All 11,000 employees of Dubai Police will be computer-literate within five years, the police chief said yesterday. Major General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said a five-year training plan is being prepared to harness the benefits of modern technology.

"We are going to eradicate computer and electronic illiteracy from our employees," he said. Maj. Gen. Dhahi was speaking at the opening of a nine-day training course on investigating Information Technology crime.

"Prevention is essential in curbing crime," he said. "Information Technology crime is increasing in societies elsewhere, and we should work hard and seriously to enhance security measures and prevent that crime from creeping into our society. We should be able to trace criminals once they commit such crimes."

He said the global revolution in information technology influences all aspects of life. Information Technology is developing at such a rapid pace that even specialists have difficulty keeping up.

"These situations make it a real challenge for police to control information technology crime and cope with security risks. However, the security officer should build the necessary 'base' to be able to understand criminal thinking. We should act and not react, even with overseas hackers," he said.

"Here there are no fingerprints and it is difficult to trace the criminal because such crimes are committed remotely by highly skilled people." Cybercrime victims are also reluctant to contact the police for fear their clients will lose confidence in their ability to maintain confidentiality.

Training course coordinator Ali Qasim said Information Technology and Internet crimes take priority in developed and developing countries. He said the UAE last Monday submitted to the Executive Bureau of Arab Justice Ministers a proposed unified law to fight Information Technology crimes and hacking.

The country is working hard to combat such crimes and prepare the laws and staff to curb them, he said. The session will deal with challenges in investigating information crimes, the Internet and information technology, legislation to fight hacking, cases of credit and electronic cards, and classification of information crime.

Other topics include criminal procedures involving information crime, the Internet and information security, means of tracing Internet hackers, how to deal with hackers and examples of e-crime.