NCJ Number
186561
Date Published
January 2001
Length
182 pages
Annotation
This report of the Police Commissioners' Conference Electronic Crime Project Working Party focuses on ways of preventing and reducing electronic crime through an Australasian law enforcement strategy.
Abstract
The report advises that electronic crime poses one of the most significant challenges law enforcement has ever faced. The challenges of the digital age include bridging multijurisdictional boundaries, retaining and preserving evidence, acquiring appropriate powers, decoding encryption, proving identity, knowing where to look for evidence, developing tools to counter electronic crime, improving training at all levels, and the development of strategic partnerships and alliances. The report concludes that although an adequate law enforcement response capacity must be developed and maintained, the main thrust of any effective law enforcement strategy for dealing with electronic crime must focus on prevention. In any comprehensive government strategy there must be a clear role for social controls (such as the development of "cyber" ethics), responsible risk management by big business, and well-established information security systems and procedures. Among the components suggested for an effective strategy to counter electronic crime are the promotion of private-sector leadership in prevention; strategic partnerships between policing and the private sector in the development of a regulatory framework, training, and crime reporting; the establishment of a national computing forensic capability and comprehensive training programs; and the fostering of an unprecedented level of Australasian and international coordination and cooperation. The strategy must target a wide range of offenders who use computers to perpetrate various types of crime. 120 references