10th July, 2017 The Council of Europe and its implementing partner, INTERPOL under the Global Action On Cybercrime known as the (GLACY +) project hosted an in-country workshop on Development of Cybercrime, investigations, Digital forensics capabilities combined with interagency cooperation and public and private collaborations aiming to fight against cybercrime was held this morning at the Tonga Police Training College, Longolongo.
The National Crime Commander Superintendent Ms. Kalisi Tohifolau, in her welcoming speech stated the significance of this training is well recognized by law enforcement agencies around the world.
“As the use of and reliance on information technology becomes ever more pervasive in our society, the targeting and exploitation of computer systems has also become increasingly common. Offenses involving computers have grown rapidly both in number and in sophistication”.
Ms. Tohifolau said the internet is increasingly significant in our everyday lives and it should be safe, secure, open and an enabling environment for everyone to use without fear of crime.
“With one in four people in the world using the Internet, knowing how to stay safe online and how to protect them is becoming increasingly important. This workshop is considered to be relevant and timely, as our new cybercrime bill will come into force soon where comprehensive cybercrimes are being criminalized. The responsibilities and expectations of police officers to respond to and investigate new cybercrimes should be strengthened to meet the level of sophistications and be able to capture volatile evidence”.
Deputy Police Commissioner Viliami ‘Unga Fa’aoa said Cybercrime is one of the big challenges for us here in Tonga as it does not respect anyone,any borders,any rule of law or any jurisdiction.
Mr. Fa’aoa said, “We are here today because of the purpose of this criminal investigation in searching for the truth in ways that must be fair for the accused and admissible in court of law”.
“At the end of the day, we will gain knowledge and skills from Mr. Sungjin Hong and his colleagues and our people will benefit from it”, he added.
He also stressed the need for participants to uplift the golden rules.
It is better to keep in your mind the golden rules of investigation;
- Trust no one
- Assume nothing and establish everything
The Acting Chief Superintendent Tevita Vailea expressed his sincere gratitude to the participants for their time and effort to attend the workshop.
Present in the opening programme were the Director of the Tonga CERT, Mr. Siosaia Vaipuna, Interpol Digital Crime Officer, Mr. Sungjin Hong, representatives from Line Ministries and guests.
ENDS
Issued by the: Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change & Communications