National Cybercrime Training and Tools

National Police Force Cybercrime Challenge

As the cyber threat landscape facing the 43 police forces of England and Wales (UK) continues to evolve, so must how law enforcement maintain their security posture. Through a nationally coordinated, locally delivered, Force Specialist Cybercrime training programme, police forces have access to a central learning pathway.

Individual police forces can acquire services from a centrally provisioned, locally delivered learning provision, providing cost-efficient cyber security training.  At a national level, a holistic understanding of threats across the police forces and the cyber learning needs enables a proactive system in a coordinated manner to support the operational needs of each police force.

This initiative to tackle and deliver results across all 4 P’s; (Protect, Prepare, Pursue, and Prevent) including against the National Cyber Security Strategy and Serious Organised Crime Strategy. This is achieved through the establishment of a dedicated specialist cybercrime capability at local force level.  This dedicated capability enables all forces to build their own cybercrime unit to improve local capability and capacity and meet the minimum standards for investigation and victim care.  Over a three-year programme, an estimated 2,500 police officers attended various elements of the cybercrime learning pathway.

QA’s Collaborative Approach 

The implementation of the Cybercrime Police Force Specialist Cybercrime training programme builds on incremental improvements in police cybercrime processes and overall staff training.  Developing mature, efficient, effective, and economic services that fuse deep cyber expertise with an understanding of police operations, to contextualise the nature of threats to police forces. Supporting the police forces in becoming a more collaborative workforce by bringing about aligned learning behaviours and a cultural shift in the discipline of cybercrime policing. Transforming cybercrime policing to combine our collective strengths, knowledge, cybercrime working practices and capabilities.

In collaboration with the law enforcement cybercrime national subject matter experts (SME) and QA SME technical experts, selected because of their experience, knowledge, and background in law enforcement to ensure appropriate contextualisation of the leaning patterns within the design and delivery of the programme. To enable the success of the strategic outcomes our cybercrime programme lead SME was embedded within the police SME community. Going beyond the initial brief to gain deep knowledge transfer of the specific business goals and outcomes, attending regional cybercrime unit locations in situ. Observing working practices, behaviours, knowledge resources, systems tools, and techniques to further contextualise the subject matter, building learning needs. This level of collaboration not only supports the vital context mapping whilst developing vital engagement relationships to ensure any changes in police cybercrime needs, concepts, processes, and practices, throughout the duration of the three-year programme.

With this insight, we designed and developed technical learning pathways to serve the need of the operational police cybercrime strategic disciplines (Protect, Prepare & Prevent). Collaboration with the police SME network being instrumental in creating the bespoke learning interventions which align to the cybercrime unit skills framework. Mapping terms, tools and technologies threaded with contextualised law enforcement specific (UK police and Europol) hands-on lab exercises. Designing the individual learning outcomes to match the requirements of the national police cybercrime network, with a structured tiered learning pathway aligned to the national police operational needs.

“ We created a blended learning programme which started with a foundational short course, consumed by all police forces as an entry level stepping stone for hundreds of police officers involved in UK cybercrime”, explains Richard Beck Cybersecurity Portfolio Direct and architect of the national cybercrime programme. “The training requirements at this level outline the core skills and concepts required to allow the learner to become an effective cybercrime officer. This is essential in building on the technical expertise and complexity at the next levels to include advanced role specific cyber skills aligned to Protect & Prepare, Prevent, and cybercrime ‘Pursue’ investigations.”

This approach has several advantages including cost in both time and money as the basics skills only must be taught once rather than repeating every time a course is attended. It also ensures that all officers within a team have the same fundamental level of understanding around, what can be, a complex area of policing. It also ensures a degree of interoperability and consistency of skills and knowledge across all police forces.

Award Winning Programme

A major success criteria of the award winning national cybercrime programme required the police officers to achieve industry recognised cyber certifications within each tier of the pathway. The police cybercrime officers and investigators must have suitable knowledge and credibility when dealing with complex Cybercrime incidents. Industry validation of law enforcement officers’ cyber subject matter expertise when dealing with the cybercrime scene, offenders and victims is paramount in building the appropriate initial rapport and supporting a successful outcome.

Achieving this success criteria required the most appropriate cyber certification and independent validation via a proctored online NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) Certified Training examination. Each course on the programme pathway has a strict pass and fail outcome for each police officer taking the supporting course examinations, allowing those who complete the course to have confidence in their knowledge and specialism.

Cybercrime Post Programme Public Offering (virtual seats)

Booking a place on our public cybercrime courses by using the links below.

• Cybercrime Computing & Networking Foundation – book here
• Certified Cybercrime Investigator (Pursue) Course – book here
• Security+ (Protect & Prepare) Course – book here
• Certified in the Art of Hacking (Prevent) Course – book here