Lower Saxony & Bremen: With a “powerful force” against cybercrime

Lower Saxony & Bremen
With a “powerful force” against cybercrime

October 5, 2024, 5:05 a.m

What can be done about the growing number of cybercrime cases? Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister Wahlmann has a plan.

Oldenburg/Hannover (dpa/lni) – Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann will step up the pace in the fight against cybercrime. To this end, the three existing public prosecution offices specializing in cybercrime should be brought together to form “a powerful nationwide force,” the SPD politician announced in an interview with the Oldenburg “Nordwest-Zeitung”.

New public prosecutor’s office with around 25 prosecutors

According to the minister, the new cybercrime-focused public prosecutor’s office will have around 25 prosecutors in the future. The new unit will be assigned to the Oldenburg Public Prosecutor’s Office, but the headquarters should be in Osnabrück – because of its proximity to Westphalia: It is hoped “to be able to recruit many experts from there too”.

Cybercrime includes so-called messenger fraud, i.e. false personal messages via SMS to potential victims, fake SMS from alleged parcel services and phishing when selling classified ads. This also includes attacks on computer systems and networks.

Number of cybercrime cases is increasing

Last year, the number of cybercrime cases in Lower Saxony rose again: in 2023, according to previous information from the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior, there were 13,218 cases nationwide, around 1,000 more than the year before. In the past five years, the number of cybercrime cases has increased by around 40 percent. In 2023, around 3,400 suspects were identified, around 200 more than the year before.

In an interview with the newspaper, Wahlmann also expressed his belief that the so-called electronic files would be introduced on time by the end of 2025. The civil justice system is currently being changed, she said. The district courts should be completed by the end of the year. Wahlmann said: “The entire criminal justice system will follow next year.”

New prosecutor positions

At the same time, she announced that she would create 39 new positions for public prosecutors in the new financial year – due to the high burden on the judiciary. Another 16 positions would be added in the middle service. Public prosecutors in Lower Saxony are working 31 percent more than planned, the minister explained. “This burden is absolutely unacceptable in the long term.” In addition, the authorities should be strengthened with 7 public prosecutor positions and 21 positions for subordinate services by receiving positions from less burdened segments of the judiciary.