Governments around the world are making significant progress in disrupting and deterring cyber criminals from launching ransomware schemes, but far more is needed to properly address this evolving problem. It’s been nearly a decade since the United States Department of Justice indicted notorious Russian cyber criminal Evgeniy Bogachev for masterminding the notorious GameOverZeus malware scheme. By conservative estimates, Bogachev’s Business …
Tracking UN Voting Patterns on Cybercrime
The establishment of the UN Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes was the result of a highly politicised approach by certain countries regarding international cooperation to fight cybercrime. Even though the Ad Hoc Committee has not even started working on substance, the disagreements over the …
Personal Data and International Organisations: Hacks Off!
Harmful, malicious and hostile cyber activities against international institutions, entire populations and vulnerable groups are appalling, regardless of whether they are committed by state or non-state actors. It is time to talk restraint when it comes to cyberattacks and information operations targeting international organisations and personal data. The compromise of personal data and confidential information on the servers of the …
The EU’s Approach to e-Evidence
Electronic evidence (‘e-evidence’) plays a central role in the fight against crime both online and offline. But the goal of ensuring access to such evidence must be reconciled with the need for protecting data privacy and other fundamental rights. The European Union is in the process of adopting a regulatory framework for e-evidence. It needs to strike the right balance …
Cyber Capacity Building: Trends and Scenarios
To best use international cyber capacity building we should understand its trajectory and where it might go next
Russia’s Vision for a Cybercrime Treaty
In January 2022, the UN will hold the first meeting to negotiate a treaty on cybercrime. While most states are in the process of developing their positions around the scope and the principles of this new treaty, Russia has already submitted a draft proposal to the UN suggesting it to be used as the basis of the negotiations. This draft …
Ransomware: a Crisis in Need of a Global Response
Ransomware has become a lucrative money-making enterprise for criminals and a useful tool for some nations, with consequences for national security, economic prosperity, and public health and safety. Its global nature means that individual countries or organizations cannot successfully thwart this threat alone—it will require complex, sustained, joint, collaborative international action. A U.S. politician once said, “All politics is local.” …
Cybercrime Negotiations: Affairs Beyond States
Effectively fighting cybercrime requires cooperation between different communities and stakeholders. Governments enjoy a monopoly on power when it comes to law enforcement and criminal justice, but they need the involvement of the private sector and civil society organisations to make their policies work. With the launch of a new UN process addressing cybercrime around the corner, states cannot afford to …
Russian Hacker Wanted!
The arrest warrant for the Bundestag hacker represents a new German response to cyberattacks – and has potentially major implications