European Union Cybercrime Task Force

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In 2010, Europol together with the European Commission and the EU Member States established the EUCTF. Membership of the EUCTF is comprised of the Heads of the National Cybercrime Units from the various member states as well as representatives from Europol, the European Commission, Eurojust and CEPOL.

The EUCTF is a trust based network which meets twice yearly at Europol and provides a forum for the heads of the EU cybercrime units and associated countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway , Switzerland and the United Kingdom), together with EUROPOL, CEPOL, EUROJUST and DG HOME to identify, discuss and prioritise the key challenges and actions in the fight against cybercrime.

Mission Statement

The mission statement of EUCTF is to develop and promote a harmonised approach within the European Union to the criminal misuse of information and communication technology and the fight against cybercrime.

The EUCTF works towards making cyber space a safe place for EU citizens, organisations, enterprises and governments to transact their business and to render the EU a hostile environment for cybercriminals. It also aims at assisting EUROPOL and the Member States in the development and alignment of EU priorities in the fight against cybercrime.

The alignment with EMPACT, the work programme of EUROPOL and the operational actions carried out within J-CAT are key aspects of the activities developed and supported by EUCTF.

As a group of expert stakeholders, the EUCTF, has been involved in EU-wide policy (NIS Directive, WHOIS reform) leveraging on the good connections and status of its members to reach out internally to politicians and legislators.

EUCTF Objectives

  1. Prevent and detect cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime
  2. Promote effective internet governance
  3. Disrupt and dismantle the criminal infrastructure
  4. Prevent and combat the underground economy on the Internet
  5. Improve EU LEA information sharing and operational cooperation
  6. Collaborate with the information security industry
  7. Oversee training development
  8. Advise EU institutions on relevant cybercrime developments
  9. Cooperate with Europol on cybercrime issues
  10. Cooperate with Eurojust and the European Judicial Cybercrime Network (EJCN)
  11. Promote international investigative good practices
  12. Support effective legislation to combat cybercrime

Contributions

The taskforce is open to occasional guests on a case-by-case basis from non-participating countries as well as non-law enforcement partners.

Structure

The EUCTF is managed by a dedicated Board composed of a chairperson, vice chairperson and board member who are elected by the members for a period of two years. In addition, the board also consists of one representative from the EU Commission and one from the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3).

EC3 provides a permanent secretariat service to support the work of the EUCTF and the Board.

Working Together

As part of its strategic mission, the taskforce is involved in the production of the Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA).

Taking at heart its mission statement, the EUCTF has been a sounding board for activities and proposals which have been further developed by individual countries and groups of countries with Europol through the EMPACT Operational Action Plan.

An example of inter-agency cooperation at its finest includes an agreement between the EUCTF and ECTEG Boards in 2017 to cooperate with CEPOL on the continued development of synergies to improve capacity building in the field of cybercrime across Europe.

The EUCTF sits as permanent representative at the EC3 Programme Board and works in close synergy with J-CAT, promoting its operational activities among the EUCTF members.

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