EU to Create Cyber Crime Center

Published: 28 March 2012

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The European Commission plans to set up a special center focused on cyber crime to protect Europeans against illegal electronic and online criminal activities.

The Commission said Wednesday that it would integrate the center with Europol, the European agency based in the Netherlands.

“As the online part of our everyday lives grows, organized crime is following suit — and these crimes affect each and every one of us,” said EU Home Affairs Commissioner Celia Malmstroem.

The EU said the center would focus on credit card and bank fraud.  Europol already monitors cybercrimes, but the proposed center would add increased capabilities like digital forensics, the police agency said in a statement. 

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation recently projected that cybercrime will soon outpace terrorism as the world’s number one threat.