing has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office Cyber Crimes Bureau, pairing the region's leading public research university with one of the largest cybercrime task forces in the country.

Leading the effort on FIU’s side is Professor Selcuk Uluagac, director of the FIU Center for Integrated Security, Privacy, and Trustworthy AI. He and the Sheriff’s Office Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer George Perera sat down with FIU News to explain what is at stake.

How big of a problem is cybercrime today?

Chief Perera: We have entered an era where computing power has made the capabilities available to bad actors exponentially more dangerous.

What makes it especially alarming is how accessible it has become. With the rise of tools like AI, people with little to no computer skills are now able to start their own operations. We have even seen middle schoolers launch cybercrime campaigns.

In 2025, losses reported to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center surpassed $20 billion for the first time in the center's history.

What does it take to actually fight back?

Chief Perera: We created the Cyber Crimes Bureau about four years ago in direct response to what we saw coming.

Historically, it fell upon the federal government solely to fight cybercrime in the U.S. But with the incredible volume of such crime in our country – last year, over one million complaints were filed with the FBI's IC3 site — we recognized that they should not do this alone.

Today, our unit has roughly 50 to 55 deputies who specialize in cybercrime, and we have built a specific task force to protect our region that includes municipal, state, and federal partners, swelling to over 125 people. It’s one of the largest of its kind in the United States.

What makes Miami's cybercrime environment unique?

Chief Perera: The size of our cybercrime unit is not a coincidence.

A significant amount of wealth flows through this city from South America and other parts of the world. As a popular destination for international business and tourism, this city creates a unique threat environment.

People arrive with their devices and connect to networks and infrastructure that is not theirs, which opens vulnerabilities that bad actors know how to exploit.

What benefits can FIU bring to the Cyber Crimes Bureau?

Dr. Uluagac: Investigations are not easy. They require deep technical expertise, and the threat evolves faster than any one organization can keep up with alone.

At CIERTA, we look at emerging trends in cybersecurity that can help fight advanced forms of cybercrime. These techniques range from ways to prevent ransomware attacks through internet browsers to technology that prevents drones from being hacked mid-flight to securing unpatched mobile devices.

With over 30+ affiliated faculty in CIERTA, we are at the forefront of cybersecurity research here at FIU, and the sheriff's office can take direct advantage of the latest techniques coming out of our work.

How might this collaboration benefit students?

Dr. Uluagac: What is lacking in most cybersecurity education is real-world experience. Collaborations like this give students hands-on exposure with a government law enforcement environment, and indeed, they could one day become part of that specialized workforce.

Think of it this way: you can teach cybersecurity concepts in a classroom, but that is different from working alongside an investigator trying to crack an encrypted phone tied to an active criminal case. And it works both ways. Officers from the sheriff's office can come to FIU to receive training, learning from the same experts who mentor alumni now working at companies like Apple and Google.

What is the long-term vision here?

Dr. Uluagac: We want to create something that benefits not just our community and our students, but law enforcement around the country and the world. Countries in Central and South America are already starting to face these threats, but do not yet fully understand what is coming. They need to send people somewhere to learn.

Miami is an international city, and FIU is an international university. Our vision in our unique collaboration with Chief Perera’s office is to offer a world-class training destination for how to fight international cybercrime.