E/CN.15/2002/8 adoption and application of effective measures against high-technology and computer-related crime and offenders both in general and in specific cases; information, such as instructions for the production of synthetic drugs and messages that encourage drug abuse. (c) To promote, support and implement, as appropriate, technical cooperation and assistance projects. Such projects would bring together experts in crime prevention, computer security, criminal legislation and procedures, prosecution, investigative techniques and related matters with States seeking information or assistance in those areas. 17. In the report of the Secretariat of 21 December 2000 on the world situation with regard to illicit drug trafficking, the problem of electronic crime was considered and the recommendation made that Governments develop national policies supporting law enforcement responses (E/CN.7/2001/5, para. 150). Law enforcement agencies were called upon to liaise with service providers to ensure that relevant data was kept by the providers long enough to permit its recovery for investigative purposes and to work together in combating money-laundering via the Internet. In January 2002, a subsidiary body of the Commission, the Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Europe, held a regional meeting of experts to examine the problems faced by law enforcement agencies that encountered new technologies in drug-related investigations. The problems identified by the group included the enormous volumes of stored and transmitted data within which critical information must be identified and found; the increasing dependency of law enforcement on service providers to search for or intercept data and the cost- and security-related implications of this; and the advent of a range of new technologies, such as digital cellular telephones, satellite telephones and secure Internet chat rooms, which were harder to intercept than older methods of communication. Particular concerns were expressed about the advent of strong encryption products, which make intercepted or seized data difficult or impossible to read and which are becoming more common, both as applications that can be acquired and used by offenders and as integral “off-the-shelf” elements of electronic mail (e-mail), cellular telephone and other technologies. 15. Pursuant to paragraph 5 of resolution 56/261, in which the General Assembly invited the SecretaryGeneral to consider carefully and implement, as appropriate, the plans of action, including the plan of action against high-technology and computer-related crime, in accordance with the medium-term plans and the programme budgets and subject to available resources, and taking into account the comments made by the Commission at its tenth session, 7 a more detailed study of the problem and the actions set out in the plan of action will be undertaken as the necessary resources become available. 16. The increasing use of new computer and telecommunication technologies by organized criminal groups remains a matter of ongoing concern. This is particularly true for organizations that produce and traffic in narcotic drugs, which are among the most elaborate and best financed of criminal groups and therefore have access to the best available devices and expertise. The technologies are employed by producers and traffickers in much the same way as by legitimate commercial users. Information concerning the delivery of drug consignments is passed from sender to recipient using media that cannot easily be intercepted or read by law enforcement personnel. Business records are kept in foreign jurisdictions, concealed within large volumes of other data and protected by technologies such as firewalls and encryption to shield them from investigators. Electronic tracking of freight is used by traffickers to monitor items in which drugs or other contraband is concealed and, in the event of any undue delay, to alert them to possible discovery and interception of the shipment. The relative anonymity of electronic fund transfers is being used increasingly to pay for shipments without attracting the attention of law enforcement agents and by the recipients of the payments to launder them afterwards. The Internet is also being used to communicate basic 18. In its reports for 1997, 8 1998 9 and 2000, 10 the International Narcotics Control Board expressed concern about various ways in which new communication technologies were becoming a factor in illicit drug-related activities. In its report for 2001, the Board examined the problem in detail and made a series of recommendations. Generally, the Board noted that organized crime had become globalized and that the availability of new communication technologies had played a role in that development. In the case of international drug-related problems, the effects 5