More than 300 police officers in the Southern Province have completed cyber security awareness training run by Sri Lanka CERT with the Sri Lanka Police and the Police Information Technology Division.
The programmes covered officers serving in the Galle, Matara and Tangalle police divisions and form part of an island-wide initiative to strengthen police knowledge of cyber threats, according to a statement from the organisers carried by Colombo Gazette.
What was covered
Sessions focused on the growing risks that come with everyday use of digital technology, and gave officers practical grounding in modern cybercrime trends, social media-related scams, digital evidence preservation, information security practices and how to respond to cyber incidents.
Particular attention went to the role of officers in identifying cyber-enabled crimes and in protecting and preserving digital evidence during investigations. Officers were also briefed on secure digital practices to follow in the course of official duties.
Who ran it
The series is being conducted on the instructions of Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya and under the direction of Deputy Inspector General Nishani Senavirathna, who heads the Police Research and Information Technology Directorate. Senior Superintendent K.G. Laksiri Geethal, Director of the Police Information Technology Division, organised the programmes.
The awareness sessions were delivered by Nirosh Ananda, Chief Information Security Officer at Sri Lanka CERT, Thilina Dissanayake, the agency’s Cyber Security Training Manager, and Police Inspector H.K.E. Harshaka of the Police Information Technology Division.
Sri Lanka CERT and the police said they will continue running such programmes, with the aim of building a stronger cyber security culture inside the law enforcement sector and improving officers’ ability to respond to a fast-changing threat landscape.
Context
Sri Lanka CERT, the national computer emergency response team, has issued a steady run of public warnings this year as online fraud has grown, including alerts over scams impersonating senior police officers on WhatsApp and Telegram and a WhatsApp nude video call blackmail scam.
