Software vendors and Internet service providers (ISPs) are supplying resources to the NSW Police computer crime unit, which has enlisted another three officers to step up e-crime investigations.
While unwilling to disclose names, NSW Commercial Crime Agency detective inspector Bruce Van Der Graaf said police are strengthening ties with IT companies to share technical expertise and equipment.
He said vendors have been very generous with software and provide a lending library such as hardware to undertake demonstrations in court.
"We have increased traffic flow both ways [with private sector] because police resources are limited; we are currently in discussions with AusCert (Australian Computer Emergency Response Team) to refine in-house training and to include the industry," Van Der Graaf said.
Australian law enforcement agencies, including the National Crime Authority, have just completed computer forensics training with US forensic computer scientist Andrew Rosen of Data Recovery & Acquisition and Analysis (ASR)More than 20 representatives from NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Federal Police completed the course on how to preserve and handle evidence.
A key focus of course material was a new ASR-developed, Linux-based forensic tool called the Storage Media Archival and Recovery Tool (Smart).
Van Der Graaf said the NSW computer crime unit has just purchased $110,000 of additional equipment and aims to address the under-reporting of computer crime with a new reporting form which will be published on the police Web site.