First recruitment of cybercrime investigators

For an effective and efficient crime control in the field of information and communications technology (ICT), the BKA employed seven cybercrime investigators as part of a pilot project for the first time. IT experts with corresponding bachelor's degrees, recruited from outside the BKA, are trained as police officers who can then combine the required cyber know-how with criminalistic capabilities.

The tasks performed by cybercrime investigators include the whole range of autonomous criminal case handling in the BKA's specialist divisions, such as

• clearing up hacking attacks,
• internet fraud and other computer offences,
• forensic identification and analysis of digital traces,
• investigations regarding organised criminals or terrorists, and
• evaluation and analysis of information.

Presentation of the "Police 2020" Initiative

Start of the BKA online information portal

It was already in the aftermath of the attack on the Boston Marathon in April 2013, that the German police recognised the need for accepting online leads in the form of private image and video materials. Following the incidents on the night of New Year's Eve in Cologne, the information portal was first used in January 2016 to record leads. Since then, the information portal has been made available for specific periods of time, as occasion demands.