Police to beef up tech crime team

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.nst.com.my/z//TECH/Computimes/Highlight/20020404104653/wartrevamp

By ROZANA SANI
Fri, 05 Apr 2002

THE Royal Malaysian Police has put forth a proposal to beef up its
technology crime investigation (TCI) team under the commercial crime
division to be better prepared when handling information and
communications technology (ICT)-related criminal cases.

Under the proposal, the police expects to grow the current six-man
team to a staff strength of 21 early next year at the latest. TCI's
chief inspector Mahfuz Ab Majid told Computimes in Petaling Jaya that
the increase in manpower is required to carry out the necessary
research on info-security trends and issues as well as investigative
duties which are part and parcel of police work.

"Research is integral to this type of unit. We have to compile a lot
of research on things happening inside and outside (the country) to
safeguard the public against such crimes," he said.

According to Mahfuz, although the number of reported ICT-related
criminal cases so far has been few and are often "prankster-type"  
electronic mail (e-mail) abuse, the police expects more serious crimes
to be reported when ICT users become more knowledgeable and confident.

"At present, the types of cases reported include hacking, e-mail
abuse, illegal online pyramid schemes, distribution of pirated
software and intent fraud. While the current trend points to mischief
making, it is only a matter of time such crimes escalate to more
serious crimes such as espionage," he said, adding that the
development in electronic commerce (e-commerce) warrants new
approaches in forensics, investigation and prosecution.

Commenting on court proceedings, Mahfuz said many reports are not
pursued and are often withdrawn by complainants as no serious
financial loss was experienced.

"However, the whole legal process must be up to speed to be able to
deal with cases involving the breach of info-security. And this not
only involves the efficiency of the police, but also the prosecution
and the judiciary. The whole system is preparing to bring this type of
cases to court using cyberlaws," he said. "Previously, we brought this
type of cases to court using the older acts. However, we need to be
constantly reviewing the laws so as to cover new technology."

On the part of the police, Mahfuz said the TCI team is working towards
encouraging and assisting officers on the ground to open ICT-related
cases.

"The workload in commercial crime, which includes computer crime, is
heavy and Bukit Aman may be unable to cover the whole country
efficiently. As the Bukit Aman personnel are trained constantly at an
in-depth level and have connections with technology providers such as
TMnet and Jaring, we will try to assist them at all levels in opening
simpler cases."

For more hi-tech cases, the Kuala Lumpur team is more equipped as it
has people who can provide support technically and knowledge-wise, he
added.

Mahfuz said the police is also working with its counterparts in other
countries to combat ICT-related crimes.

"The National Police of Japan has a database especially on hi-tech
crimes, to which we are linked. We can access the database directly
and give feedback to them as well as share knowledge," he said, adding
that there are 10 countries in Asean and Asia which have links to the
database.

"The database is crucial as it allows users to recognise the same
problem, the same people or the same methods being used in particular
cases," he said.

Earlier, Mahfuz gave a talk on the enforcement of cyberlaws at the
E-security Seminar organised by the Malaysian Communications and
Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

MCMC's chairman Tan Sri Nuraizah Abdul Hamid had earlier launched the
seminar, which was part of a series of campaigns to create awareness
on info-security threats to the general public.

"Our intention is long term. We want to generate the awareness and
make sure people are conscious that they also are subject to hacking
and virus attacks. What happens to the personal computer can affect
the whole system and each user should know his or her responsibility
to safeguard against such incidents. With less happenings, there will
be less damage," said Nuraizah.

MCMC, with partners like the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation
and Management Planning Unit (Mampu), the Association of the Computer
and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) and the police, plan to go
to cities where ICT usage is high.



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