BBC report on Firebrand's Police Force Cybercrime training

This morning, Firebrand Training’s unique Cyber Crime Pathways Programme was featured on BBC Breakfast News.

The BBC covered an exclusive insight into how non-technical police officers are trained and skilled in the cyber security investigation and forensic techniques required to catch criminals.

The Cyber Crime Pathways Programme, delivered using our unique accelerated training approach, shows frontline police officers how to effectively respond to the rise in cybercrime across the UK.

Rory Cellan-Jones, the BBC’s leading technology reporter, watched as a team of police officers infiltrated a simulated hacker’s lair.

The high-pressure scenario required the police to utilise their training to efficiently find hidden devices and collect the forensics evidence needed to identify the cyber-criminal.

Interviewed on BBC, DC Steve Mersh said: “It’s a case of learning the practical skills that we can utilise, no different to a finding a gun at a crime scene that we can make safe from the public and attribute to the criminal.”

Missed it this morning?

Since the Cyber Crime Pathways Programme launched in 2014, Firebrand has trained 659 police officers across 80% of all police forces in the UK. Part of the 960 accelerated courses taken by police are hands-on, practical crime scene simulations like those featured in the BBC programme.

At a time when you’re more likely to be a victim of a cybercrime than any other offence, the UK is dedicated to upskilling its force to combat this growing threat.

“Back in the day, the officers would simply turn up and literally just pull the electricity supply out of the back of the computer, bag it, tag it and send it away for a forensic investigation which could take months before they got back with anything meaningful,” says Phil Chapman, Lead Cyber Security Instructor at Firebrand Training.

Phil continued: “We’re proud to provide accelerated cyber security training to local police forces across the UK. Cybercrime is one of the largest threats to businesses and consumers today - our police need the know-how to respond to this unique form of criminality.

“Firebrand has developed an amazing partnership with local police forces across the UK and we’re excited to share our ongoing work with the BBC.”

Fight Cybercrime with Firebrand

For the past twelve years in a row, we’ve been named one of the Top 20 IT Training Companies in the World. At Firebrand, we take Cyber Security very seriously, making it a core component of our accelerated courses, Apprenticeships, and Skills Bootcamps.

Perhaps one of them is right for you? See all our courses.