EU to launch cybercrime agency
- 12 years ago
A European agency to fight against rising levels of online crime. That is the topic of a proposal tabled by the European Commission on Wednesday.
Europe’s cyber crime center will specifically target severe organized e-crimes such as frauds involving credit cards or online child sexual exploitation. Fighting against identity theft and protecting social network profiles will also be priority.
This top-level European policy authority already has a special unit dedicated to cybercrime and to monitoring possible online terrorist activities. Critics of the proposal fear it would lead to a stronger surveillance on people's personal lives, but the commission cautioned that this would not be the case.
The Commission estimates that cyber crime accounts for more than 350 billion euro per year, making it more profitable than the global trade in marijuana, cocaine and heroine combined.
Europe’s cyber crime center will specifically target severe organized e-crimes such as frauds involving credit cards or online child sexual exploitation. Fighting against identity theft and protecting social network profiles will also be priority.
This top-level European policy authority already has a special unit dedicated to cybercrime and to monitoring possible online terrorist activities. Critics of the proposal fear it would lead to a stronger surveillance on people's personal lives, but the commission cautioned that this would not be the case.
The Commission estimates that cyber crime accounts for more than 350 billion euro per year, making it more profitable than the global trade in marijuana, cocaine and heroine combined.