Skilled cybercrime officers in the United Kingdom are leaving the police service to work for cryptocurrency companies, especially exchanges, where they can earn twice or even triple their previous income.
Experienced cybercrime officers are leaving much faster than members of the regular police force, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), a body that represents all law enforcement departments in the country, and they are heading to cryptocurrency companies that are headhunting cybercrime experts.
The rate at which the police are losing them is three to four times more than normal officer turnover.
According to the NPCC, a little more than a dozen professionals from the police (or with a background in law enforcement) are currently working for crypto firms. This figure is likely to climb significantly during the next 12-18 months.
According to Andrew Gould, the chief of the NPCC’s cybercrime unit, this is causing a major problem because cybersecurity talents are in high demand right now. In comparison to law enforcement, the private sector can pay them three times as much.
Binance and Coinbase offering high pay
Since 2018, government funding has been used to train roughly 250 cybersecurity specialists in how to investigate crimes involving cryptocurrencies, such as cyberattacks. Large crypto exchanges are now luring them in with astronomically high pay. Coinbase, Binance, and blockchain sleuth Chainalysis are among them.
Binance appointed a former official from the UK’s FCA regulator (Financial Conduct Authority) as Director of Regulatory Policy last week.
Read more: Is the UK crime agency, NCA, after the Crypto Transaction Mixers?
