Devon and Cornwall Constabulary is using technology to accurately track IP addresses for better allocation of resources in the fight against cyber crime.

“The government’s figures reveal that internet crime is doubling year-on-year, and that is the experience of our force as fraudsters and paedophiles increasingly turn to the net,” says detective inspector Simon Snell of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.

The force has created the Child Exploitation and Online Investigation Unit, which consists of officers and civilians armed with computer forensics and network investigation skills.

“There are few forces across the country that have dedicated units to fight internet crime and we are very proactive about the purchase of new software to reduce the risk of cyber crime to our community,” says Snell.

An example of such software is Quova’s GeoDirectory Server, which provides specialist location data to help uncover the whereabouts of online offenders, many of whom attempt to hide their identity and true location.

When the IP address of the offender is fed into Quova’s GeoPoint database, the technology can locate a visitor to a web site down to city, town or London borough level, regardless of the network connection or
device they use for internet access.

Location information helps assess the risk level an internet paedophile poses to potential victims, while knowing if an online fraudster is located under the jurisdiction of another force helps channel resources.

“The software filters out IP addresses on which forces should focus their attention. If the IP address of the offender is outside our jurisdiction we can pass the intelligence on to the Serious Organised Crime Agency,” says Snell.

Prior to implementing the Quova technology, says Snell. there were huge cost implications as money and resources were spent on paying ISPs to perform checks on IP addresses.

“Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, we make information requests to ISPs to find out who is registered under an IP address, but it takes time to fill out the forms, we have to pay for the checks and it can be up to six weeks before we get a result,” he says.

“Before Quova, if we had 150 IP addresses to investigate we needed to fill in and pay for 150 forms. With Quova, we can discover which IP addresses are within the Devon and Cornwall area and narrow down the number of information requests.”

By targeting resources, Snell says the force has driven up the successful investigation rate ­ and reduced the amount of time wasted following investigations outside the area.

“If Quova shows the offender lives in the same area as the victim, the risk of a meeting and a worse crime being committed goes up. If we can say there is a potential risk to life, we can get a response to an information request within 24 hours,” says Snell.

“Quova is helping us put appropriate resources into reducing the risk of harm to the community.”