We all enjoy the convenience of smartphones and PDAs, being able to send instant messages and email, and who could live without their mobile phone for more than a day?

We’re living in the digital age and we’re hooked. The impact on our business and personal lives has been monumental, but as with any technological leap forward, there comes a negative consequence.

The very immediacy we all love of communicating through these mobile devices also makes them a prime target for unscrupulous individuals, who use them as tools to access our financial information, steal our identities and store and transmit illegal information.

The latest smartphones have all the capabilities of mini computers and have given birth to a new breed of techno-savvy criminal, able to access our most personal information, even after it has been deleted!

Those responsible for crime prevention have had to try to keep up, and often move faster, to stay ahead of the latest scam.

This is why the UAE Ministry of Interior’s Electronic Crime Forensic Lab, established last year, has been working with specialist law enforcement units such as the London MET’s Digital & Electronics Forensic Service and the FBI’s CART team, to improve their technological capabilities.

With 95 cases on record since September 2009, the examination team at the Abu Dhabi-based lab has helped gather digital evidence in support of investigations into large-scale organised crime syndicates, child pornography rings and financial fraudsters operating within the UAE.

And with the Middle East’s smartphone market expected to grow by 39 percent by 2015, according to the International Data Corporation, there’s no time to waste.

Head of the Abu Dhabi lab, Captain Ali Al Rahbi has already committed to a new training contract with the London MET, acquired new premises and equipment, and is recruiting extra staff to bolster his crack team of investigators.

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