From RCIPS

Wednesday, 11 December, saw the opening of the RCIPS Digital Forensics Hub, a project co-funded by the UK’s National Crime Agency.

The state of the art hub will be used to help safeguard children from child sexual abuse and exploitation, and to combat various other forms of cybercrime, which are not restricted by borders.

His Excellency the Governor Martyn Roper was on hand to mark the official opening of the hub by cutting the ribbon, and was given a tour of the facility, along with an overview of its capabilities and remit.

The RCIPS Digital Forensics Hub will serve as a cybercrime investigative hub for all of the overseas territories in the region. The facility was design and outfitted from the ground up to provide a secure environment for processing digital devices in such a way as to prevent contamination, tampering or data loss, and to be able to process large amounts of data in a short time. Most importantly, the hub is also designed to allow a multinational cooperative approach to tackling cybercrime.

“It is critical that we continue to strengthen our professional ties with detailed information sharing. Our collaboration with the NCA has resulted in the accumulation of modern systems to enhance our capability to tackle this growing trend of online child sexual exploitation and cybercrime,” said Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne. “The Digital Forensic Hub will allow us to work closely with our international partners to combat online child sexual exploitation. Inclusive of exchange of intelligence, sharing of best practices and lessons learnt.”

The opening of the Digital Forensics Hib also coincided with a comprehensive 10 day Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Conference and Masterclass Seminar, which was held in Grand Cayman, and attended by law enforcement officers and analysts from several other British Overseas Territories, such as Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montseratt, the Turks and Cacaos Islands, Falkland Island and Namibia in Africa.

The seminar featured trainers from the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Forensics and Training Alliance and focused on the Internet as an Investigation tool, Online Research and Analysis, Investigating Child Abuse Material on the Internet, Digital Forensics and Recovery and Presenting Digital Evidence Amongst other things.