Should Scotland’s police force be responsible for cybercrime? Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has argued they should not.

In an editorial column in the i newspaper, Mr MacAskill states that Police Scotland is over-stretched, under-resourced and suffering from low levels of morale. Resource issues such as terrorism, stewarding events and cybersecurity are making huge demands on the force and requiring ever more attention.

As such, argues MacAskill, private companies could play more of a role in stewarding and cyber protection. MacAskill acknowledges in the article that when it comes to cybersecurity, protection and preventing crime is more important than reporting it, but as the impact of online crime becomes ever greater, should the police cede control to private companies?

DIGIT reached out to some of the country’s cybersecurity experts to ask for their opinion on the future of cyber policing.

Dave Stubley, CEO of 7Elements

“As the threats grow ever-greater and more diverse, there’s no question that we need greater collaboration between industry and police. However without the police, private sector companies cannot make arrests, which could cause huge complications and issues with the court system and convictions.

“The increasingly international nature of cybercrime also means that we’re often looking at perpetrators overseas, or spread across several countries. International cooperation through organisations like Europol or Interpol mean that the police play a vital role in the ‘wild west’ of online crime. As the levels of crime increase and become ever more sophisticated, the role of the police is only going to become more crucial.”

Graeme Gordon, CEO of IFB and Chair of ScotlandIS

“Like every other public sector service the blue light services are struggling with the speed of change across many aspects of our digitally driven world. This includes the positives and the negatives and should come as no surprise as many private sector organisations are in the same place – struggling with the pace and rate of change of adoption, use and disposal of new bits of hardware and software – and the fear that if you stop this, you will fall behind.

“We are seeing change here in Scotland with smarter procurement enabling the public sector to remain more relevant in their choice of digital services and providers letting them keep up more of the time with citizen demands and expectations and to do deliver these in a secure and flexible manner. But there is a long way to go.

“Security in any form is a specialism – it takes deep domain expertise and experience to get it right and to be sure what is in is in place and that it is proportionate to the threat – the perception is you will always have the right amount of security, or too much, until you have a breach, then you never had enough.

“So how does one of the oldest public services react and manage Cybercrime – covering online harassment, bullying or the hacking of your Facebook account, to a breach in an airline’s system which endangers lives? Right now it can’t, not without specialist help. That help needs to come from government – the National Cyber Crime Unit – investing in supporting a new generation and shape of front-line cyber officers.

“Would it be wrong to use WhatsApp to report a crime or FaceTime from an actual crime scene for example? Having just had two bikes pinched I can see part of this happening already but having a proper digital help desk to train, support and educate officers, as well as managing some of the routine and administrative issues might also help. Having this framework come from a centralised resource like NCCU might be big part of the answer.”

Professor Bill Buchanan OBE, Edinburgh Napier University’s Cyber Academy

“I am surprised that Cyber Security might not be included with Police Scotland, especially as crime is increasingly moving to the Internet. Along with this, digital evidence is increasingly used within criminal investigations, so it’s not really possible to say that our police force should scale-down its expertise in using sources of digital evidence to investigate crime.

“The days of physically robbing banks have gone, and there is a whole new world out there for fraud and extortion. For Scotland to even think of distancing itself from these new crime vectors, would be to take a step backwards, especially for a country which aims to be a leading force within its digital infrastructure, and to be robust against attacks. We need to protect our citizens, communities and businesses against Internet-based criminal activity.

“From what I know, Scotland has an excellent track-record in advancing its expertise in digital investigations, and in linking this with innovation and knowledge exchange with businesses, and which has been achieved on a fairly limited budget. Personally, I would like to see an increase in investment, and especially in encouraging Scottish businesses to work with Police Scotland in to come up with innovative products and services. This will advance Scotland as a leading digitally-driven economy, and which integrates expertise across all its sectors.”

Federico Charosky, Managing Director, Quorum Cyber

“I think an interesting angle would be “how can we make police work more efficient through the use of technology?”. As Mr. MacAskill mentions in his comments, the role of the police is to keep people safe. However, where I disagree, is that this has now extended well beyond the realm of the physical world, and into the cyber space.

“I strongly believe the police must adapt and extend their capabilities to achieve their primary mission. But in order to do so they need to be properly trained and resourced. The private sector could provide a great partnership to accelerating the change that is needed.”

DIGIT has reached out to Police Scotland, but has yet to receive a reply.