How can we keep children safe from this form of abuse?


All partners – social services, education, schools, health, courts, politicians – must take responsibility. And we must work with internet and social media providers. We need to make it more difficult for the predators and help protect naive individuals, who are sometimes vulnerable, sometimes just lonely and want to develop friendships, from harm. Child abuse online is sadly industrial in scale and we need to deal with it more effectively. Our officers, more than ever, need the confidence and skills to apply limited resources to the highest risk and to take critical decisions in an unforgiving environment.


How has the internet age influenced terrorism?


I don’t think we can underestimate the opportunity the internet age has brought to those who wish to cause harm to our communities. Our security services are identifying more and more potential terrorists.


We know that the internet allows vulnerable individuals who want to believe in something and an identity, to connect to others who wish to manipulate them. We saw Roshonara Choudhry, a bright thoughtful individual, being radicalised by the internet and going on to stab Mr Stephen Timms MP. Individuals can access vile imagery of people being tortured and murdered in Syria and elsewhere and become drawn in and desensitised to it. We now have the awful attack at the Houses of Parliament. The internet plays a vital role in terrorism today.


The dark web and other areas provide increased opportunity for those who want to get in involved in the black market to ply their trade. But it is manageable: there are some brilliant skills in our security agencies and they target the most dangerous criminality while the police get hold of the mainstream problem.


How can technology be used to support police efforts to counter terrorism?


If we are to tackle the scale and nature of the terrorist threat in the twenty-first century, we need to use big data and clever analytics on those who present the greatest risk. We need to see who is communicating with whom, where they have travelled, their social media profile. But we must do that with public consent.


In some ways, we have allowed the privacy lobby to dominate the debate.


The government does not have the capacity to monitor everyone’s private movements, relationships or internet use in a way that is undermining their privacy.


Case studies will be key to reassuring the general public. They will provide examples of how we’ve used data analytics to investigate and bring terrorists to justice.


Is the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA) a snooper’s charter?


It is superficial and nonsensical to call DRIPA the snooper’s charter. The people working in counter terrorism are not snoopers. They are people who are trying to keep the very fabric of our society together. Recent events tell us this is more important than ever. Standards of integrity must be high, we must maintain public confidence, the police must be seen to be respecting legislation and human rights. If we push the interpretation of regulation for public good, it has to be transparent, it has to be recorded and we have to be held to account for what we’ve done.


Certain spokespeople say that we can use DRIPA to snoop on individuals’ dustbins and browser history. But the scale of internet activity means we need to go really fast just to keep up and focus on the greatest level of harm. There doesn’t seem to be an acceptance of the scale of data and the volume of harm. The police are being far more thoughtful on how they use a limited resource.


How can the internet providers help in the fight against cybercrime?


The scale of the problem is enormous and for some big providers their priority is to provide a seamless customer journey and to placate the privacy lobby. They don’t recognise that their customers are being abused, bullied, harassed – sometimes committing suicide – in the name of freedom of expression. There must be more responsibility taken by social media providers and more responsibility by policing in how we can intervene earlier. This has got to be a partnership.


How can business help?


We need a step change in how we work, to quickly identify when new methodologies are emerging and to protect the public from those crime types. We ask business to keep talking to the police, keep referring and keep challenging. The British police are great at taking a challenge.


We need the top tier of decision makers, at the peak of their game who understand the digital challenges, to become involved. If business and policing are ready to have younger, less conventional, experienced individuals helping with the challenge, then we can develop dynamic, positive solutions


The risk is that the business community has lost faith in the way we are managing some of these issues. But they should know that British policing is amongst the best policing in the world. Keep talking to us and please don’t disengage, don’t lose your faith, look for the opportunities, whether by identifying vulnerable individuals or supporting user communities. We know we have to keep improving, that the journey is going to be a long one.


How can individuals help?


We are developing the role of police specials for those people who work in IT and the cyber industry who want to volunteer regularly to support the police. Perhaps to investigate fraud or to support another type of investigation.


To find out more, you can contact www.essex.police.uk/join-the- police/special-constabulary/


www.hampshire.police.uk/join-us/special- constables/


How do you see the future?


Digital technology and the internet are ingrained in our everyday lives and are here to stay. How the police, internet providers, partner agencies, internet and social media providers and the business community deal with the level of fraud and harm should collaborative. This is vital to the reduction of harm in a digital age.


Police chiefs have asked me to coordinate our response. They now get the enormity of the challenge. It’s always going to be massive, it affects everyone.


Andrea Berkoff, Editor.


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Q A > © CI TY S ECURI TY MAGAZ INE – SUMMER 2017 www. c i t y s e cu r i t yma g a z ine . com 3


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