No single country, profession can fight cyber crime alone: Interpol

Increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals cannot be defeated by any single country or profession with its own capabilities, said Interpol president Meng Hongwei today, as he called for more cooperation to fight the online scourge.

The partnership can go beyond law enforcement agencies and make use of contributions from leaders and experts in various professionals, he added.

Speaking at the opening of the Interpol World event in Singapore, he said global efforts have to be “congregated” to fight cyber and transnational crimes.

In particular, information sharing and efficient communication would keep the authorities a step ahead of criminals, while building up capabilities in the public and industry is crucial as well, he noted.

“For instance, experts of banks, financial institutions and security service providers can update law enforcement officers with the latest security system they are using, while the law enforcement officers in return can share the latest crime trend and modus operandi,” he explained.

“On the other hand, criminal intelligence analysis is equally vital and it is built on the speedy and effective information sharing. Only if we do it well we can take the preemptive against criminals,” he added.

Interpol is an international police organisation with 190 countries. It can put out global notices for individuals who are wanted in a jurisdication.

In 2015, the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation opened in Singapore to tackle digital crime and help build capabilities among law enforcement agencies.

The Interpol World show this week brings together law enforcement agency chiefs as well as security equipment vendors providing facial recognition and smart city technologies to discuss emerging security threats and ways to counter them.