The Brazilian Federal Police (PF) launched an initiative designed to bolster cybersecurity and curb cyberattacks against public institutions and private companies, while promoting information exchange.
“The establishment [of the unit] follows strategic guidelines of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security in the fight against cybercrime, with a focus on formal investigative operations in sensitive and complex cases involving high-tech crimes,” the PF’s Press Office told Diálogo in a statement. “The specialized [unit] was created to exchange information, with an emphasis on educational, preventive, and repressive measures. With its creation, the institutions hope to make cyberspace safer, strengthening cooperation and integration of all entities involved,” the statement added.
Headquartered in the Information Technology and Innovation Directorate of the PF Regional Superintendence complex, in Brasilia, Federal District, the new unit’s investigators will seek to understand the structure and the way criminal organizations act, fostering knowledge that will be disseminated throughout the PF regional offices.
“The Federal Police has been rigorously combating these crimes, investigating and reaching the perpetrators by joining forces. The creation of the UEICC will make Police work more specialized. We firmly believe that this public/private partnership will be very promising and will bear great fruit. We are strongly committed to this new procedure and to this joint effort; we are certain we will be successful,” said Márcio Nunes de Oliveira, PF general director, in a speech during the official launch ceremony for the unit.
In 2020, Febraban created a laboratory that simulates cyberattacks to curb fraud and has already trained more than 4,000 employees. This is the attack data that the institution will share with the PF, as part of a technical cooperation agreement signed in March 2022, to strengthen the fight against these crimes. Febraban and the PF have another technical cooperation agreement in place since 2015, under the name Operation Tentacles, to combat electronic banking fraud. The PF initiated more than 60 operations through intelligence and investigation work under this agreement.
In mid-June, the PF also signed cooperation agreements with Guyana, Ecuador, and Colombia to strengthen the fight against transnational organized crime in South America, including cybercrime. The agreements provide for the exchange of experiences and technical cooperation between the police of the signatory nations. On the occasion, South American representatives visited the PF’s National Police Academy (ANP) and the National Public Security Force’s Management and Monitoring Center. The visit highlighted the Brazilian proposal for the participation of South American security agents in courses provided by the ANP and divisions of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.