Cyber-Crime fighting centre opens in Buea

A Cyber-Crime Fighting Centre, amounting to 287.5 million FCfa, has been established in Buea to prevent the crime which is increasing in the country.

The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Jean Pierre Biyiti Bi Essam, chaired the inaugural on July 21, 2015, at the Buea Mountain Hotel. The opening was attended by representatives of partner ministries such as the Ministry of Defence and Justice. The University of Buea will execute the project in cooperation with the Bloomsburg University, USA.

After the inaugural speeches, Jean Pierre Biyiti Bi Essam visited the National Cyber Expertise Centre based at the Buea Posts and Telecommunications School.

The centre will carry out research and train experts (25 per batch) to develop cyber security protection measures, fight cyber criminality and thwart cyber terrorist threats.

Minister Biyiti Bi Essam explained that the country’s progress, with so many government and private projects, required greater use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

“Unfortunately, ICTs which are very important tools have been turned into a great danger to Cameroon's security by some unscrupulous people,” he stressed. “This is why it is important to sensitise and train people to fight these risks with ICTs,” he pointed out.

According to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea, Nalova Lyonga, "As the people advance and finds better ways of doing things, criminals also find better ways of perpetrating evil; bringing us backwards with their new tactics."

To mark the inaugural ceremony of the Cyber-Crime Fighting Centre, a Bloomsburg University luminary, Professor Scott Inch, a Mathematics, Computer and Statistics expert, delivered an enlightening introductory lecture on cyber-crime, warning users of ICTs to be very careful as traces of crime are never completely deleted. He made it clear that crime can be detected by forensically studying one's telephone, computer or any ICT equipment used.