Fighting cybercrime: Strategic cooperation agreement signed between ENISA and Europol

Met dank overgenomen van Europees Agentschap voor Netwerk- en Informatiebeveiliging (ENISA) i, gepubliceerd op donderdag 26 juni 2014.

The heads of ENISA and Europol today signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, to facilitate closer cooperation and exchange of expertise in the fight against cybercrime.

Scope

The purpose of the agreement is to enhance cooperation between Europol, its European Cybercrime Centre (EC3 i), and ENISA in order to support the EU Member States and the EU institutions in preventing and combating cybercrime. The agreement does not cover the exchange of personal data.

Cooperation may, in particular, include:

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the exchange of specific knowledge and expertise,
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elaboration of general situational reports,
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reports resulting from strategic analyses and best practice,
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strengthening capacity building through training and awareness raising, to safeguard network and information security at EU level.

ENISA is part of the EC3 Programme Board and respectively EC3 is part of ENISA's Permanent Stakeholders Group which advises the (ENISA) Director on the yearly Work Programme and priorities. ENISA and EC3 have always worked hand in hand to reinforce EU-level cybersecurity and reduce cybercrime. Work so far has included producing a joint paper on Botnet mitigation; participating in European CyberSecurity Month; cyber exercises such as CyberEurope; producing a good practice guide for CERTs; and enhancing CERT/law enforcement cooperation through different workshops and conferences, to name a few.

The Executive Director of ENISA, Professor Udo Helmbrecht, and Europol Director, Rob Wainwright, issued a joint statement: “This agreement is an important step in the fight against ever more skilled cyber criminals who are investing more time, money and people on targeted attacks. Our agreement demonstrates that we are highly committed to jointly contributing within our respective areas of expertise, and to support each other’s work in the quest to make Europe a safer place online. Cybercrime is estimated to cost the global economy more than 400 billion dollars annually¹, by cooperating more closely together and sharing expertise, we strengthen Europe’s capacity to combat cyber criminals.”

Background

ENISA is a body of expertise in cyber security, with its headquarters in Heraklion, and an office in Athens, Greece, which assists the EU Member States, the Commission and all related stakeholders to address and prevent network and information security issues.

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Europol, the European Police Office, located in The Hague, the Netherlands, is responsible for law enforcement cooperation at EU level, strengthening actions by the Member States in preventing and combating organised crime, terrorism and other forms of serious crime affecting two or more Member States (Council Decision 2009/371/JHA). EC3, the European Cybercrime Centre, hosted by Europol, is the focal point in the EU’s fight against cybercrime. It supports Member States and the European Union’s institutions in building operational and analytical capacity for investigations and cooperation with international partners, in the area of cybercrime. The specific areas of its mandate are (online) payment fraud, online child sexual exploitation, and crimes affecting critical infrastructure and information systems in the European Union.

For interviews, please contact: Ulf Bergström, ENISA Senior Corporate Communications Officer and Spokesman, +30 6948 460 143, or Lisanne Kosters, Europol spokesperson, +31 70 302 5001.

1.McAfee (2014), Net Losses: Estimating the Global Cost of Cybercrime, June 2014

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Fighting cybercrime: Strategic cooperation agreement signed between ENISA and Europol