EU opens center on fighting cybercrime

January 11, 2013 will be the official opening of the European Center for the fight against cybercrime (European Cybercrime Center, EC3). The opening ceremony, which will be held at the headquarters of the European Union Police Service in The Hague, will be attended by EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malström. Center staff took up their duties on January 1.



The new division of Europol will play a leading role in the fight against cybercrime in the territory of the European Union. EC3 will create the operational and analytical capacities necessary to ensure rapid response to cybercrime, as well as the organization of the interaction of the official agencies of the EU and member countries with international partners. The mandate of the Center defines the following areas of responsibility:



- combating crimes committed by organized criminal groups and entailing the receipt of illegal income on a particularly large scale, such as credit card fraud or banking fraud;



- combating crimes that cause serious harm to the victim, in particular with the seduction and seduction of minors;

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- Combating actions aimed at causing harm or disabling the EU infrastructure and information systems.



The Center will also collect and process data, provide information, technical and forensic support to relevant law enforcement units of EU member states, coordinate joint investigations, train and train specialists (in cooperation with CEPOL). The center will facilitate the necessary research and development of software (R & D), assess and analyze existing and potential threats, make forecasts and issue early warnings. The scope of the Center will also include assistance to judges and prosecutors.



According to the European Commission, Europeans are extremely concerned about the growing number of cybercrimes. 89% of EU populations avoid disclosing personal information online, 12% are already victims of fraud. Global damage from cybercrime in 2011 amounted to 290 billion euros.



The European Commission announced its intention to create a Center for the fight against cybercrime in November 2010. The feasibility study was carried out by the European division of the American Strategic Research Center (RAND).

Links

1. Official press release of the European Commission →
2. EC3 on Europol website →
3. Feasibility Study for a European Cybercrime Center →
4. Twitter Director EC3 →