The EU authorities decided to crack down on hacking and internet fraud. On January 11, the European Cybercrime Centre was opened in the Hague.
European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom states that cybercrooks penetrate into our computers, hack our bank accounts and manipulate financial transactions.
These cases have become really frequent. According to the EU statistics, not less than a million people suffer from online crimes daily. Internet fraud costs Europe 300 billion euros yearly.
As Cecilia Malmstrom notes, very few victims of cybercrimes report to law enforcement authorities, and just some little part of all the cases are solved. Fraudsters enjoy a negligible risk of being arrested paired with a hefty profit.
The newly opened European Cybercrime Centre seeks to reveal new types of cybercrime, to determine the structure of criminal groups and find offenders. The forty workers of the centre will do their best to prevent hacker attacks on strategically important web resources and databases of the EU and fight online child sexual exploitation. The centre is also meant for education of investigators and prosecutors as well as public enlightenment.
Russian internet is the biggest breeding ground for cybercrime. Cecilia Malmstrom hopes Moscow will follow the example of such countries as Canada, Australia and the USA.
