Understanding the Expertise Required by Law Enforcement Investigating Cybercrime: An Exploration of Social Engineering Techniques

Cybercrime represents a significant threat for the 21st century, a threat that traditional methods of policing cannot adequately manage. Consequently, new ways of policing utilising specialised teams have been implemented to address cybercrime proactively. One method of policing that has been relatively unexplored within academic literature is covert online investigations, wherein law enforcement creates false identities to interact with offenders from. Existing research has not comprehensively explored what tactics, techniques, and procedures law enforcement use when conducting these investigations. Accordingly, selection and training of employees presents unique challenges. Therefore, this study aims to provide a detailed evaluation of what skills are needed by law enforcement. This information can then inform future training and selection. This study examines in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight New Zealand Police investigators using Applied Cognitive Task Analysis. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results revealed three themes with 18 sub-themes. The first theme explored operational pre-planning, the second theme explored social engineering techniques used to gather information, and the third theme explored the wide-ranging external considerations. Finally, the discussion outlines the implications for theories of social engineering, applications for law enforcement training and recruitment, and potential future research opportunities within social engineering and police psychology.