- Cybercrime presents negative and massive economic and social impacts on governments, businesses and individuals, across the world world.
- Millions of people fall victim to some sort of cybercrime every day, ranging from simple password theft to extensive monetary swindles, with billions of dollars lost worldwide every year
The Director General of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti, Monday called on African criminal investigative agencies to invest in modern technology, in order to deal effectively with modern-day crimes.
He said the world has become more digitally connected than before, as different countries adopt technology for ease of doing business across all nations of the world.
Kinoti who is also the Interpol executive committee delegate for Africa noted that cybercriminals have taken advantage of the rapid technological advancement and have changed the manner in which they operate.
“The criminals have taken advantage of online transformation to target weaknesses in online systems, networks and infrastructure. The internet's speed, convenience, anonymity and lack of borders in cyberspace has made computer-based violations easier to carry out,” said the DCI chief.
Kinoti spoke when he addressed heads of cybercrime units from all countries in Africa at a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.
He observed strong networks of criminal syndicates have continued to establish their empires across the world, challenging the security sector with new trends of complex cybercrimes every day.
This, he said, was because the threats and attacks know no boundaries as they originate from any location in the world, posing challenges to investigators on how to arrest and prosecute the involved cyber criminals, who often choose to operate in countries with weak or non-existent cybercrime laws.
“Cybercrime presents a negative and massive economic and social impact on governments, businesses and individuals, across the world world. Millions of people fall victim to some sort of cybercrime every day, ranging from simple password theft to extensive monetary swindles, with billions of dollars lost worldwide every year,” he said.
In Kenya, for instance, he said SIM swap syndicates have taken advantage of the country’s fast-growing digital technology to gain access to people’s bank accounts and transfer huge sums of money in a matter of minutes.
He urged the Africa cybercrime heads of the unit to build capacity in cybercrime intelligence and investigative techniques within the region, prioritize enhancement of public-private sector cooperation among Interpol member countries working in the area of cybercrime, and come up with a framework for joint operations among member countries to combat cybercrime.
He also challenged the officers to come up with innovative ways of addressing cybercrime such as decryption of evidence lawfully obtained through criminal investigations and the role of forensic laboratories in law enforcement innovation.
Kinoti said Kenya had made significant strides, following the establishment of a Cybercrime and Digital Forensics unit, forming part of the DCI National Forensic laboratory that was recently commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Rwanda’s Minister for Justice who is also the country’s attorney general Dr Ugirashebuja Emmanuel, also noted that cybercrime had become increasingly organized and sophisticated, leading to insurmountable financial losses by governments, institutions, businesses and individuals across the world, adding that the vice was fast becoming a societal problem.
“Cybercrime is not only a question of attacks against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data as well as systems, it is also against the core values and the potentiality of human development on societies increasingly relying on information technology,” said Dr Ugirashebuja.
He called on African countries to use collective efforts and work more closely with stakeholders in the private sector to share vital information in the detection, prevention and investigation of cybercrime.
Other guests who addressed the participants gathered at a Kigali hotel, including the Secretary General of Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) Mr Jeannot Ruhunga and the Interpol Director in charge of Cybercrime Craig Jones.
The DCI is represented in the meeting by the head of Cybercrime and Digital Forensics Simon Kipruto.