In a technology era, information technology has a great impact on our work environment, the mode of interpersonal communication, and even games. Hence, some criminals manipulate technology to commit crimes. The story of Station Sergeant (SSGT) of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau (CSTCB) Lee Chi-yuen illustrated how the Force safeguards cyber security in Hong Kong.

Twenty years ago, SSGT Lee who had joined the Force for four years was transferred to the Commercial Crime Bureau to handle emerging cyber crimes, such as fraudulent use of online games and online bank accounts.

SSGT Lee said, "At the time when the Computer Crime Section was set up, both the Force and overseas law enforcement agencies tried hard to explore ways to combat computer crimes. Whenever we encountered a new type of modus operandi, we would apply our criminal investigation experience and utilise the available resources to analyse the case from different dimensions to figure out a solution."

In view of the rapid increase of technology crimes, the Force has set the task of combating technology crimes as one of the operational priorities, and established the CSTCB in 2015 to restructure and expand the manpower to cope with the increasing workload concerning cyber security, incident contingency, investigation, intelligence collection and digital forensic examination, and provide related training to officers.

Passing on the expertise to fellow officers

As a member of the training team, SSGT Lee said, "I strongly believe that all criminals must be brought to justice. So I am pleased to share my experience with frontline officers in a bid to enhance their investigation capabilities."

Although the duties of cyber crime investigation officers look similar to those of general officers, the former has to face up to the challenge of criminals who may conceal their identities by switching to different servers at different places. Therefore, they have to race against time to find out the real server address and collect as much crime data and information as possible.

Co-operating with working partners

As curbing cyber crimes is not an easy task, the CSTCB has put much emphasis on crime prevention. SSGT Lee pointed out that the launch of online banking in previous years gave rise to security loopholes and cyber crimes. Subsequent to the arrest of several criminals and the identification of their modus operandi, the Force immediately joined hands with the banking sector to plug the loopholes. Being the vanguard of the Force, CSTCB officers have to stay alert to the latest modus operandi and give advice to the working partners in order to prevent the public from falling in cyber crime traps.

In fact, the CSTCB has developed good partnership with Internet service providers, game providers, web content providers and other relevant organisations to ensure cyber security. One of the simplest ways for the public to protect their online data is to change their passwords and update their software regularly.

Developing strengths

Regarding investigation officers being called as "cyber freaks", SSGT Lee responded, "CSTCB officers have to handle massive data and records every day. We have to analyse the data carefully and check every entry in order to detect traces of suspicious cases and bring the criminals to justice. We move forward to learn about the duties of other units and adjust our practice to complement with these units. We do not think that we are just the key pressers sitting in front of the screen."

Lastly, SSGT Lee advised new investigation officers as follows, "In order to become an all-round investigation officer, we have to work from the basics and acquire multiple skills in different fields in preparation for all emerging situations. In this connection, I hope colleagues would devote to different aspects of police work to learn various policing skills and develop their potentials. The experience gained will enable us to further scrutinise a problem and enhance our competencies, so that we can perform well in any units we work in future."

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