EC3 and the EC Joint Research Centre tackle the challenge of encrypted material for law enforcement investigations

On 6 and 7 June 2016 in Ispra (Italy), Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) jointly organised a technical workshop on best practices relating to decryption in law enforcement.

Encryption represents an important challenge for judicial investigations throughout Europe. Law enforcement authorities are increasingly collecting encrypted evidence material. The technical difficulties associated with decrypting this potentially useful material can eventually jeopardise prosecution.

With the support of EC3 and other law enforcement authorities from the EU, the JRC is exploring new forensic techniques to improve password recovery processes in full compliance with the EU regulatory framework.

A number of Member States sent law enforcement delegates to share best practices and techniques leading to successful investigations. In particular, advanced mathematical modelling supported by machine learning processes was discussed in order to ensure higher success rates of decryption. This workshop took place in the framework of a EC3-JRC collaboration on fighting cybercrime, terrorism, and organised crime.