•  2023 online courses in digital forensics – details on the work of our 2023 cohorts to be featured when complete
• 2024 online courses in digital forensics – opportunities to be circulated to Working Group members mid-2024
• Cybercrime training webinar – details to be announced in the coming months
• Developing resources to support implementation of cybercrime legislation – details to be announced throughout 2024

The PILON Cybercrime Working Group is proud to release online versions of two workbooks on digital forensics, one for law enforcement and one for lawyers. The workbooks are a practical resource intended to assist with understanding the basics of digital forensic investigations and related challenges. They are specifically designed to support participation in the PILON Zyber Insig2 Fundamentals of Digital Forensic Courses.

Combating Cybercrime: ``Trends and Tools in a Changing World``

The PILON Cybercrime Working Group is proud to release the digital version of the 2022 Cybercrime Workshop Booklet. This booklet provides a visual snapshot and short text summary of the presentations and discussions throughout last year’s Cybercrime Workshop, as well as extracts from the case studies we explored. The four-day event was a valuable platform to gain insights into cybercrime challenges and opportunities for more effective collaboration across the entire justice system.

``Digital Forensics Courses``

Congratulations to the 26 Pacific lawyers and law enforcement officers who took part in our parallel courses on the ‘Fundamentals of Digital Forensics’ (delivered by Zyber/Insig2). We hope you also enjoyed the three virtual case study sessions held over late September to late October.

These courses have now officially closed.  A certificate ceremony was held on the final day of the 2022 Cybercrime Workshop for graduates and those still undertaking coursework. Officer in Charge, Gabriel Fakatonu, of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, and Mr Nixon Alten, Assistant Attorney-General, Federated States of Micronesia, presented on their learnings from the course

``Cybercrime Workshop``

Across four days PILON held the fourth and final workshop in the series of annual flagship events. This workshop was co-hosted together with the Government of the Republic of Fiji and funded primarily by the Australian Government’s Cyber and Critical Technology Cooperation Program (CCTCP) with support from the Council of Europe.

Titled ‘Combatting Cybercrime: Trends and Tools in a Changing World’, this year’s workshop focused on gendered impacts of online engagement and the most common types of cyber-enabled offences in Pacific communities, promoting knowledge sharing, capacity building and regional cooperation. The event featured presentations from senior officials from across the Pacific and other countries and organisations worldwide, including PILON member countries, PaCSON, PTCN, PIFS, Interpol, FBI, the Australian Federal Police, the Reserve Bank of Fiji and many others.  The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime was broadly recognized by high level speakers in the event as the leading standard on cybercrime legislation. In the Pacific region, Tonga is a Party to the Budapest Convention, together with Australia, while New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu have been invited to accede to this treaty.

An official booklet summarising the activities and learnings will be published in the coming months. Official booklets from previous workshops can be viewed in our cybercrime digital library.

``Cybercrime Legislation Webinar``

5 August 2022

The joint COE and PILON Cybercrime Working Group webinar on “Cybercrime Legislation in the Pacific: Sharing Perspectives on Recent Progress.“

The webinar discussed progress in harmonising and updating legal frameworks on cybercrime and electronic evidence, in line with international standards (i.e., Budapest Convention) as a crucial milestone in equipping relevant authorities in the region to address cybercrime issues. We heard from Kiribati and Tonga on the approach their country has taken, and also  Council of Europe presented on the impacts and benefits of acceding to the Budapest Convention, the accession process and further types of assistance the Council of Europe can extend to interested countries.

Speakers

Mrs. Terianna Kourabi (Kiribati Ministry of Information, Communications and Transport) is an Information Security Analyst in the Cybersecurity Unit and Computer Emergency Response Team within the Kiribati Ministry of Information, Communications and Transport.”

Tupou K Vainikolo (Attorney General’s Office, Kingdom of Tonga) is a Crown Prosecutor in the Criminal Division. She is involved in the assessment and prosecution of indictable criminal offences, including criminal offences that are cyber-related. She assists the Attorney General in her involvement in national, regional and international matters related to cybercrime and cyber safety.

 Catalina Stroe (Cybercrime Programme Office, Council of Europe) is programme manager of the Global Action on Cybercrime Extended (GLACY+), joint project of European Union and Council of Europe. The primary aim of the project is to strengthen the capacities of States worldwide to apply legislation on cybercrime and electronic evidence and enhance their abilities for effective international cooperation in this area, while ensuring compliance with international human rights standards and the rule of law.
Before joining Council of Europe, Catalina acted as a white collar crime defence attorney and for more than 15 years. She covered AML/CTF compliance matters, fraud and corruption prevention area, with extensive experience in various forensic projects.

To view recording of this webinar please click here

“The Zyber “Digital Forensics for Lawyers and Judges – Intermediate level”

April 2022 – July 2022

The scholarship course ran from April to July 2022. Participants built a deeper understanding of the issues considered in the Fundamentals course, piloted by the Cybercrime Working Group in 2021.

This course covers more advanced aspects of computer, mobile, network, and cloud forensics – different types of evidence and their forensic value, how to acquire digital evidence, what are the forensic solutions, challenges, and most importantly, time and effort needed.

As part of the course, participants engaged in three Zoom class discussion sessions with experts on digital forensics practice and procedure from Pacific countries. Recordings of each Zoom session from the Fundamentals and Intermediate courses are available in the Members’ Zone.”

Webinar: Countering Disinformation

26 November 2021

The co-badged webinar between the PILON Cybercrime Working Group and the Council of Europe on ‘Countering Disinformation’ was a success.

Panelists for the webinar included;

• Council of Europe
• Pacific Fusion Centre
• Kiribati Ministry of Information, Communication, Transport and Tourism Development
• Kingdom of Tonga Attorney-General’s Office

To view recording of this webinar please click here

``Addressing Image-Based Abuse`` Part 2

23 September 2021

This webinar recording is brought to you by the Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network(PILON) Cybercrime and Sexual and Gender Based Violence(SGBV) Working Groups.

Ms Dana Esperanza, Assistant Director, Attorney-General’s Department, Australia, chaired the webinar.

Panelists for the webinar included;

• Rosalie O’Neale, Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner
• Superintendent Kalisi Tohifolau, Tonga Police
• Fiona Cleary, Principal at the Luke Cunningham Clere, New Zealand

To view recording of this webinar please click here

``Addressing Image-Based Abuse`` Part 1

26 August 2021

This webinar recording is brought to you by the Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network(PILON) Cybercrime and Sexual and Gender Based Violence Working Groups jointly delivered the first of two part webinar.

Moderator by Mr James Lutui, Director of Public Prosecutions, Kingdom of Tonga.  Presenters for the webinar included;

• Karen Bentley, CEO, WESNET 
• Stephanie Dunn, Legal Officer, Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre

To view recording of this webinar please click here

Cybercrime and Children in a Covid-19 World: Part 2 – Online Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)

4 June 2021, 2pm Samoan Time (WST)

This webinar recording is brought to you by the Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network(PILON) Cybercrime and Children in a Covid-19 World: Part 2-Online Child Sexual Abuse Materials.

The webinar was chaired by Attorney General Linda Folauetu’i , Kingdom of Tonga.

Panellists for the webinar included:

• Goimel Saolo, UNICEF Child Protection Consultant, Vanuatu
• Partick Burton, UNICEF Pacific Child Online Protection Consultant
• Katie Hodges, UNICEF Pacific Child Protection Specialist
• Cassandra Armstrong and Nathalie Espinoza, Cybercrime and Online Safety Policy Section, Australian Department of Home Affairs
• Julie Zezovska and Kit Arjura, Child Abuse and Family Violence Section, Department of Home Affairs
• Rachel Olutimayin, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Solomon Islands

To view recording of this webinar please click here

Cybercrime and Children in a Covid-19 World: Part 1 - Cyberbullying

18 March 2021, 2pm Samoan Time (WST)

This webinar was the first of a two part webinar series on Cybercrime and Children in a Covid-19 World.

Covid-19 has changed the world as we know it. While we have been forced to physically distance, we have become more connected through the internet, adapting to remote work, learning and video calls. Cybercriminals have adapted to our increased online engagement, rendering children more vulnerable than ever in this new criminal landscape. As the first of our two-part webinar on Cybercrime and Children in a Covid-19 world, the Cyberbullying webinar discussed the challenges of keeping our children safe when engaging with digital technology, as well as opportunities for adapting laws and policies to prevent harmful practices.

Panellists for the webinar included:

• Ms Anne Dunn-Baleilevuka, Commissioner of the Fiji Online Safety Commission
• Ms Kelly Tallon, Manager of Online Harm Policy at the Australian eSafety Commission
• Ms Ella Serry, Assistant Manager, International Strategy and Futures at the Australian eSafety Commission
• Professor Amanda Third (PhD), Professorial Research Fellow in the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University

The webinar was chaired by Mr James Lutui, Director of Public Prosecutions in the Kingdom of Tonga , and live scribed by graphic artist, Ms Jessamy Gee.

To view webinar poster: Download poster

To view recording of this webinar please click here.

We thank our speakers and participants for their engagement during the webinar and look forward to your interest in second part of this webinar series.

PILON Webinar – Mutual Legal Assistance: Electronic Evidence and Cybercrime

2 December 2020, 3pm Samoan Time (WST)

The Pacific Islands Law Officers Network (PILON) Cybercrime Working Group hosted a live webinar about mutual legal assistance, electronic evidence and cybercrime.

To view agenda: Download agenda

To view presentations: Download presentation by Kilby Baker

Recording of this webinar can be found here.

PILON Week Webinar - The effects of COVID-19 on cybercrime in the Pacific

10 November 2020, 2pm Samoan Time (WST)

The Pacific Islands Law Officers Network (PILON) hosted a live webinar on the effects of COVID-19 on cybercrime in the Pacific. This event was delivered in partnership with the Council of Europe.

To view agenda: Download agenda

To view presentations in a poster format: Presentation poster

To view recording of this webinar click here.

PILON Mutual Legal Assistance Handbook: Cybercrime & Electronic Evidence

The PILON Cybercrime Working Group has developed this resource to assist criminal justice practitioners in the Pacific to obtain material through mutual legal assistance (MLA) relating to criminal proceedings in one country at the request of another. MLA is a key form of international cooperation and is important for cybercrime investigations and prosecutions as the world, and crime, becomes increasingly borderless and transnational in nature.

We encourage you to explore the handbook as an online resource.

Printed hardcopies will also be available to PILON members in due course. Meanwhile you can download the PILON Mutual Legal Assistance Handbook here:  MLA Handbook (PDF, 8.2 MB)

Templates

A number of templates are available for download and use by PILON member law enforcement agencies and central authorities to assist in the preparation and processing of mutual assistance requests. The templates are a guide only and consideration should be given to adapting to the particular needs and legislative requirements of your country.

Download (DOCX, 38.9 KB)  Mutual Legal Assistance Questionnaire for Law Enforcement

Download (DOCX, 25.0 KB)  Mutual Legal Assistance Request

Download (DOCX, 18.7 KB)  Affidavit of business employee

Download (DOCX, 13.7 KB)  Affidavit of a law enforcement officer or government official

Download (DOCX, 18.0 KB)  Direct request to service provider for voluntary disclosure of data

Download (DOCX, 18.0 KB)  Emergency request to service provider for data

Workshop: International cooperation to share electronic evidence and combat cybercrime

27-31 May 2019, Port Vila, Vanuatu

Agenda and presentations from the workshop can be found on the Council of Europe’s website.

To view agenda:   

Download workshop booklet (PDF, 11.7 MB)

Workshop: Combatting online child abuse and cyberbullying in the Pacific

12-15 June 2018, Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga

Download workshop agenda (PDF, 577.7 KB) Download workshop booklet (PDF, 18.7 MB)

Workshop: The Pacific response to cybercrime: effective tools and good practices

23-25 May 2017, Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga

Download workshop agenda (PDF, 762.1 KB) Download workshop booklet (PDF, 9.8 MB)

Overview of cybercrime legislation in the Pacific

In collaboration with the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police and the Australian Attorney-General’s Department, PILON conducted a high level overview of cybercrime legislation in the Pacific in 2016.

This document is available through the PILON Members’ Zone. If you are not a member but you are interested in learning more about this, please contact the PILON Secretariat.