INTERPOL, Europol meet in Singapore to discuss ways to combat cyber crime

A coalition of leaders from law enforcement agencies, the private sector and academic institutions from across the world met in Singapore this week to address the growing threat of cyber crimes.

The meeting, titled “Solutions for Attribution,” saw approximately 200 participants from 56 different countries discuss ways to identify and overcome the technical, operational and strategic hurdles faced by law enforcement when investigating such cyber attacks as financial crimes, terrorist-backed activities and child sex abuse.

“A safer cyberspace can only be achieved by closing the information gap between law enforcement agencies, and likewise between the public and private sectors,” Noboru Nakatani executive director of INTERPOL’s Global Complex for Innovation (GCI), said. “By sharing information, we can close in on the criminal networks, and essentially lock them in. This will enable law enforcement agencies, who are the only agencies with the mandate to act on the ground, to identify and dismantle transnational criminal organizations.”

Throughout the year, INTERPOL and Europol have collaborated with the World Economic Forum to develop strategies for private-public partnerships against different types of cyber attacks.

“By sharing information, we can close in on the criminal networks, and essentially lock them in,” Steven Wilson, head of the European Cybercrime Center at Europol, said. “This will enable law enforcement agencies, who are the only agencies with the mandate to act on the ground, to identify and dismantle transnational criminal organizations.”

The annual cybercrime meeting between INTERPOL and Europol has been held since 2013.