CEPOL’s TOPCOP project trains law enforcement of the Eastern Partnership on cybercrime investigations

As societies rely more and more on information and technology, they become increasingly vulnerable to the risk of cybercrime. This type of crime is a growing problem for countries in the EU and beyond, and law enforcement needs to be well equipped to protect citizens against the new challenges that stem from digitalisation. To this end, CEPOL’s TOPCOP project, with the professional support of the EMPACT Cyberattacks network, organised a regional course for its Eastern Partnership beneficiaries on Dark Web investigations, electronic evidence gathering and cryptocurrencies.

 

The activity took place between 19-23 June in Budapest, with the participation of 27 law enforcement practitioners from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

 

During the training, participants gained a better understanding on the current cybercrime threat landscape and learned how to prepare the investigative environment to collect intelligence effectively. They also enhanced their knowledge on EU policies, the cooperation opportunities provided by the EMPACT network and on conducting complex online investigations by applying Open Source Intelligence techniques. In addition, the activity elaborated on investigative best practices in phishing and ransomware and preventive actions used by EU Member States.

 

The training also included the development of a common regional curriculum to be used for cascading purposes by the TOPCOP project’s partner countries. At a later stage, a common activity programme will be developed with topics that are relevant for the regional context. Furthermore, the curriculum will serve as a basis for modular training programmes.

 

As a follow-up action, the TOPCOP project will organise a train-the-trainers session, based on which cascading can take place on the national level.

Follow