Given the situation, there have been some attempts by the government to spread awareness about cybercrime, but not on a massive scale. It will be possible to spread awareness of computer forensics only after awareness of cybercrime increases. The attempt must be twofold: dispel ignorance and clear misconceptions. There is no point in talking about what comes after a crime with people who don’t even know what a crime is. This makes life that much more difficult for computer forensics specialists, as they have to deal with clients managing to manipulate and cover evidence with no idea what they are doing. Online crime has rocked the UK repeatedly over the past three years, but most home users still haven’t updated their antivirus. Very few companies have security measures in place and, in the absence of comprehensive and forceful enforcement of data protection laws, they will likely remain insensitive, causing much misery in themselves and their customers.
Government company
Below is a list of government concerns that address cybercrime:
- Local Police: According to the Home Office, all cybercrimes must first be reported to the local police, who must be equipped to deal with them or pass them on to the appropriate higher authority.
- SOCA: Agency Against Serious and Organized Crime is the body that now belongs to the former computer crime investigation wing, the National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU).
- CEOP: Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center tries to capture online child sexual exploiters and spread awareness among children. They even have an offline campaign.
- CESG – Communications Electronics Security Group is in charge of information technology and communications security for UK government agencies, including the armed forces.
- NISCC: The National Infrastructure Security Coordination Center works on risk reduction and the secure exchange of information between government departments.
- Others: The central office has a cybercrime policy team and the DTI conducts the aforementioned survey; the cabinet has the central sponsor for information assurance that is running public awareness campaigns such as Get Safe Online and IT safe.
Computer forensics and corporate houses: the pros and cons
With so many agencies to report to, how many of the cybercrimes are reported each year by corporate companies? Unfortunately, so far we can only see the tip of the iceberg. Most companies are afraid to report because they fear public backlash, media firing, dispersal of clients, and some lighthearted comments from rival groups. Like crime, justice also travels very fast on the Internet, and customers may learn of the fiasco sooner than the company expects. This has happened to several giant concerns in the recent past, and all other companies are expected to learn from its insanity. Companies are afraid to call in data recovery professionals, as they fear the safety of their data in the hands of rescuers, and the same reason is given when it comes to forensic experts. You can always take the added precaution of choosing a really trustworthy company and paying them well enough when large volumes of data have been compromised and the road gets colder by the second. It is the duty of a commercial company to locate and employ the right investigators when the work of so many other people is at stake and they have to find a way to do it.