The government is planning to establish a fully fledged digital forensic laboratory to help the law enforcement agencies and other state bodies detect criminals and ensure information security of the country.
“In this technological era there is no other alternative to set up a digital forensic lab. The ICT Division is seriously planning to establish a lab by this year considering the current situation,” State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said.
Primarily, the laboratory would be established in Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) building at Agargaon in the city. Later it will be shifted to a suitable place for better coordination with all the government agencies.
“Finance is one of the most important factors in establishing this lab. Size of the lab will also depend on the funding,” Palak said.
Initially, the ICT Division is trying to manage fund from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and two other countries through the External Relations Division (ERD).
In August last year, Palak announced that China would assist Bangladesh in establishing a digital forensic lab after a meeting with Chinese ICT Industry Minister Wang Xudong.
Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science encompassing the recovery and investigation of material found in digital devices, often in relation to computer-related crimes. Currently, several law enforcement agencies have some equipment to deal with such crimes. Once established, all the agencies would be able to take assistance from the lab.
The digital forensic lab is integrated with the Digital Security Act. So before establishing this lab, formulation of a digital information law is important which would be helpful to detect any criminal by using the latest technological devices.
The Digital Security Act 2016 is now awaiting the prime minister’s node. Later it would be sent to the cabinet for approval.
“While the digital economy is expanding, it is an urgent need to set up a digital forensic lab in the country,” Ashraful Islam, executive director of BCC, told the Dhaka Tribune. “This lab will play a vital role in detecting the cyber criminals,” he added.
Uttam Kumar Paul, general secretary of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), said that the initiative was time befitting as criminal activities based on digital devices had increased significantly.