Holland's capital The Hague will get a new international showpiece. The new European Centre for Cybercrime will start there early 2013. European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström announced the news this week. So cyber-criminals beware, otherwise The Hague will put you behind bars.
Malmström considers it important that cybercrime be centrally addressed. "The Internet is an integral and indispensable part of European society," says Malmström . "We are slowly emerging from a financial crisis and we need to restore consumer confidence online."
According to Malmström, cybercrime brings in more than the global illegal trade in marijuana, cocaine and heroin combined. At present, all entire online commerce is about 4 percent of the total European market. The EU expects that this will increase significantly in the coming years. It is estimated that worldwide daily over a million people become victims of cybercrime.
The European Commission has been planning to tackle the problem for a while. Last year, Commissioner Neelie Kroes, responsible for the Digital Agenda, said European countries are doing too little to achieve computer security . She also believes that countries need to do regular exercises together.
Europol
One of the objectives of the new center is to help EU Member States with research on cybercrime and the mapping of online organized crime. The new center will be the responsibility of the European police organization Europol. The intention is that the best IT security experts from Europe to work there.
Also, each EU country will separately have a similar center at national level. In the Netherlands there is a similar organization since January 1st called Govcert , a platform where industry, government and science work together for better cyber security. Hat tip to @MarijeSusan
Malmström considers it important that cybercrime be centrally addressed. "The Internet is an integral and indispensable part of European society," says Malmström . "We are slowly emerging from a financial crisis and we need to restore consumer confidence online."
According to Malmström, cybercrime brings in more than the global illegal trade in marijuana, cocaine and heroin combined. At present, all entire online commerce is about 4 percent of the total European market. The EU expects that this will increase significantly in the coming years. It is estimated that worldwide daily over a million people become victims of cybercrime.
The European Commission has been planning to tackle the problem for a while. Last year, Commissioner Neelie Kroes, responsible for the Digital Agenda, said European countries are doing too little to achieve computer security . She also believes that countries need to do regular exercises together.
Europol
One of the objectives of the new center is to help EU Member States with research on cybercrime and the mapping of online organized crime. The new center will be the responsibility of the European police organization Europol. The intention is that the best IT security experts from Europe to work there.
Also, each EU country will separately have a similar center at national level. In the Netherlands there is a similar organization since January 1st called Govcert , a platform where industry, government and science work together for better cyber security. Hat tip to @MarijeSusan
