Europol-INTERPOL Cybercrime conference successfully ends with record participation and concrete steps
The Europol-INTERPOL Cybercrime Conference is a joint initiative launched in 2013. Held annually, it is hosted alternatively by Europol and INTERPOL.
This year, more than 420 participants gathered at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague to attend the 5th annual Europol-INTERPOL Cybercrime Conference. The central theme of this three day conference, from 27-29 September 2017, was “Actively united for a safer cyber space” and has underlined the importance of law enforcement, private sector, academia, government and NGOs jointly engaging in the fight against cybercriminals.
In their opening remarks, Europol’s Executive Director, Rob Wainwright, and EU Commissioner Sir Julian King, highlighted the need for improved cyber security and resilience and a better joint response to the increasing threats from cybercrime.
Expanding on the theme of last year’s conference hosted by INTERPOL in Singapore – ‘Solutions for Attribution’ – this year’s conference saw 205 participants from different sectors representing more than 185 organisations and 167 law enforcement representatives from 68 countries engaging in fruitful and solution-oriented discussions on a number of cybercrime-related topics.
More than 50 speakers actively elaborated on the current and new threats and trends in cybercrime [link to IOCTA], the financial aspects of cybercrime, Internet of Things security and resilience, strategies to combat ransomware, the criminal abuse of encryption and anonymisation, Darknet market sites, access to data and electronic evidence, and DNS abuse.
The conference also presented an opportunity for Europol and INTERPOL to reconfirm their strong commitment to continue their collaboration in the fight against cybercrime, building on successful examples such as the Global Airline Action Days [link to latest press release] or the No More Ransom initiative [link to web site].
In their joint closing statement, Europol and INTERPOL agreed on specific steps in the joint fight against ransomware, a coordinated law enforcement approach to addressing the threat from the Dark Web, identifying approaches to tackling the threat of cybercrime in a more pro-active and efficient manner, and to continue to focus on coordinated prevention and awareness initiatives to increase baseline cybersecurity and nurture the skills and expertise needed to ensure a safer cyberspace.
INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Director Silvino Schlickmann Junior: “The current state of cybercrime, reaching all the corners of the world and threatening to undermine the benefits brought by the new technologies, requires a global response. INTERPOL supports law enforcement to tackle the emerging challenges through a number of channels, providing a global platform including not only communication tools but a wide range of services, from capacity building programmes, to cyber threat intelligence support. The cooperation with Europol is one of our highest priorities to combat cybercrime in the most effective way.”
Steven Wilson, Head of Europol’s EC3 said: ‘We have just successfully closed the 5th annual edition of the Europol – INTERPOL cybercrime conference with the highest participation ever, both in terms of attendees and line-up of speakers. In just a few years, this event has become a leading name within the global community of cybercrime fighters. With the conference already behind us, it is now time to start working on fulfilling the objectives jointly agreed with INTERPOL. So, let’s get to work and remain actively united for a safer cyber space. I look forward to seeing all participants in Singapore next year.”
No More Ransom
In the last few years, ransomware has eclipsed most other cyber-threats with global campaigns indiscriminately affecting victims across multiple industries in both the public and private sectors. One of the most effective ways to fight ransomware is to prevent it.
Since the launch of the No More Ransom platform in July 2016, more than 1.4 million people have visited the website. It is now available in 28 languages with Slovak and Persian as the latest additions. The number of free decryption tools on www.nomoreransom.org is now 52; they can be used to decrypt 84 ransomware families.
The numbers of partners working together on No More Ransom has risen to 119. Newest law enforcements agencies joining are German BKA, Polish and Slovakian Police. New private sector partners are Security Advisor S.A., Equipo Antiransom, ML IT Security Pte Ltd, Temasoft, CERT-PY and Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN), bringing the total to 81 non-law enforcement partners.
Cyber Security Week
This edition of the conference was also coordinated with Cyber Security Week 2017, powered by The Hague Security Delta. Dozens of events took place in The Hague to meet key players, discuss the latest events, share knowledge and to pitch innovative ideas for funding.
