FBI agent receives Buffalo State award
by ELIZABETH TAUFA

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Amherst resident Holly Hubert always wanted a career with the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

"I wanted to be in a position to help people," she said. "I wanted a job I would love."

So when Hubert graduated from Buffalo State College in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in information systems management and a short stint at Carborundum Corporation in Niagara Falls, it was off to Quantico, Va., for new agents' training for four months.

She was assigned to New Orleans, where she concentrated on kidnapping, bank robberies and fugitive matters.

In 1999, Hubert headed home to the Buffalo area and helped establish the FBI's Cyber Squad Unit.

"We deal with all crimes that touch the Internet," she said. "That includes hacking and fraud, but the major interest is in crimes against children."

Hubert defines crimes against children as any form of exploitation, be it child pornography or an adult using the Internet to meet underage persons.

In 2001, Hubert was promoted to supervisory special agent. She then founded the Buffalo Cyber Task Force, which is responsible for investigations related to cyber terrorism, computer intrusions, online crimes against children and identify theft.

"What I love most about my job is that there's no normal day," the mother of two said. "I never know what to expect. One day I'll be interviewing the president and CEO of the largest bank in America. The next I'll be in the worst neighborhood imaginable and everything in between."

Hubert also secured federal funding and supervised the construction of Western New York's Computer Forensic Laboratory, which opened in September 2006. The lab is one of 13 FBI facilities that specialize in the recovery and preservation of digital evidence.

She also supervises and coordinates the FBI's Buffalo Evidence Response Team, a group of FBI investigators who specialize in the recovery of forensic evidence. The team was deployed immediately on 9/11 and has been involved in followup investigations, including the Lackawanna Six.

In addition to her duties with the FBI, Hubert is visible in the community, giving lectures on the dangers of the Internet to schools and community organizations.

Hubert has also done work with the Innocent Images National Initiative, which is a "proactive, multiagency investigative operation to combat the proliferation of child pornography/ child sexual exploitation facilitated by an online computer."

"We caught 500 predators in the five years we've been working with it," Hubert said. "Many of them are not in Western New York, so it's a cooperation at national and international levels."

In recognition of her work in the area, her alma mater, Buffalo State College, honored her, along with four others, with the 2007 Young Alumnus Achievement Award on Sept. 28.

The award recognizes alumni who have "achieved significant professional advancement, provided outstanding service to the community, and demonstrated loyalty and commitment to Buffalo State College."

Hubert has previously given lectures at criminal justice courses at Buffalo State and was the keynote speaker at the 2006 Teaching Technology Conference on campus.

Hubert was nominated by Larry Scott, a former professor of hers, who was the chair of the computer department.

"It's phenomenally rewarding," Hubert said of the award. "The most gratifying thing I do is educating parents on the dangers of the Internet. We've opened new cases based on things parents have told us."

Hubert is also a softball and hockey coach in Amherst.

Hubert said that her early work as an agent and her degree have led her to a branch of the FBI where she feels she can make a difference.

"I'm well-suited for this," she said. "I've definitely achieved my goals."