The House passed legislation on Monday to authorize a program to help train local law enforcement on preventing cyber crimes.
The bill, approved easily by voice vote, would formally establish a National Computer Forensics Institute within the Secret Service for educating state and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges on methods for investigating cyber threats and forensic examinations of mobile devices.
{mosads}“We’ve all seen the crime shows on TV where pieces of DNA evidence, a strand of hair or a drop of blood are used to solve a case. But in today’s world, we have to rely upon digital evidence. An email that was sent, an online purchase that was made, geolocation technology that places an individual at the scene of a crime,” said Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), the legislation’s sponsor.
In addition to training, the institute would provide local law enforcement agencies with computer equipment and software for investigating cyber and electronic crimes.
The measure now heads to the Senate for approval.