Explosion of online and social media threats hampers US Marshals ability to protect federal judiciary; Service seeks software to help wade through the content

An explosion of online and social media threats is making it difficult for the US Marshals Service to fully carry out its duty of protecting the federal judiciary. 

The Marshals Service is now looking for information about available software that can assist investigators in wading through all the online content that needs to be scrutinized, according to a recent RFI.

The United States Marshals Service must resolve thousands of threats and inappropriate communications against protected persons and facilities annually with a handful of protective intelligence professionals assigned to the Office of Protective Intelligence (OPI). 

OPI has a  limited ability to address the massive increase of online and social media-based threats and is in desperate need of a technical solution, according to the RFI. 

Currently, OPI reviews publicly available web-based content reactively regarding known high-profile judicial events, rulings, and publicly and non-publicly available web-based content relevant to ongoing investigations.  

The objective of this new solicitation is to acquire a tailored technical solution that will enable OPI to identify potential threats. The tailored technical solution will exponentially increase OPI’s ability to investigate and mitigate potential threats more quickly. 

Proactive review of web-based content associated with protected persons, facilities, and events will enable the USMS to improve its ability to assign the right level of resources. 

To enhance its current capability, OPI is seeking a technical solution that will allow for comprehensive and tailorable automated alerts and searches of publicly available content online. 

To learn more about the project and to submit a proposal, view the RFI HERE.