cross-cutting crime factors
Cross-cutting crime factors are those which impact on, facilitate or otherwise contribute to multiple crime areas but are not necessarily inherently criminal themselves. This includes topics such as methods of communication, financing, encryption, the Internet of Things and social engineering.
KEY FINDINGS
- Social engineering techniques are an essential tactic for the commission of many, often complex, cyber-dependent and cyber-facilitated crimes, but one which can be countered with adequate training.
- While Bitcoin remains a key facilitator for cybercrime, other cryptocurrencies such as Monero, Ethereum and Zcash are also gaining popularity within the digital underground.
- The ease with which new bank accounts can be opened in some countries, particularly online accounts, is facilitating the laundering of illicit funds by money mules.
- Criminal forums still remain a key environment for cybercriminals, providing meeting places and market places, and allowing access to the skills and expertise of other members of the cybercrime community.
- Law enforcement is witnessing a transition into the use of secure apps and other services by criminals across all crime areas. The majority of the apps used are the everyday, brand names popular with the general populace.
- A combination of legislative and technical factors which deny law enforcement access to timely and accurate electronic communications data and digital forensic opportunities, such as lack of data retention, the implementation of Carrier-Grade Network Address Translation (CGN), and the criminal abuse of encryption, are leading to a loss of both investigative leads and the ability to effectively attribute and prosecute online criminal activity.
KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
- Innovation, in terms of the pro-active and adaptive approaches and counter strategies employed, and collaboration, in terms of the involvement of all relevant partners, should be at the core of any response to tackling cybercrime.
- There is a need to continue to develop coordinated action at EU level and beyond to respond to cybercrime at scale, building on and learning from successful operations.
- Law enforcement must continue to develop, share and propagate knowledge on how to recognise, track, trace, seize and store cryptocurrencies. Existing training on investigating cryptocurrencies should be shared and promoted within the law enforcement community.
- Law enforcement should engage early with the private sector, academia and developers to seek solutions to investigating those emerging cryptocurrencies which boast additional security measures designed to hamper lawful investigation.
- Private sector partners and law enforcement should continue cooperating to target mule networks which are an essential element of the criminal ecosystem, following successful models such as the European Money Mule Actions (EMMA).
- Where not already present, EU Member States should consider implementing more efficient fraud reporting mechanisms. Online reporting channels are particularly suitable for such high volume crimes, and allow victims to report the crime without the need to contact local police.
- While the implementation of the European Investigation Order (EIO) is expected to simplify cooperation between judicial authorities and expediting investigations, existing legal frameworks and operational processes need to be further harmonised and streamlined for dealing with cross-border e-evidence. Such measures, as well as the parallel EU policy processes on encryption, data retention and internet governance challenges, should thoroughly consider the specific law enforcement needs and strive for practical and proportionate solutions to empower innovative, efficient and effective approaches to conducting lawful cybercrime investigations. The growing prevalence and sophistication of cybercrime requires dedicated legislation that more specifically enables law enforcement presence and action in an online environment.
- Member States should continue to support and expand their engagement with Europol in the development of pan-European awareness and prevention campaigns with a view to increasing baseline cybersecurity protection and further improving digital hygiene. This includes security-by-design and privacy-by-design principles such as the use of encryption to safeguard sensitive data.
- As human beings are the direct targets of social engineering which is often the starting point of a cyber-attack, the investment in combating it must also be in the employees and members of the public that are likely to be potential victims. Training and education are crucial to allow prospective victims to identify and respond accordingly to social engineering attacks.
