The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is building a unit that will specifically target domestic and global cybercrime.

The unit is part of a five-year strategy that will see the RCMP spending some $30.5 million for a staff of 40 civilians and police officers. The new unit will include intelligence analysts, highly specialized technical staff, trainers and some 24 investigators from the RCMP’s national division.

“The criminal exploitation of new and emerging technologies requires new policing measures to keep pace in the digital era,” according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cybercrime Strategy Document released today. “The same techniques that people and organizations use for legitimate purposes may be used by criminals to mask their online activities and evade detection from law enforcement.”

The release of the document came a week after RCMP Commissioner Bob Polson spoke at the recent Securetech 2015 security conference in Ottawa where he reiterated the RCMP’s recommendation that the force be granted warrantless access to Canadian’s Internet subscriber information.

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The RCMP said it is the only federal organization with the mandate and authority to investigate criminal offences related to cybercrime, such as those targeting government systems and networks and other critical infrastructures.

Under the cybercrime strategy, the RCMP plans:

  • Create and activate a cybercrime unit by 2020
  • Enhance digital evidence capabilities
  • Improve collection and analysis of cybercrime data
  • Improve national coordination on major crime investigations
  • Expand international cooperation in crime investigations
  • Provide local industry with timely and relevant cybercrime information
  • Support modernization of Canadian laws

The new cybercrime unit will be stationed in Ottawa “to investigate the most significant threats to Canada’s political, economic and social integrity,” the document said.