Interpol in Singapore- the Digital Crime Centre

I’m actually a little confused about what the topic my blog post is supposed to be about after the exam, but I think I should be correct if I make sure to cover every topic, in roughly the same order! After all, it’s the content that counts, right? Hahaha

Today’s content will be on cyber crime! Instead of talking about a type of cyber crime, I will talk about a piece of cyber crime-related news in Singapore that I felt was cool, and just wanted to share with whoever reads my blog!

Basically, cyber crime is any crime that occurs online, or even offline in some cases, that involves computers and networks. Hacking is a prime example of cyber crime. Others include the more “traditional” types of crime that can occur online as well, such as identity theft, credit card account theft, Internet fraud and even extreme hating on someone is considered a form of cyber crime. When I say extreme hating, I am referring to any material posted/circulated online that can either be false or true about someone/an organisation, but has malicious intent to stir up negativity so as to threaten or harass someone/an organisation.

Anyway, back to the piece of news that I found.

Everyone knows about the Interpol, right? The awesome guys (which refers to both male and females) who crack down on the “evil-doers” of the world and make our world a safer and generally more fantastic place to live in? Well, the French-based (specifically, headquartered at Lyon) Interpol sure does like our little island-state, because we’ve been chosen to be the site of their first ever Digital Crime Centre (DCC)!

Interpol logo

The Digital Crime Centre will be located at Napier Road, but right now, they’re so eager to protect us from evil cyber crime lords that they’ve already begun operations at a temporary site while the intended building is under construction. Yay! The intended building will be the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation, and construction is expected to be completed in April 2015. It actually was a building used by the Ministry of Home Affairs, but they have recently passed it over to the Interpol for the DCC.

The building for the Digital Crime Centre in Singapore

What do they do at the DCC? Well, the DCC helps nations protect better protect themselves by offering support in the form of information, advice, and technical support. For example, knowing the latest cyber crime trend will greatly assist nations in preventing the crime from happening. (Fun fact! Some organisations say that the top cybercrime trends at the moment are “malicious” mobile applications, “money-laundering through virtual currencies” and malware attacks.) In addition, DCC also shares information with the private sector. With the government and private sector working together, they can share vital information to enable better protection against cybercrime.

On top of that, there will be a digital forensic lab and cyber fusion centre at the DCC. The five IT experts and investigators in charge of the aforementioned facilities will mainly focus on “practical technology that provides investigators with the capacity to better coordinate and conduct national and regional investigations”. What this basically means is that DCC will work to discover cyber trends, and work on developing technology to help better fight cyber crime- sort of like a technology to make it easier for “cyber police” to catch “cyber criminals”.

Designed by MEOWmoonbeam

I have here a quote from our Second Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Iswaran, that I felt summarized the need for DCC and their operations quite well.

“Today, criminals operate in loose and agile networks. They move quickly and operate from different locations to avoid detection and prosecution by law enforcement agencies,” he said… They have also been able to diversify their operations, resulting in the emergence of new threats, such as cybercrime, and transnational organised crime. Their illegal activities have a global footprint, constantly adopting new technologies and alliances, to stay ahead of law enforcement.”

Why did the Interpol choose Singapore to be the site of DCC? The decision was made in 2010 at a general assembly, where all 190 member countries of Interpol took a vote. Some member countries include: Albania, USA, Brunei, Belgium, Mexico, and others. (Fun Fact! The Interpol noticed Singapore and considered us as a possible location for DCC after knowing that we hosted the inaugural F1 night race, 2008.)

Interpol Secretary General, Mr Ronald K Noble (left) with Singapore’s Second Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Iswaran (right)

Even thought this is a very new initiative, the DCC has already proven itself to be a great use for society in terms of cyber crime protection. Just this year, through sharing information with law enforcement agencies in neighbouring countries, DCC assisted with the uncovering and eventual arrest of various sextortion cases. Almost 200 people were involved in these sextortion crimes.

I’m sure we all feel quite safe in Singapore, but let me show you why the DCC is needed in Singapore, or in any other country. The reason why we feel safe is because Singapore has been keeping up with crime and constantly thinking of ways to prevent crimes from happening. Social media (even the police use social media) keeps us updated on ways to avoid being victims of crime, ways to keep ourselves out of dangerous situations, and information on how to contact the authorities if we spot any suspicious activity or if we have become victims of crime.

As with many things in Singapore, the Singapore Police Force released statistics on crime rates, and the latest report on their website shows that online crime rates has increased.

• Specifically, in the first half of 2014, crimes relating to cheating involving e-commerce has increased 425% (408 reported cases), when compared to the first half of 2013.
• Cyber extortion has also increased from 2013 to 2014 (January to June) by 247% (94 reported cases). If that is not shocking enough, these figures indicate that around S$54,000 was cheated in cyber extortion in just 6 months of 2014!

The graph below is from the report, and it shows a comparison of cyber scams from 2013 and 2014, within the period of January to June.

A comparison of cyber scams from 2013 and 2014, within the period of January to June. Source: http://www.spf.gov.sg

That’s how serious things are getting. Let’s all be more careful online.

Well, I’ll end with a photo of what the Lyon headquarters look like, if anyone is interested.