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UCD poised for EU centre of excellence in fight against cybercrime

Thursday, 25 February, 2010 


Pictured at UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation: Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern TD with Prof Joe Carthy (left), Head of UCD School of Computer Science & Informatics

Pictured at UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation: Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern TD with Prof Joe Carthy (left), Head of UCD School of Computer Science & Informatics

The Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern TD has pledged Government support for UCD in its bid to become an Excellence Hub for Cybercrime Investigation and Training as part of the EU Strategy on Cybercrime.

The UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation is the only facility in Europe that educates specialist officers, from around the world, in IT forensics to tackle online crime. The Centre also develops theoretical and practical research into cybercrime, and produces and validates IT software.

Some 125 investigators from 25 countries have are enrolled or have completed masters qualifications at the UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation since it was formally established in 2006.

“UCD has succeeded in getting European Commission funding of €4.5 million for a project entitled 2Centre, which envisages rolling out a cybercrime investigation unit into each EU country as part of the EU Strategy on Cybercrime,” said Minister Ahern. “The Centres will be based on the UCD model.”
 
According to the Minister, Centres like the one at UCD are at the cutting edge in tackling increased levels of cybercrime and play a leading role in training both Gardai and police from Europol.
 
“The Irish police force is the jewel in the crown when it comes to fighting cybercrime,” said Professor Joe Carthy, Director of the UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation and Head of UCD School of Computer Science & Informatics. “They are leading the way in Interpol and Europol and are held in the highest esteem.”
 
The Centre offers an MSc in forensic computing and cybercrime investigation for law enforcement, and an MSc in digital investigation for IT experts.