#AceNewsReport – Feb.08: Prevention is better than a cure: cybercrime prevention and awareness is key to ensuring that law enforcement operates efficiently and helps build a safer society. Edvardas Šileris, Head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, shares his experiences.

#AceDailyNews says Celebrating Safer Internet Day– When I was a child, my parents’ main safety concern had to do with the time I spent outside playing in the streets. The only device I used was my TV set– in between basketball sessions during the summer and sledging down the hill in winter, I would sit by the TV waiting for my bruised knees to heal. I actually remember the first computer my family had, I was already a bit older then and it did not take long before I got involved in computer games. I can still hear the sound of the dial-up trying to connect me to the network.

Once I got online, a brand new world would open up. I was able to explore and create new things, all without my parents’ knowledge of what I was doing. They were just happy that I was finally inside the house and interested in activities that they considered safe.

Fast forward to nowadays, and as a parent of two teenagers, I find myself encouraging them to spend time outside of the house and away from their digital devices. Even though I am lucky to have an understanding of the digital world and cybersecurity, I am often left out of their online activities and would prefer to see them playing basketball outside. Our lives, including those of our children, have developed a new online dimension as much of our time now is spent in front of a digital device. When it comes to online risks many parents might feel that they are not properly equipped to safeguard their children and that they need expert guidance, especially as technology is often viewed as a novelty by children. I don’t have the perfect solution for this, but if I could give them any advice it would be this: talk to your children. Get to know their world and consider that they might be happier to include you in their online activities than you might think. Explain to them that the risks online are not, in fact, so different from those encountered offline. For example, do not share personal details with strangers, do not steal from others and be kind and polite to your friends. As a parent, I constantly try to educate myself and understand the technologies that my children are using in order to become more aware of the risks they pose. 

In this context, I am fully confident that initiatives such as Safer Internet Day make a real difference and I am proud that Europol has always been a committed supporter of this campaign. The event highlights a number of global resources that youngsters, their parents and carers alike can use to shape a safer digital world. The large number of partners involved in this event, growing year after year, shows not only the relevance of this topic but also the importance of working together. Strength comes from diversity, and we can only truly come together to create and maintain a better online world by learning from each other’s expertise. 

Within Europol, we work on making Europe safer by supporting active law enforcement work, but also through crime prevention and awareness activities. As an example, a few years ago we launched a powerful campaign aiming to raise awareness on online sexual coercion and extortion which included a series of materials translated into the national languages of over 30 countries. More recently, we published a report and awareness advice on the impact that the COVID-19 crisis has had on children and their safety. We are also strong advocates of giving our younger population a voice and we listen to their views on the digital world. In light of this, we have hosted three editions of the European Youth Day at Europol, an initiative we intend to continue as soon as the pandemic restrictions are lifted. As part of our daily work, we exchange key strategic data with our law enforcement partners while investing in developing innovative new tools to help us speed up the analysis process, such as GRACE, an EU-funded project backed up by more than 20 partners. These initiatives all have a clear goal at heart: strengthen our readiness and ability to prevent harm to children, rescue those in immediate danger, and investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. 

On an operational level, we work together with global partners for a safer internet by identifying child abuse perpetrators and rescuing victims. Europol has led multiple operations in this field, one of the most recent examples being the takedown of the dark web platform known as Boystown last year, which led to the arrest of four suspects. Another great example of the impact that our work has is the tentative identification of 18 children and apprehension of two offenders following the most recent edition of the Europol Victim Identification Taskforce. The public has also directly contributed to the success of our investigations, most notably through initiatives such as Trace an Object. We were able to rescue 10 children after the public sent in over 26 000 tips containing clues that helped us locate the victims and offenders. We upload images to the Trace an Object page on a regular basis, so I invite you all to have a look. I could not talk about the fight against child sexual abuse without mentioning innovation. Creative methods of safeguarding children and keeping perpetrators at bay are essential in making the internet more secure. An example of this was the innovative project led by the French Police Nationale. This involved creating an online avatar in the video game Fortnite that allowed children to report sexual harassment. 

I want to end this message with a reminder that there is a strong positive side to the digital world. It offers unequalled opportunities, from being able to access information within seconds to the ability to educate children virtually. This is an exciting world where children have an array of learning possibilities, from being able to code to interacting live with like-minded people from across the globe in creativity contests. Of course, adults have perhaps even more opportunities. This was very apparent during the COVID-19 crisis, when so many of us were unable to travel back home and see our families. Personally, I have made extensive use of video conferencing solutions over the last couple of years and was always impressed by how easy and fast such connections can be. I was able to see my family within seconds and walk with them through the house or show them the places I like to visit in The Hague. It was as if they were here with me in person– a big change from the slow dial-up connections we had years ago. I also purchased my first virtual reality set and was able to discover new places while sitting on my couch during the lockdowns. 

On this Safer Internet Day, join us in celebrating the advances we have made in connecting people around the globe, while raising awareness of the relevance of the digital world and the ways we can make it safer. It is our role, as law enforcement, parents, carers and, ultimately, human beings, to work together with our children to make the internet a better place for all.

#AceNewsDesk report ……….Published: Feb.08: 2022:

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