Approaching cyber crime takes specialists, so how do the UK Police deal with this kind of threat?
How police become cyber security experts
As you read this article, police across the UK are tackling the global rise in cyber crime by building specialist cyber security skills at specialist facilities.
Technical cyber know-how is increasingly critical on live crime scenes and these skills are already being put to the test in major investigations – including murder and fraud cases.
Police attend training courses from leading cyber security providers. Firebrand Training, in particular, has led the pack with over 80% of police forces across the country receiving specialist cyber security training.
Here’s how Firebrand trains frontline police officers and detectives in cutting-edge cyber security skills.
How police become cyber security experts
Cyber crime cannot be approached like traditional crime and only officers with specialist training are effective in dealing with it.
Speed is essential when approaching any crime scene that involves computers. By learning cyber security basics - like computer imaging and encryption - well-trained officers are now able to preserve vital data stored in a computer’s cache.
This cache could contain activity logs and internet history – data which could form crucial evidence in a trial. But every second a computer is left unattended, this potentially crucial information is lost.
To build cyber security skills within the police, officers first get hands-on with equipment that they’re likely to find at a crime scene: computer operating systems, PC hardware and routers.
Firebrand has even built mock crime scene scenarios. These crime scenes are built to resemble real-life cases, including realistic suspects, victims and senior officers that must be reported to.
Officers must act fast to determine the correct response to a crime, which may include scanning networks for hidden devices or gathering digital evidence to support warrants and prosecution.
One scenario involves a suspect who has been conducting fraudulent activities to fund a secret gambling habit. The suspect has used remote access Trojans to infiltrate his work network, before launching a Denial of Service (DoS) attack to cover his tracks.
While it may sound unconventional, this is a typical Computer Misuse offence, which officers must deal with on a day-to-day basis. Officers learn how to gather enough digital material to use in evidence. Without these skills, the suspect may be impossible to identify or prosecute.
The training culminates with a suspect in custody. The real-life pressure of this scenario is mimicked and officers must finalise a charging decision within 24 hours.
Welcome to the Hydra Suite
To build the skills of UK law enforcement to face modern cyber security threats, Firebrand has built a dedicated cyber suite, created in line with Hydra – a training environment utilised by police to teach real-time decision making.
This open-ended training environment allows cyber crime officers to think outside the box when reacting to crime.
By the end of the week, the officers will have ironed out any weak areas and be more effective and confident in their first response, incident handling and reporting at the crime scene.
The next generation of policing
Cyber-skilled police officers and detectives are now operating across the UK and their training has had a direct impact on the crimes they are tasked with responding to.
Recently, these officers have assisted with cases that involved murder, fraud, indecent image cases and computer misuse offences.
It is now a routine requirement for most cases to include the skills of a Cyber officer or team. These Cyber officers will likely be involved in volatile data collection, wireless surveying, router examinations – all conducted on live crime scenes.
As cyber attacks increase across the globe, this type of cyber training programme is crucial for all officers involved in cybercrime at any level.
