Working Group C: Cybercrime
Cybercrime is included in the Delhi Communiqué as one of the five prioritized themes in the Global Agenda for cyber capacity building.
Working Group C brings together governments, industry and experts focused on coordination of capacity building efforts relating to cybercrime. Through the Working Group, GFCE Members and Partners discuss issues related to capacity building in combatting cybercrime and work together towards coordination of capacity building efforts on development and implementation of legal frameworks, strengthening criminal justice and law enforcement responses to cybercrime, as well as the development of formal and informal frameworks for cooperation.
Working Group C is also a place for those involved in the prevention, response and assessment of cybercrime to engage with each other and share knowledge and expertise, leading to the development of capacity building projects and initiatives that help countries deal with the challenges presented by cybercrime, identification of best practices to amplify these on a global scale, and assessment of the impact cybercrime responses for more informed and inclusive capacity building activities.
Working Group C members have submitted information on over 130 projects, 21 tools and 22 publications. These resources can be accessed here on the Cybil Portal, a knowledge-sharing platform for cyber capacity research.
Focus in 2021
In 2020 the Working Group convened in two full meetings, once in July and once in November. In addition, a virtual session was held during the GFCE April V-meetings on the topic of capacity building and countering cybercrime. This session aimed to get a better picture of what has been happening in this space considering the recent pandemic and what effect this might have had for a concurrent rise in cyberattacks and cybercrime.
A primary focus of WG-C in 2021 will be on restructuring the way that members communicate and collaborate with each other. Given recent challenges there is a need to make these aspects more efficient and easier for members to contribute to the ongoing activities of the group. In addition, WG-C will look to update the available information on existing knowledge and expertise within the group, as well as confirming and beginning implementation of project proposals.
Enhancing coordination between the activities of Working Group C members was a clear goal identified after the establishment of the Working Group in 2018. This is in line with the broader objectives of the GFCE. The Working Group on Cybercrime has been a platform for constant discussions between members willing to engage, share and learn from each other whilst submissions of Working Group members to the Cybil portal go some way towards achieving that objective.
The Working Group has been home to the Friends of The Gambia clearing house support group. The Gambia has partnered and been collaborating with several GFCE Members and Partners on developing its capacity to combat cybercrime. Since September 2019 The Gambia has made big steps in developing and implementing legislation on cybercrime. Beyond keeping Working Group C members updated on the status and progress, WG-C members have been assisting The Gambia in reaching out to other GFCE Members and Partners on broadening support provided in other areas of the request, notably on the establishment of a national Computer Emergency Response Team and forensics lab.
In 2019 the GFCE entered into a partnership with the Korean Supreme Prosecutor's Office (KSPO) and World Bank on the establishment of a capacity building hub for the Asia region. WG-C was identified as a place for KSPO to bounce off initial ideas on the establishment of the hub, and the Working Group has provided advice and feedback to KSPO.
Those interested in initiatives developed by GFCE Members and Partners from 2016 in the area of cybercrime can view the Impact page of the GFCE here.
Since the beginning of 2020, GFCE Working Group C has been acting as a sounding board for proposed activities of the KSPO Capacity Building Hub. Once the Hub is operational, the intention is that Working Group C will be a critical source of resources and support for the coordination of the outreach activities of the Hub. KSPO continues to keep the Working Group updated on progress. In 2021 the aim is to have a clear plan of engagement between WG-C and its members with the Hub.
In January 2020 The Gambia provided further information on activities under its request for support. The Working Group identified priority areas of the support request where no support is currently being provided and is still needed from members of the GFCE community. This outline was distributed across the GFCE Working Groups. A session was arranged for 19 May 2020 during the GFCE V-meetings to bring these stakeholders together, discuss progress and reach out to a broader group that may have been able to help expand the support into the other (under-supported) areas of the official request. Since the introduction of the support request in WG-C, The Gambia has updated its Draft Cybersecurity Strategy & Action Plan, drafted and approved a data protection law a draft cybercrime bill, began establishing the gm CSIRT and expects to soon establish a digital forensic laboratory for the national police force.
Details of work done by Working Group C can be found in Working groups 2020 Report.