Making e-crime mainstream

Just three weeks ago, Computing wrote in this column of the need to treat e-crime in the same way as any other crime.

In the words of the Metropolitan Police, computer crime needs to be ‘mainstreamed’ – brought into the law enforcement fold instead of being seen as something different. It would be a fair analogy to say that the situation is similar to the IT departments of the late 1990s, when the mantra ‘IT is just business’ was common, but bridging that gap proved much harder.

The scale of the challenge to make e-crime mainstream is becoming equally apparent. According to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, not even one in four police forces can generate records of computer crime, suggesting that the true scale of the problem is vastly underestimated.

The handover of e-crime reporting from the former National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, now part of the FBI-style Serious and Organised Crime Agency, to local forces has been poorly handled. Too few police officers understand the issues involved in reporting and recording computer crime, or how to properly handle digital evidence. Victims do not know where to turn for help.

Perhaps worst of all, computer crime does not figure among the measures by which police performance is assessed, yet it is one of the fastest growing forms of criminal activity.

If making e-crime mainstream means treating it like any other crime, then too few forces – and the Home Office – are anywhere near achieving this goal. Political will needs to be provided to give chief constables the support and backing to drive the necessary skills and procedures throughout their forces. Short-term action is urgently needed to get to a stage where computer crime can be routinely dealt with.

E-crime needs to be demystified for police officers in the same way IT has been for business leaders. This is not a call for special treatment, simply a call to adopt normal treatment.

What do you think? Email us at feedback@computing.co.uk

Further reading:

Police fail to record e-crime

E-crime is a mainstream issue

E-crime deters online banking