The Council of Europe begins the second phase of its cybercrime project
On the occasion of its 4th annual conference on cybercrime, the Council of Europe launched the second phase (March 2009-June 2011) of its Project on Cybercrime, intended to help countries worldwide to implement its Convention – the only legally binding international instrument – and to adopt stricter standards on the protection of children and personal data.
During the conference, McAfee announced that it would be supporting the project financially in order to contribute to the development of police and judge training programmes which would have a practical and tangible impact on the process of reducing cybercrime. McAfee’s contribution comes on top of those from Microsoft and the Romanian Government.
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Tim Cranton, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Worldwide Internet Safety, called for Centres of excellence for training, research and education (“2CENTRE”) to be set up, with the support of both public authorities and industry. The first programmes should start as early as 2010. At the workshop on training, participants emphasised the importance of meeting the training needs of all stakeholders, public and private.
Alexander Seger, who is in charge of the Project on Cybercrime, described Internet crimes as “complex, global and difficult to investigate”, and said that the key to success lay in the conclusion of dynamic partnerships between the public and private sectors.
Held in Strasbourg on 10 and 11 March, the conference was attended by almost 280 cybercrime experts from 70 countries, including greater numbers this year of representatives of the private sector and international organisations, who discussed inter alia ways of combating child pornography on the Internet and fraud and money laundering on the Web.
The conference highlighted the need to establish a feeling of trust between the public and private stakeholders working to combat cybercrime, money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Participants also discussed ways of making international co-operation more effective, particularly the 24/7 network of contact points, the members of which should be capable of reacting in emergencies and preserving data and evidence; they should also publicise their activities more in their own countries.
The Council of Europe will continue to study the consequences of “cloud computing” and intends to ensure that its Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data is in adequacy with the technological progress which has occurred since its adoption in 1981, and has a comprehensive approach.
At its meeting in Strasbourg on 12 and 13 March, the Convention Committee on Cybercrime (T-CY) will inter alia discuss certain provisions of the current treaty, the issue of jurisdiction in cases of cybercrime and practical co-operation between the 24/7 contact points. The committee will also consider the advisability, in the light of legal, political and technological developments, of adding to the Convention.
The conclusions of the conference will be made available to the public at: www.coe.int/cybercrime.
Press contact: Estelle Steiner, Press attachée
Tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 33 35, mobile +33 (0)6 08 46 01 57, estelle.steiner@coe.int
Council of Europe Directorate of Communication
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11
pressunit@coe.int
www.coe.int
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