TWENTY JOBS ARE being created at a new project in UCD aimed at tackling international cybercrime.

The 2Centre project is a collaborative effort involved Irish and French academics and industries, the Gardaí and other police forces around Europe, and the European Commission.

2Centre will operate as part of the existing UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation, which was established in 2006, and staff at the unit will lead and manage the project, while a similar project will operate at a university in France. The centre at UCD has already trained members of Europol and Interpol in cybercrime investigation.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter says that UCD and the Gardaí have been involved in training over 1,000 police officers from cybercrime units around the world, and that the 2Centre project aims to develop advanced training, including the development of forensic software tools.

The Department of Justice is currently preparing a Criminal Justice Cybercrime Bill, which will create a range of offences relating to information systems and data, including hacking a system and accessing data.