US Attorney General, Loretta E Lynch visits Europol

Today, Europol Director Rob Wainwright hosted the visit of US Attorney General Loretta E Lynch, at Europol's headquarters in The Hague. Director Wainwright welcomed the delegation and discussed Europol's cooperation with the United States to combat cybercrime.

Attorney General Lynch attended the board meeting of the Joint Cybercrime Action Task-force (J-CAT) (1), hosted at Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) in The Hague. Speaking at the J-CAT meeting, Ms Lynch highlighted the excellent level of cooperation between the EC3 at Europol and the US Department of Justice to tackle cybercrime, and announced the temporary deployment of a US prosecutor to The Hague to work closely with EC3.

"The European Cybercrime Centre has already proved itself to be an indispensable leader in the global effort to fight cybercrime, to protect infrastructure and innovation and to safeguard innocent people from fraud, exploitation and intrusions on their privacy," said US Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. "This Centre exemplifies that innovative approach and serves as a model for the kind of open communication, efficient information-sharing and nimble responsiveness that we know is highly effective for ensuring our cybersecurity going forward – and the history of unparalleled cooperation among the United States, partner nations and EC3 shows the virtues of confronting this problem hand in hand."

"As part of our outreach to international partners, we're also building our capacity to provide mutual legal assistance to other countries in cybercrime cases and cases involving electronic evidence," she continued. "I am also very happy to announce today that – with the support of Europol and Eurojust – we will be temporarily assigning a prosecutor from our Department's Criminal Division to sit in Eurojust and work with EC3."

Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol, said: "The US is a very important partner in the fight against cybercrime, in particular in the fields of online child sexual exploitation and cyber attacks. No crime is as borderless as cybercrime, with huge implications for citizens, businesses and our collective security. Cooperation between Europol and its US partners, such as the FBI, the US Secret Service and ICE, has proved to be exemplary. Together, we have carried out successful global operations which have resulted in the taking down of botnets and Tor hidden services, and the arrest of criminals involved in sexual crimes against children online. The deployment of a US prosecutor to The Hague will further reinforce our capacity to coordinate effectively during all stages of an investigation.''

During the J-CAT meeting, Europol Deputy Director Wil van Gemert introduced the findings of the 2015 Internet Organised Crime Assessment (IOCTA) - EC3's flagship strategic product that details developments and emerging threats in the field of cybercrime within the EU. The current J-CAT chairman, Mr Andrew Archibald (UK NCA), presented key operational successes and discussed future challenges in tackling cybercrime.

Cooperation with the United States has brought many operational successes in various crime areas, such as the take down of Darknet marketplaces running as hidden services on the Tor network, and the fight against the sexual exploitation of children online.

During the visit, Europol Director Rob Wainwright also explored opportunities for further cooperation with US Attorney General Loretta E Lynch and visited EC3's facilities and operational room at Europol.

(1) The Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT), hosted at Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) in The Hague, was created to serve as a platform for targeted operations against global criminal networks and infrastructure. The J-CAT was initiated by Europol's EC3, the EU Cybercrime Taskforce, the FBI and the NCA. It comprises a team composed of Cyber Liaison Officers from committed and closely involved Member States, non-EU law enforcement partners and EC3.