By: Mariama Njie
Police officers in Talinding are undergoing monthlong training on how to detect cybercrimes and its related offences through technology that seeks to equip the police men and women better understand the usage of information technology and prepare them for any future cyber-attack.
The participating officers will be introduced to cybersecurity and its essentials to help them dig a little deeper into the types of cybercrime officers are likely to encounter.
The training is organized by Gambia Cyber Security Alliance in collaboration with Northampton University.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Gambia Cyber Security Alliance President, Amadou Bah, said it’s a duty to help the Gambia Police Force through training as they are always in the frontline.
“Since the day we met the current IGP introducing the Cyber Security Alliance to him and some of the services we can offer to the police force he was very happy. We have been conducting series of training for the police force in other departments and we were able to recruit 50 police officers with the collaboration of PURA,” he said.
He explained that Police are the first of defense when it comes to internal security, therefore, they should be prepared for any cyber-attacks in the future because is a period of election and lot of things will happen in the internet. “we are doing this in line with the police and also preparing our cyber command centre to fight cyber bullies, crimes and fake news,” he pointed out.
Prof Atif Hassain, CEO of Northampton University Gambia, described Information technology as very important and “it is crucial for the police force as the defenders of people’s rights and property to know the use of it because many criminals use ICT to steal data and people’s properties.”
So, “it is necessary to train the police to know how to identify problems in the field of information technology as the training will enable them to identify invisible thieves on the internet and how to secure one’s computer free from hackers.”
He added: “By increasing their skillset in this area, police officers are better equipped to help and advise the public to use digital technologies safely and be aware of the common ways they can fall victim to fraud and other malicious activity.”
Babucarr Jawo, Deputy Head of Gambia Computer Security Incident Response Team also added that they are the focal point for response when there are cyber-attacks.
S. P Jerreh Manjang, a participant said the training will equip them to know how to identify cyber-crimes and make their work easy.