IOCTA Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2019

Scope

The 2019 IOCTA focuses on the trends and developments pertinent to the above-mentioned priority crime areas. In addition to this, the report will discuss other cross-cutting factors that influence or impact the cybercrime ecosystem, such as criminal abuse of cryptocurrencies and social engineering.

This report provides an update on the latest trends and the current impact of cybercrime within Europe and the EU. Each chapter provides a law enforcement-centric view of the threats and developments within cybercrime, based predominantly on the experiences of cybercrime investigators and their operational counterparts from other sectors. Furthermore, it draws on contributions from strategic partners in private industry and academia to support or contrast this perspective. The report seeks to highlight future risks and emerging threats and provides recommendations to align and strengthen the joint efforts of EU law enforcement and its partners in preventing and
fighting cybercrime.

Methodology

The 2019 IOCTA was drafted by a team of Europol analysts and specialists drawing predominantly on contributions from 26 Member States and European third-party members, the European Union Cybercrime Taskforce, Eurojust, Europol’s Analysis Projects Cyborg, Dark Web, Terminal, Twins and the Cyber Intelligence Team of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), via structured surveys and feedback sessions. This has been enhanced with open source research and input from the private sector, namely EC3’s Advisory Groups on Financial Services, Internet Security and Communication Providers. These contributions have been essential to the production of the report.

Acknowledgements

Europol would like to extend thanks to all law enforcement and private sector partners who contributed to this report, in particular the European Banking Federation (EBF) and the EC3’s Academic Advisory Network.