The police must reorganize to cope with the increasing influence of cybercrime, according to the National Criminal Investigation Service. Fighting cybercrime should become more of a part of the ‘business process’.
That is what Wilbert Paulissen, head of the National Criminal Investigation Service, says in an interview with the Financieele Dagblad. According to Paulissen, more and more criminals and criminal organizations are engaged in forms of cybercrime, partly because the software used is becoming more user-friendly and easier to obtain. The police should therefore focus more on cybercrime: “If you come to the counter to report an attempted hacking, there must be someone who understands what it is about,” says Paulissen.
The top man of the National Criminal Investigation Service also hopes that politicians will agree to the law that makes it possible to penetrate the computers of suspects, also known as ‘hacking back’. According to Paulissen, these types of investigation methods are necessary to combat cybercrime. In addition, citizens will have to get used to the fact that they can become victims of digital forms of crime. However, there is still a lot of discussion about whether the police should actually be given the right to hack back.
The government recently approved a law that allows for higher penalties for cybercrime. According to research, the world loses $445 billion annually to digital crime.