EU provides Georgia with сutting-edge technology to fight cybercrime

The Delegation of the European Union to Georgia officially handed over $219,244 worth of high technological software and hardware equipment to the Central Criminal Police Department of the Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry (MIA).

Through these specialised 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, EU NeighboursEast reports.

The handed-over equipment will be particularly helpful in tracking organised crime, child pornography, phishing/malware investigations, illegal information theft, different types of internet fraud and others.

The equipment has been procured by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), under the EU4 Security, Accountability and Fight Against Crime in Georgia (EU SAFE) initiative that aims to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of the Georgian security sector.

Director of the Central Criminal Police Department Teimuraz Kupatadze, Acting Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Georgia Catalin Gherman and UNOPS Georgia Country Manager Claude-André Nadon, attended the handover ceremony. 

“The European Union continues to support the security sector actors in Georgia to improve their institutional and technological capabilities to fight against crime effectively. 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,” Gherman said.

Furthermore, Nadon noted that the local law enforcement officers will now have access to the tools widely used by the leading law enforcement agencies in the EU and USA - considerably improving their performance levels in criminal investigations.

Since 2020, various cutting-edge IT software and hardware solutions with an overall value of $1,523,663 have been procured for Georgia MIA 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.