Common challenges in combating cybercrime as identified by Eurojust and Europol

„The need for a comprehensive international legal and practical framework to address fundamental problems, such as access to cloud data and encryption, is more pressing than ever. „, according to the latest Europol report „Common challenges in combating cybercrime”.

As technology continues to take over our lives, and digitalisation gathers pace, cybercrime is also growing. Europol and Eurojust have published a third joint report identifying and categorising the current developments and common challenges in combating cybercrime, which fall into five different areas.

. Loss of data: electronic data is the key to successful investigations in all the cybercrime areas, but the possibilities to obtain such data have been significantly limited.

. Loss of location: recent trends have led to a situation in which law enforcement may no longer establish the physical location of the perpetrator, the criminal infrastructure or electronic evidence.

. Challenges associated with national legal frameworks: the differences in domestic legal frameworks in EU Member States often prove to be serious impediments to international cybercrime investigations.

. Obstacles to international cooperation: in an international context, no common legal framework exists for the expedited sharing of evidence (as does exist for the preservation of evidence). There is also a clear need for a better mechanism for cross-border communication and the swift exchange of information.

. Challenges of public-private partnerships: cooperation with the private sector is vital for combating cybercrime, yet no standardised rules of engagement are in place, and investigations can thus be hampered.