Barack Obama recently ordered a White House review of cyber-security policies and procedures, with the provisional findings suggesting that the best way forward is for public and private sectors to work together closely in the fight against e-crime. dns, a UK based security consultancy, argues that this is something we should also consider in the UK. Recently, many people have been calling for an all encompassing e-crime group, suggesting it is the way forward.
However, Rafe Pilling, a consultant at dns, believes that with limited available funding and a finite pool of police resources, a single e-crime group would face the same issues that exist at the moment. Re-organising existing groups won’t fix the fundamental resourcing issue.
“E-crime is obviously a big issue for SMBs but they don’t register on the national interest scale the way a large company might. Ultimately, I think I’d prefer that the police focus on the issues of online child abuse and counter terrorism and let companies get themselves up to speed on security so they can limit their own exposure and not have to rely on legal prosecution after the fact,” said Pilling.
“However, a scheme where specialist companies in the UK could be deputised to investigate e-crime for SMBs, seems like a far more sensible approach," Pilling added. "Investigators could be certified by the police to confirm that the investigation meets certain standards regarding evidence integrity and legal processes. Once an investigation has been conducted it could then be passed to the local police force or the Criminal Prosecution Service directly who could choose whether or not to prosecute. This way smaller firms could get the legal attention they are looking for without placing an economic burden on the already stretched police force. E-crime is simply another facet of traditional crime. As it doesn’t occur in every case police investigate, giving them the opportunity to draw on private sector resources as required provides a greater pool of skilled professionals that can be leveraged without requiring significant investment or adding to the fixed cost of policing.”
