Lessons from crime fighters Getting people to care about cyber security and data protection is not always easy. Even in a police force that should care. Nick Selby is a former NYPD police officer, now cyber security consultant, who tells a great story about how he helped to create a stronger focus on online fraud within the police department. Previously a lot of online fraud would not be investigated, because lines of investigation were quickly exhausted or simply not reported, because either they didn’t have the capability or desire to pursue. Selby helped to change the culture, through three key principles: Keep it simple. Cyber security can sound like something that is for someone else. NYPD knew that it had to be owned by everyone; but to do that, it had to make it straightforward and relatable. This was done in training sessions which had fewer than 20 slides and keep the message and action simple and accessible. Empower people. The categorisation of cybercrimes seems like a small thing, but it enabled the NYPD to see the trends taking place. It was by encouraging cops to allot crimes to categories that enabled better investigations. Show results. There was little awareness of the scale of online fraud – and even less of the success rates of investigation and conviction. By measuring cyber crime, the NYPD was able to reveal the size of the problem, as well as showcase examples of successful crime fighting.