The Minister for Justice Brendan O’Connor has welcomed State and Territory endorsement of a national protocol for policing cyber crime.
Minister O’Connor recently met with his Australian and New Zealand counterparts at the Standing Council on Police and Emergency Management meeting in Wellington, New Zealand.
“Cyber crime is a growing threat that affects not just Australia, but countries all over the world. The Internet and other information technologies provide great benefits to our society and economy, but they also open new avenues for criminal exploitation,” Mr O’Connor said.
“Cyber crime is estimated to cost Australia in excess of $1 billion a year. Every week we are seeing our law enforcement agencies make major inroads into detecting and preventing cyber crime,” Mr O’Connor said.
“But we always need to stay one step ahead of criminals, and this is one more way that we’re improving the way we investigate cyber crime across Australia and in co-operation with other nations. [This] endorsement by all Justice Ministers and Police Commissioners demonstrates a strong and united approach by law enforcement agencies to tackle cyber crime.”
The Protocol for Law Enforcement Agencies on Cybercrime Investigations will help investigators by:
- Identifying key points of contact to ensure requests for information made under the Protocol can be dealt with quickly;
- Providing a cyber crime investigation matrix that outlines the most appropriate agencies to deal with particular types of complaints; and
- Providing specific arrangements for sharing information relating to cyber crime investigations between jurisdictions.
The Protocol was developed after extensive consultation with stakeholders and is just one initiative of the National Cyber Crime Working Group, established by the Standing Council of Attorneys-General in May 2010 to develop a nationally coordinated approach to combat cyber crime.
The Working Group is also considering a proposal to establish a centralised national online crime reporting facility and coordinated education and prevention strategies in relation to cyber crime… To read more subscribe to the magazine today!
