The European Union Bolsters Support for Georgian Law Enforcement Agencies in Tackling Cybercrime Surge
The EU reinforces Georgia’s fight against cybercrime with Cutting-Edge Technology for the Central Criminal Police Department.
The Delegation of the European Union to Georgia officially handed over 219,244 USD worth of high technological software and hardware equipment to the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (MIA), which has been procured by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), under the EU funded SAFE programme.
The handover ceremony was attended by the Director of the Central Criminal Police Department, Mr. Teimuraz Kupatadze, Acting Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Georgia, Mr. Catalin Gherman and UNOPS Georgia Country Manager, Mr. Claude-André Nadon.
Catalin Gherman, Acting Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Georgia: “The European Union continues to support the security sector actors in Georgia to improve their institutional and technological capabilities to effectively fight against crime. The equipment handed over to the Georgian law enforcement officers today will be particularly helpful in tracking cyber criminals, investigating complex cases of cybercrime and in long-run, contributing to the decreased rates of crime in the country.“
Through specialized software and hardware solutions, the Georgian law enforcement agencies will be able to better analyse and recover forensic data for digital evidence of a crime, monitor and trace cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, conduct computer, mobile and cloud forensics by extracting data from various digital devices.
Claude-André Nadon, Country Manager of UNOPS/Georgia: “With the support from the European Union, UNOPS has successfully delivered high technological software and hardware solutions to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. The local law enforcement officers will now have access to the tools which are widely used by the leading law enforcement agencies in the EU and USA – considerably improving their performance levels in criminal investigations.”
The types of investigations which would benefit the most from the present equipment include: organized crime, child pornography, phishing/malware investigations, illegal information theft, different types of internet fraud and others.
Since 2020, various cutting-edge IT software and hardware solutions with the overall value of 1,523,663 USD have been procured for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia through the financial support of the European Union and provided within the framework of the “Support to Advancing Technical Capacities for Ensuring Human Security” project, implemented by UNOPS. The Project is part of the wider EU4 Security, Accountability and Fight Against Crime in Georgia (EU SAFE) initiative, that aims to contribute to the increased efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of institutions in the Georgian security sector.