OSCE conducts training on cybercrime and digital evidence in Kazakhstan

From 21 to 24 May, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) delivered jointly with the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan an introductory training course on cybercrime and digital evidence to law enforcement representatives from the country’s Anti-Corruption Agency, Financial Monitoring Agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Prosecutor General's Office.

The participants learned about various forms of cyber-dependent and cyber-enabled crimes, sources of digital evidence, principles and approaches for search and seizure of digital evidence at a crime scene, and basics of conducting online investigations. The course was delivered by two lecturers from the Law Enforcement Academy and supported by one international expert from Moldova.

“With the growing importance of digital evidence in all types of criminal investigations, it is essential that our Academy has capacity to provide training on this subject without the support of international organizations. At the same time, it was very helpful that we could use the OSCE’s training materials and benefit from the support of an international expert who assisted us with various practical exercises and assignments,” said Askar Kaliyev, one of the two Law Enforcement Academy lecturers leading the course.

“Digital evidence differs from physical evidence in several important aspects. Every law enforcement educational institution today needs to have a dedicated course on this subject to ensure that law enforcement practitioners have the necessary knowledge and skills to identify and handle such evidence in an appropriate way. Without such competencies, essential evidence may be lost or compromised,” added Ion Gaina, Head of the IT Forensic Department at the Forensic and Judicial Expertise Centre of the General Inspectorate of Police of the Republic of Moldova, who supported local lecturers during the event.

The course was supported through the extra-budgetary project “Capacity Building on Combating Cybercrime in Central Asia” funded by the United States, Germany, Finland and the Republic of Korea. While this was the fifth national training activity in Kazakhstan under the project, it was the first time national trainers from Kazakhstan led the course delivery.