The use of SMS text messaging as evidence in the Rhiana Moore murder trial was a high profile example of how communications technology can be harnessed to produce a successful conviction.

However, crimefighters also need to be one step ahead of modern technology and the dangers it can bring.

With people increasingly at risk of hackers, phishing, identity theft and other cyber crime, Police and prosecutors around the world face a constant battle against these invisible offenders.

Teamwork and cooperation across jurisdictions is therefore essential in tracking down the cyber criminals.

This weekend, the Department of Public Prosecutions is hosting a regional high-tech crime fighting workshop, attended by representatives from 15 Caribbean nations.

'Prosecutions: Technological Challenges and Practical Solutions' is also a training session for the Bermuda Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Telecommunications, Police, Customs and other stakeholders in the criminal justice system.

A Government spokeswoman said: "High-tech devices including computers now provide invaluable evidence. Ten years ago much of this evidence would have been unavailable to the prosecution.

"Now, effective use of such evidence can reduce the need for live witness evidence and can be very persuasive.

"Unfortunately there is another side to high-tech devices, and that is they can be used to commit crime. The two-day training aims to highlight the danger of new crimes and to assist prosecutors in using the opportunities offered by new technologies to successfully prosecute crime."

The trainers are Esther George, senior policy advisor for the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales (CPS); Detective Sergeant David Titheridge of the North Wales Police; and Albert Rees from the US Department of Justice, who is chairman of the Cyber Crime Working Group of the Organisation of American States (OAS).

In his conference opening remarks yesterday, Chief Justice Richard Ground said: "Bermuda is vulnerable to attack from outside because we host the financial industry and reinsurance industry. Both of those are vulnerable to hacking to obtain sensitive data.

"Should it happen, we need to have here the forensic intelligence to deal with it and to assist in overseas investigations dealing with the place of origin."

The Chief Justice said: "There is also a social aspect to the use of this technology. In a recent trial here we have seen extensive use of SMS messages to secure a conviction.

"We have seen how vulnerable young people, particularly girls, are to the world that modern communications gives them."

Relating the recent trial of 33-year-old Ze Selassie for the murder of 14-year-old Rhiana Moore to the delegates, Mr. Justice Ground said: "The young woman was sitting in bed with her mother and two children, and was texting at night to the much older man, making contact with him, and no one could tell it was going on, even though it happened under the eyes of a parent.

"This shows just how insidious this technology can be in our lives."

Director of Public Prosecutions, Rory Field, said: "One of the insidious things about cyber crime is that it is a hidden crime."

Commenting on the Rhiana Moore murder trial, he told The Royal Gazette: "The defendant [Ze Selassie] was described as a 'chronic SMS-er', that he was doing it morning to night. So there was a lot of information which provided a very clear backdrop to the nature of the communications between them and to their relationship, or at least the relationship he wanted her to believe existed."

Mr. Field said the IPOC case in 2008 proved how cooperation between jurisdictions could yield results.

"The successful case undertaken last year, where we cooperated with the BVI (British Virgin Islands), resulted in us making the biggest seizure of assets in the region ever," he said.

"This led to $45 million being shared between Bermuda and the BVI, and that was down in part to trust and having good working relations. We were able to work in a very successful partnership.

"We need to have good relationships between everyone Police forces and particularly the prosecutors, and so part of why we are here today is network building."

Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Kim Wilson, told delegates: "The fight against high-tech crime must be answered by a coordinated response throughout the criminal justice system, as these crimes by their nature are often cross-jurisdictional crimes, involving different countries.

"Cyber criminals act without borders, so it is essential that borders do not hamper law enforcement operations and prosecutors in effectively carrying out their functions.

"Not only is there a greater use of computers by criminals, but they are using more sophisticated technological devices to commit crimes. When we look at Internet pornography, paedophile rings, hacking, denial of service attacks, data theft, copyright theft, illegal transfer of funds, financing of terrorism or fraud, we can see that the computers are being used to commit the primary criminal act itself."

Senator Wilson added: "When jurisdictions are financial centres, there is a heightened need for awareness of the complexities of cyber crime, as there is a greater flow of money through these jurisdictions.

"Often, the more complex those flows are, the more likely that fraud or other white collar crimes will occur especially if there is a perception by the criminals that the regime is weak in investigating and prosecuting the crimes."

She said: "We are all aware that cyber crime is a constantly developing area on the cutting edge of technology, so we know we will have to constantly update our skills and training to properly understand high-tech areas and how to present these types of cases in court.

"Again, I reiterate that coordination between national prosecuting bodies within each region and internationally, and between investigating authorities throughout the region and internationally, is a good first step.

"These workshops will focus on strengthening our capacity to recognise and to present this type of evidence in court for more successful prosecution of cases."

In his opening remarks yesterday, Governor Sir Richard Gozney said he was only too aware of the problems of cyber crime, having served as British High Commissioner to Nigeria a country with "a certain reputation for this area".

Sir Richard said among the victims of Internet deception were Canadian women who were conned into sending money to Nigerian men, after being chatted up online.

He said often the men would arrange to visit them in Canada and then claim they couldn't travel because a close relative had been admitted to hospital. They would then ask for money towards the "expensive" medical treatment via bank transfer.

Sir Richard said: "There are also people who are not witting victims at all. There are all the unwitting victims of cyber crime who haven't answered anything on the Internet and are being got at.

"We need to succeed if the rest of us can avoid going back to the Dark Ages, wearing what we have in gold sovereigns in little pouches around our necks," he said.

Trainer Det. Sgt. David Titheridge told The Royal Gazette: "I hope to raise awareness of the types of digital evidence available at crime scenes. We're not just talking about murders, burglaries and deceptions, but even road traffic accidents have criminal elements. Sat nav systems and mobile phones can prove that people were present at the scene."

The two-day cyber crime conference at the Hamilton Princess is being funded by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Global Prosecutors e-Crime Network (GPEN). GPEN is backed by the CPS and the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP). Mr. Field was appointed to its ten-member development board last year, joining an international selection of senior lawyers.