The President of the Australian Senate Mr Steven Perry and his delegation yesterday called on the Commissioner of Police Ben Groenewald and senior officers at the Cyber Crime Unit based at the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters.
Earlier in February this year the Australian Federal Police donated specialized equipment to the Cyber Crime Unit to assist in the area of digital forensic investigation, and yesterday’s visit by the President of the Australian Senate was to see how the capabilities were being utilized.
The AFP had also assisted in training the Cyber Crime Unit personnel on the use of the equipment. It was earlier revealed that about 80% of investigations in Australia were digital forensic related and with the emergence of cyber related crimes, Commissioner Groenewald said investigations would pose to be a challenge for any law enforcement agency without the proper equipment and machines.
He added assistance from AFP was greatly appreciated and would assist investigators conduct their investigations more effectively.
During a brief, the President of the Senate was informed that prior to the assistance from AFP, extracting data and information from mobile devices was a difficult and time consuming task.
With the new machines extracting information that would at times take 2 days to 2 weeks can now be done in 15 minutes.
Mr Perry was impressed with the demonstration shown by the investigators and assured them of the Australian Federal Police’s continuous support.
“AFP has always welcomed such cooperation through their regional partners and this relationship will continue into the future”.
“Overall, this has been an educational experience here and to know that what we have assisted the Fiji Police has assisted in your work is really appreciated by us back home in Australia”.
Reports investigated by the Cyber Crime Unit include unauthorized hacking, threats made via social media and annoying persons to name a few.
PRESS RELEASE