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Bangladesh is planning to establish a specialised cyber police unit by recruiting technology and cybersecurity experts, while modernising the Cyber Security Act to ensure clearer legal provisions and safeguards against misuse, Home Minister Salahuddin said.
The proposed unit will include specialists in system analysis, financial data analysis, cybersecurity, emergency response, network administration, disaster recovery, content development, cryptocurrency analysis, malware investigation, dark web monitoring, communications and social media analysis.
According to the minister, experts may be recruited on a contractual basis, with salaries and benefits structured differently from those of regular police personnel.
Police officers with relevant expertise or an interest in cybersecurity will also be incorporated into the unit. Arrangements have been made to provide selected officers with advanced training at home and abroad, with a group of senior officers already chosen for overseas training.
The government also plans to introduce incentives for specialists who contribute to the unit, Salahuddin added.
The minister said the government was reviewing the Cyber Security Act through consultations with journalists, editors and relevant experts.
The proposed amendments aim to define cyber-related offences more precisely while taking into account the need to protect religious and social harmony.
The government is also considering safeguards to prevent the law from being misused to harass innocent people or individuals not involved in any offence, he said.
“This is a very sensitive law, so we are taking time. We will bring the bill after discussing it with everyone,” Salahuddin said.
Responding to a question about whether existing police cybercrime units and relevant activities of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) would be incorporated into the new structure, the minister said the government was working to reorganise the existing operations.
“We are bringing the previously unorganised process under an umbrella leadership. We are going to give it an organised form,” he said.
The proposed restructuring is intended to bring existing cybercrime-related activities under a coordinated leadership framework, potentially strengthening investigative capacity and improving responses to emerging digital threats.
