Cambodian police officiers are receiving two weeks of training by specialist South Korean cybercrime agents as part of a move to further crack down on activities that are estimated to cost the global economy $6 trillion annually by 2021.
Thirty-five officers were chosen from different National Police cybercrime-related departments to attend the course due their experience in the area.
The director of the Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Cybercrime Department, Chea Pov, told The Post on Wednesday that the training was to focus mainly on “investigating cybercrime”, with an emphasis on strategies to prevent and crack down on such offences in the Kingdom.
“The course will train our police officers in investigating cybercrime. The officers attending the training will be further equipped to tackle such cases,” Pov said, declining to comment on how much cybercrime costs Cambodia.
“We cannot confirm how much cybercrime costs the Cambodian economy in total. We have certain figures, but I can’t give a full amount as many victims don’t make official complaints,” Pov said.
He urged the public, particularly smartphone users, to be cautious in their online activities.
“People should ensure that they know how to use their smartphone securely. They should never let anyone else use their smartphone because criminals can use them to commit crimes,” he said.
Speaking at the start of training on Monday, Consul General at the South Korean embassy in Phnom Penh Lee Sang-hoon said the course was the fifth that the Korean National Police Agency had conducted in Cambodia.
“We have sent over agents from all Korean police agencies that specialise in combating cybercrime to conduct this training course for Cambodian police officers. The course will enable the police to keep the Cambodian people safe from cybercrime,” Lee said.
Pov said the Ministry of Interior had called on the Korean National Police Agency to send specialist agents to train Cambodian police and further strengthen their ability to fight digital and telecommunications crime as this was urgently needed.
