International terrorism, online child sexual abuse and illegal crypto-asset transactions were on the agenda for the CYCLOPES meeting held in Vienna this week. CYCLOPES is a network funded by the European Union that pools national forces combating international threats on the Internet. The project brings together findings and experiences of law enforcement agencies, police academies as well as researchers and academia from all over Europe. The meeting was hosted by the CYCLOPES partner Austrian Standards at the House of Standards & Innovation in Vienna where experts contribute to important standards to support the fight against cybercrime.
Around 100 experts from across the ecosystem, including European law enforcement agencies, public prosecutors and research organisations used the networking meeting to exchange information on new methods for combating cybercrime and highlighted some of the challenges currently faced. In the past few years, significant progress has been made to respond to the threats. Still, many challenges exisit. Examples include fraud in the IoT sector, and forensic activities in the analysis of digital data stored on mobile devices and in vehicles. The participants also focused on the targeted use of artificial intelligence in the fight against cybercrime.
"The need to improve the knowledge and competence of practitioners in the area of fighting cybercrime is still significant. The recent CYCLOPES event in Vienna aimed to provide a platform to present the results of the European projects and other organisations and initiatives and to gather participants' needs and recommendations for future activities. Due to such events, it is possible to exchange knowledge and information among others that are working in the field of cybercrime, networking and building capacity in this area," knows Rashel Talukder, Managing Director of PPHS, CYCLOPES Project Coordinator.
Standardization: Identification of implementation potentials
The motives of criminal actions in the digital world were also covered. There are stepping stones towards criminal careers on the Internet, and its crucial law enforcement help prevent actions early. End-to-end encryption and darknet channels provide non-transparent channels and forums for criminal engagement, and anonymous cryptocurrencies pave the way for crime. “The anonymity that can still be enjoyed on the Internet in 2024 blurs red lines”. Thus, the step into criminal activities in the digital world is tempting for many people. In the next few years, we will see the introduction of many statutory transparency measures for moving around the Internet. As a standardization organization with access to the International and European standardization system, Austrian Standards has the task to identify potentials for standardization on an ongoing basis. This ensures that important standards are initiated and developed,” emphasizes Valerie Höllinger, CEO of Austrian Standards and host of the event. Austrian Standards forms part of the CYCLOPES consortium and is in charge of Work Package 4 “Standardization and Innovation uptake.”
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