Finland Times

 

File Photo Lehtikuva.

People were fairly passive in reporting cybercrime to the police, a study finds.

 

Companies and private individuals need advice on how the reports are filed and how the criminal process proceeds, the study completed at the Police University College of Finland proposes.

 

A number of measures are proposed in the study to combat cybercrime that are relatively quick and easy to implement said a press release of the Government Communications Department issued on Tuesday.

 

Cybercrime can be addressed and investigated efficiently if the authorities have a clear picture of the overall situation and cooperation between the parties involved works smoothly.

 

The exchange of information between companies and investigators should also be smooth and efficient, concludes a report issued by the Police University College, according to the study.

 

"The study was carried out in close cooperation with cybercrime investigators and it yielded a range of tangible proposals to improve police action,” says Detective Superintendent Timo Piiroinen, who served on the project steering group and took part in the workshop.

 

“There’s widespread interest in sharing information and intensifying cooperation, and what’s more, the situation picture can be improved with the existing resources,” he continues.

 

Cybercrime means offences targeting data networks and the services provided in these networks.

 

According to the report, steps should be taken to encourage victims to report cybercrime.  

 

To improve the capabilities of the police and other authorities to formulate a clear situation picture, the report proposes a shared IT system and rotation of public officials.

 

“Another future challenge is how to integrate research data into the situation picture and the exchange of information between the authorities. No such collaborative structures exist at the moment even though there’s widespread interest in creating such a system,” says Timo Piiroinen.

 

The project “Overview of Cybercrime” now completed is part of the comprehensive cybercrime programme launched by the police.

 

Underlying the project is the Government’s policy objective of creating a shared situation picture of the state of security in Finnish data networks and communications.