Print
Discuss
Send to friend
RSS feedsThat local police forces are ill-equipped to deal with high-tech crime will come as no surprise to many in the IT industry.
But following the break-up of the National High-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) the implications are more serious than ever.
The UK’s 53 local police forces are now largely responsible for investigating ecrime, apart from those in Scotland, which are supported by a national high tech crime unit, now part of the Scottish Crime and Drug and Enforcement Agency (SCDEA).
But a Computing investigation shows that half of forces have five or fewer staff in their high-tech units, despite alarming rises in crime rates.
The fastest-growing problems are new offences such as phishing and data theft that are only possible with IT, rather than simply the use of computers to facilitate traditional crimes.
But two-thirds of forces’ high-tech units say most of their time is spent investigating traditional child abuse cases rather than business-focused ecrime.
The UK lacks a coherent approach to an escalating problem.
And dissolving the 300-strong NHTCU last April – with part of its role absorbed by the new Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the rest devolving back to local forces – has only exacerbated the confusion.
First, it is counter-intuitive for the investigation of non-geographic ecrime, which often originates not just nationally but internationally, to be handed back to local forces.
Often local forces can only pursue cases halfway, says detective constable David Wright of Devon and Cornwall police high-tech crime department.
‘When we are informed of these types of offences, the unit investigates the crime to the point where we can be certain of the location of the offending computers and then pass the complaint on to the host force or host country,’ he said.
Second, the loss of national co-ordination has made it harder to track such problems, with a knock-on effect on funding at the local units that are tasked with investigating ecrimes.
The NHTCU was paid for centrally, guaranteeing a certain level of funding. But local forces allocate their own resources.
And with budgets only set to rise at the same rate as inflation in the next three years, with pressure to address issues high on the political agenda, ecrime is slipping ever lower down local forces’ priorities. It does not give chief constables the opportunity to put ‘ticks in the boxes’, says a senior police source.
‘Last year they halved our budget, next year they will totally remove it,’ said another source in one local high-tech unit.
It has always been difficult to establish the extent of ecrime because businesses are often unwilling to report it. Without a central point of contact, it is even harder to track, creating a chicken-and-egg problem when it comes to local funding.
The lack of definitive numbers makes it difficult for high-tech units to make the compelling business case needed to compete successfully for straitened funds.
But Computing’s investigation shows the scale of the problem only becomes clear once forces start to focus on it.
Detective sergeant Damian Morgan of West Midlands police, which has one of the largest high-tech crime units in the country, says e-crime is no longer a fringe problem.
‘The days are gone when you can have one or two employees in a force who deal with high-tech crime,’ he said.
Detective sergeant Raymond Massie of Hampshire police, another high-ranking force, said: ‘Forces really do need to start addressing computer crime more because it is a huge problem and it is everywhere.’
There are developments aimed at re-creating a national body. The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) says it does have an ecrime strategy.
And in December, Sue Wilkinson head of e-crime at Acpo announced tentative plans to create a national unit to co-ordinate the investigation and reporting of ecrime.
But Rick Naylor, vice-president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, is sceptical about the rhetoric translating into reality and says he is unaware of any national strategy on ecrime.
‘The Home Office has cut money out of policing left, right and centre, so it would have to be a very persuasive business case for a central unit such as this to operate,’ said Naylor.
‘There is a massive under-reporting of cyber-crime, but until we have some idea of its extent we will not have the business case for funding.’
North of the border, developments are moving in the opposite direction. Scotland’s national high-tech crime unit came into being last April, and from April this year will be funded direct by the Scottish Executive.
‘We are going the other way [to England],’ said a spokesman. ‘We are taking this problem increasingly seriously.’
Central units fights cybercrime
del.icio.us
Digg this
reddit!
