Tackling crime in Darknet: CyberEast and TOPCOP support Law Enforcement in the Eastern Partnership

The CyberEast project, a joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe, and its partner project, Europol’s Training and Operational Partnership Against Organised Crime (TOPCOP), have joined forces to improve cooperation within the Eastern Partnership region and with the EU agencies on countering organised crime in the Darkweb.

On 8-12 November and 22-26 November, TOPCOP delivered special courses to a group of law enforcement officers from Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The CyberEast project contributed with experts’ input on matters related to cybercrime and the Darkweb.

“The Darkweb is becoming increasingly a place where illegal activity thrives and criminals’ function in perceived anonymity. Reportedly, almost 30% of hidden services on Tor relate to some form of illicit activity, such as selling illicit drugs, weapons, compromised data, counterfeit documents, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and other illicit products,” said a press release issued by the CyberEast project.

CyberEast says it will continue to support the criminal justice institutions in the EaP in strengthening their capacities in cybercrime and electronic evidence, by focusing on parallel financial investigations and intelligence, online crime proceeds, financial fraud and money laundering offences, as well as looking more closely into the matters of virtual currencies and Darknet investigations in the context of ‘follow the money’ concept.