The European Commission is to get tough on cybercrime, but won’t target illegal file-sharing, it revealed on Wednesday.
The Commission proposes to set up a European Cybercrime Centre as part of the European police force, Europol, in The Hague in the Netherlands. The center would have a separate governing board, but would be charged with identifying organized cybercriminal networks and providing operational support.
Europol helps European Union law enforcement organizations exchange criminal intelligence, but has no executive powers. It primarily targets trafficking in people, drugs and vehicles; terrorism; counterfeiting of the euro, and money laundering. It already has a mandate to monitor cybercrime, which the proposed center would expand on by adding digital forensics and other capabilities, according to a Europol statement.
But European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmstr
Instead, the Commissioner wants to shut down organized crime groups generating large criminal profits.
There’s plenty of work to be done: research by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that cyber attacks accounted for 38 percent of all economic crime incidents that finance companies experienced in 2011.
Malmstr
The new center is expected to cost around
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