Open your minds to cybercrimes, police officers urged  

The Acting Director of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Yusuf Sewanyana has urged police officers in the ICT department to be open minded about and come up with solutions to the new wave of cybercrime to protect Uganda’s digital infrastructure. 

Mr Sewanyana made the remarks during the inauguration of the training of police officers at ISBAT University at Kololo in Kampala to equip the force with the latest techniques, tools and best practices to enhance their ability to protect digital assets, mitigate cyber threats and respond to incidents effectively.

“As we embrace the forth industrial revolution, we are moving away from traditional policing of chasing people on the streets to cyber space. We have databases of criminals and data of all sorts that support police in its investigations. They (criminals) are interested in our work and attack us every day and it means you should open up your minds about what’s happening in cybercrime and utilise the acquired knowledge and skills,” Sewanyana urged officers.

His plea comes at a time when the recently released Uganda Police annual crime report 2022 registered an increase in cybercrime. A total of 286 cases of cybercrimes were reported to the police in 2022, compared to 258 cases reported in 2021, giving a 10.8 percent increase in this crime category. By the end of 2022, the report says 45 cases were taken to court, nine cases were not proceeded with while 232 cases were still under inquiry. Out of the total cases taken to court, five secured convictions and one was dismissed, while 39 cases were pending. Cybercrimes led to a loss of Shs19.2billion in 2022, out of which a laughable Shs16.7m was recovered.

“We don’t want our systems to be hacked by criminals because we receive hits, monitor and study them and where they originate. Some of these attacks are from abroad and we are incapacitated to attack them but are able to prevent from other attacks. They (cybercrimes) are steadily growing as the economy gets digitised,” Sewanyana added.

Manzi Kagina, a lecturer of cyber security at ISBAT University said the introductory training to police will not only give them information on how to protect themselves online but also protect the general public against cybercrimes.   
“If you want to catch a thief, think like a thief. We are training police to think like cyber criminals because forewarned is forearmed. If you have knowledge, you are able to deal with cyberattacks because cybercrime is growing. What makes Uganda susceptible is that we are starting to rely on technology on almost everything but we don’t know how to use the same technology. It is difficult to protect because the networks and the information technology systems are complex. It becomes a huge threat,” Mr Kagina said.

To prevent your data from being hacked, Kagina advised that you need to have a strong password to your emails and social media platforms and bank details and avoid downloading applications you don’t use on your phones.
“Visit websites that you must visit. Avoid those that have betting tips because that’s where you will fall victim. Hackers also go through emails. Avoid clicking on links in emails that look suspicious because you are not sure of where they lead to,” Kagina said.  

Pradeep Kumar, the Director Academic Affairs at ISBAT University said criminals no longer commit crimes physically but now resort to the internet from all over the world.
“The knowledge on preventing cybercrime will go a long way in helping Uganda police to trace criminals but also prevent cybercrimes. It is not only the responsibility of the police but also the general public. Support police so that security is tightened across all platforms,” Kumar said.

Some of the police officers who participated in the training rank from police constables to senior commissioners, from a wide spectrum of telecom engineers, computer scientists and electrical engineers who work on different information technology systems in the force.