Budapest conference on cybercrime

Representatives of EU member states and of the United States discussed the forms of combat against cybercrime and the amendment of related co-operation at a ministerial meeting in Budapest, calling for action in this field. In his speech, the Hungarian Minister of Internal Affairs, Sándor Pintér, emphasised the necessity of a coordinated and rapid reaction to cybercrimes.

Participants had an expert discussion on the cooperation of different law enforcement organisations in the field of cybercrimes. They also exchanged views on opportunities of cooperation with non-governmental organisations.

According to the statistics, the European Union is a popular target for cyber criminals, as it has a developed and expanding internet infrastructure. In recent years, even organised crime groups have spent part of their profit on developing software which would makes it easier to commit traditional crimes.

In his keynote speech, Hungarian Minister for Internal Affairs, Sándor Pintér, emphasised the damage these criminals could cause in every field of our lives, “We must prevent them from intruding our companies and installing false data and viruses driving businesses to bankrupt; we must prevent them from causing harm to the banking system and to people’s private life.”

In connection with the cooperation between countries and authorities, Mr Pintér underlined the importance of the proper use of registers run by Europol, the EU’s criminal intelligence agency, in order to force back and investigate cybercrimes, violation of copyrights and cash-substitute payment instrument frauds. Mr Pintér talked about the possibility of a continuous common “patrol service” on the internet. According to him, rapid reaction is most important, as “Sometimes the same cybercrime is committed in 10 to 12 countries, at the same time”.

(source: eu2011.hu)