Cops face challenges in enforcing laws against Internet crimes

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) conceded that it faces a lot of challenges as far as Internet law enforcement is concerned.

One of its problems is the lack of knowledge on cybercrime-related policies by some members of the judiciary, Senior Supt. Gilbert C. Sosa, Anti-Cybercrime Group director, said.

“Many prosecutors and judges are really not yet well-versed with the Internet or the so-called ICT [information and communications technology] laws. And as such when we apply for search warrants, they [judges] are sometimes amazed and doubtful as to the violations committed by these people [cyber criminals],” he said.

Just like the conduct of lectures and seminars, in partnership with the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, he noted that the police recommended such activities to the Department of Justice to also orient prosecutors on the Cybercrime Prevention Act and other related policies.

The National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group is also having a difficulty to pinpoint the culprits or violators of Cybercrime Prevention Act because of their use of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards or Internet Protocol (IP)
addresses.

The former, which is used in mobile phones, could be helpful to detect cyber felonies if only the SIM Card Registration Act, as proposed under various bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate, are passed into law, he said.

“We have a lot of prepaid SIM cards, but we cannot identify who are the people who use them,” Sosa said.

Data show that more than 100 million SIMs that have been issued in the country.

If the bills were passed and enacted into law, Sosa said, law enforcers will find it easier to “perform their jobs in identifying the suspected violators of the anti-cybercrime law.”

Sosa said the availability of open or public Wi-Fis (wireless fidelity), has been exploited in the commission of cybercrimes.

He noted, for instance, the Wi-Fi-equipped waiting sheds in Manila, wherein everyone, including cybercriminals, can have easy access to the Internet without using a password.

“When we conduct investigation [on reported cybercrimes], the IP addresses were located to such waiting sheds, but we cannot identify who used that IP,” he said. “So the identification and assignment of the IP addresses  to individuals or corporations is important.”

While the police are confronted with such predicaments, Sosa revealed that there are a lot of tools from the Internet that can be used for the investigation of cybercrimes.

“We really take advantage of the availability of these tools. And we are very much appreciative of the results of using them,” he added. –Roderick L. Abad, Businessmirror