Home Office Press Release, 13 November, 2000

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NEW HI-TECH CRIME INVESTIGATORS IN Ł25MILLION BOOST TO COMBAT CYBERCRIME

359/2000 13 November 2000 020 7 273 4610

More hi-tech crime investigators are to be recruited as part of a Ł25 million strategy to tackle crime on the Internet and make the UK one of the best and safest places in the world to conduct and engage in e-commerce.

Up to 80 dedicated "cybercops" will be deployed both nationally and locally to fight the growing menace of crime on the Internet, the Home Secretary announced today.

The cash injection follows endorsements by the Prime Minister to improve the technical capability of law enforcement to investigate Internet crime and establish the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, which will begin work in April 2001.

It will also place the UK at the forefront of the international fight against cybercrime and, in line with our G8 commitments, help fund a 24-hour international hot line to trade information on potential attacks on the national infrastructure and promote closer cross border working.

As part of the strategic fight against crime the Home Secretary also announced a Ł37 million investment in a National Management Information System (NMIS) for police forces in England and Wales.

NMIS will provide the police with a comprehensive information management and analysis tool, 'joining-up' data held on the various information technology systems from every force and area of police work. The system will present this data in a consistent format so the whole range of police business can be easily and reliably compared and analysed across the country.

While the NMIS roll out currently applies to police forces, the system has the potential to provide a range of organisations, including partners in the criminal justice system, with comparable performance information.

The Home Secretary Jack Straw said:

"The Government is committed to action against hi-tech crime in line with our objective of making the UK the best and safest place in the world to conduct and engage in e-commerce.

"Modern technologies such as the Internet offer up huge legitimate benefits, but also powerful opportunities for criminals, from those involved in financial fraud to the unlawful activities of paedophiles. The significant cash injection I am announcing today will boost the police service's capability to investigate crime committed through computers, including paedophilia, fraud, extortion and hacking.

"It will also enable each force in the country to have at least one dedicated hi-tech crime investigator whose expert knowledge on Internet technology will prove vital in our ongoing fight against the sophisticated, 20th century criminal."

John Abbott, Director General of the National Criminal and Intelligence Service said:

"Tackling hi-tech crime effectively is essential to maintaining public confidence. The provision of this funding, which I welcome, will contribute to law enforcement's capability in respect of the prevention of crime, the education of the public and the detection of offences.

"Cybercrime ignores borders - be they regional, national or international. Our approach therefore has to be holistic. A national unit must co-exist with comprehensive local strategies and abilities."

Bob Packham, Deputy Director General of the National Crime Squad, said:

"We target organised criminals who are commodity driven. Their main motive is financial profit - as the Internet and computer technology become increasingly a part of every day life, those criminals are turning to it to make money. If you look to the future e-commerce is taking off and if business and industry goes electronic then organised crime will go electronic. We must keep one step ahead.

"However it is important to be clear that this is a multi-agency, partnership project, involving the National Crime Squad, National Intelligence Service, HM Customs and Excise and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) linking to local police forces. It also involves close liaison with the IT industry, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunications companies and software firms."

The Ł25m cash boost will fund up to 40 dedicated investigators based at the multi-agency National Hi-Tech Crime Unit and up to 46 officers in local forces.

It will offer, for the first time, a national and local capability for combating cybercrime.

Nationally the unit will investigate attacks on the Critical National Infrastructure; major Internet based offences of paedophilia, fraud or extortion; information from seized electronic media; and gather intelligence on cybercrime and cybercriminals.

This will be supported by work in local forces to investigate crimes committed on computers, help with requests for information from overseas and provide intelligence.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. In September 1999 the Performance and Innovation Unit published its report "e-commerce@its.best.uk." The report gave a Government commitment to "improve the technical capability of law enforcement and establish an Internet Crime Unit. The UKOnline Annual Report, launched by the PM in September of this year, included a commitment to establish a National Hi-Tech Crime Unit that would begin work in April 2001.

2. The Ł25 million funding for the National Hi-Tech Crime Strategy and Unit is being provided from existing Home Office funds to police in England and Wales.

3. Creation of a National Hi-Tech Crime Unit is a part of law enforcement strategy on hi-tech crime, which has been developed at NCIS on behalf of Association of Chief Police Officers, National Criminal Intelligence Service, National Crime Squad and HM Customs and Excise.

4. The commitment to a National Hi-Tech Crime Strategy and Unit is set against the background of the implementation of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, the work we are taking forward through the G8 Lyon Group and Ł25 million to set up a National Technical Assistance Centre (Home Office press release 070/2000 refers).

5. Funded by a Ł37 million allocation from the SR2000 settlement, the National Management Information System will roll out to the 43 forces in England and Wales by April 2003. NMIS may be expanded at a later date with the Scottish police forces and Royal Ulster Constabulary expressing an interest in the system.

6. NMIS will be rolled out to forces by the Police Information Technology Organisation with their commercial partner Hays Redfern. By providing a consistent and comprehensive approach to information management and analysis, the NMIS 'data warehouse' will have numerous local, national, operational and strategic applications.

7. At the local operational level NMIS will aid more accurate analysis of local crime trends and inform operational responses. For example, improved analysis of the fight against drug crime could have an impact on related areas such as vehicle crime or burglary that are used to feed a habit.

8. At a strategic management level, analysis of the experience and skills of officers could point to more effective ways of dealing with localised crime rates. And by enabling the sharing of data and analysis at a national level, the police could provide an enhanced proactive response to national crime trends, and make informed decisions about how best to use their resources.

9. The Ł37 million investment in NMIS is the latest in a massive programme of investment in technology for the police service:

· Ł500 million for the new national digital police radio system 'Airwaves';
· Ł168 million for the national DNA database and sample collection aiming to hold profiles of the entire criminally active population by 2004;
· Ł46 million for a National Strategy for Police Information Systems;
· Ł25 million for a National Technical Assistance Centre for processing lawfully obtained computer communications and encrypted data.