Ten law enforcement officers involved in acquiring, processing and preserving digital evidence benefitted from a four-day practical on digital forensics provided by the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre (NC3) in Freetown.
The Cybersecurity Coordination Centre is a statutory body created by the Cybersecurity and Crime Act of 2021 to address Cybersecurity issues including supporting law enforcement agencies in the fight against cybercrimes in Sierra Leone.
The training particularly focused on building the capacity of the Police in combating cybercrimes.
According to the National Coordinator, Mariama Yormah, ten police officers working in the Computer Lab at the Criminal Investigations Department benefitted from the training, after which they received three laptops containing various proprietary forensic software to enhance the fight against cybercrime and minimise the number of cases thrown out of court.
She furthered that the training came as result of a conducted scoping visit made by NC3 in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), to key institutions involved in the fight against cybercrimes for them to understand the landscape and identify existing gaps hindering the effective implementation of the Act.
Mariama Yormah highlighted the lack of procedures and requisite tools for handling and preserving electronic evidence in the Computer Lab at the Criminal Investigations Department as part of the findings made during the visit.
In a similar development, the NC3 in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) has revealed plans to organise a two-day Cybersecurity symposium on the topic “Safeguarding our Digital World: Fostering a Common Understanding of Sierra Leone’s Cybersecurity and Crime Act”.
The conference aims to bring all actors involved in the implementation of the Cybersecurity and Crime Act of 2021 for a common understanding of the legislation, identify challenges hindering its enforcement and suggest concrete recommendations.