OSCE continues webinars on trends in contemporary policing for cadets in Uzbekistan

On 1 June, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department (TNTD), in close co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, organized a webinar for cadets and lecturers from the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

The event is a continuation of the webinar series launched last year to raise awareness about key trends and developments in contemporary policing among students and staff of the Academy. This year, webinars will focus on cyber-related topics in response to the rapid growth of both cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crimes in Uzbekistan.

The first webinar was dedicated to threats posed by malicious software (malware), with a specific focus on ransomware. Opening the event, Martha Stickings, Deputy Head of the Strategic Police Matters Unit in the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department, said: “rapidly emerging technology-facilitated crimes including malware and ransomware present particular challenges to law enforcement. The OSCE is committed to supporting police cadets in Uzbekistan to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to identify and investigate these and other cybercrimes in line with international best practice”.

Presenters included TNTD staff and two law enforcement experts from Germany and Norway. Participants were introduced to key concepts and trends related to malware and ransomware, and then presented with two practical case studies of malware and ransomware investigations: operation “Falling sTAR” and operation “Emotet”.

Concluding the discussion, Abdurasul Iminov, Deputy Head of the Information Technology Department at the Academy, underscored his appreciation for the continuous excellent co-operation between the OSCE and the Academy while highlighting the importance of exchanging international experience and expertise in tackling today’s complex transnational security challenges.

The event was attended by over 140 cadets and lecturers. Three more webinars, focusing on online payment fraud, Dark Web criminal landscape, and crypto-currency related crimes, are planned for later in 2023. The webinars complement the national and regional training activities conducted by the OSCE in Uzbekistan under the extra-budgetary project “Capacity building on combatting cybercrime in Central Asia”.