DOJ, NU join forces against cybercrime

Department of Justice building. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Aiming to boost the country’s campaign against cybercrime, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National University (NU) have joined forces to build a pool of digital forensics professionals through a full-fledged degree course.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and NU president Teodoro Ocampo on Friday signed an agreement for a public-private partnership (PPP) to develop cybercrime experts through Southeast Asia’s first four-year course on digital forensics.

Under the agreement, the DOJ will provide the legal framework and lend instructors to NU for its one-of-a-kind specialty course, Bachelor of Science in Computer Studies, Major in Digital Forensics.

Rolando Lansigan, Dean of the NU College of Computer Studies, said the course is the first not only in the country, but in all of Southeast Asia.

First introduced in 2012, the course develops professionals in the specialized field, particularly in the area of evidence retrieval from computer hard disks, mobile phones and other devices, said DOJ Assistant Secretary Geronimo Sy.

“This must be of historical record, for this is the first academic institution to have such curriculum, approved by the Commission on Higher Education, to partner with the department to build a pool of digital forensic professionals equipped with the requisite expertise, backed up by adequate resources and educated under an ethical framework,” De Lima said in remarks during the signing rites on Friday morning.

“This long-term PPP will provide institutionalized capacity building and allow sharing of resources to educate, develop and enhance the knowledge and skills of our youth and prepare them to face the global challenge of cybercrime that lies before them as they will later on serve as vanguards of our society,” she said.

Under the agreement, the DOJ will provide internships to NU digital forensics students, allowing them to take part in the investigation of actual cases.

NU will offer a 20 percent discount to DOJ employees or their dependents who are interested in the course.

The agreement will take effect starting the next school year.

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