WithSecure, formerly known as F-Secure Business, and 10 other European organisations have cofounded the CYBERSPACE project. The project is a three-year initiative funded by the European Commission to support European law enforcement agencies and improve their capacity to investigate and counter cybercrime.
The project begins at a time when cybercrime is becoming an increasingly pressing concern in Europe. Europe experienced more security incidents in 2021 than the year before, according to the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), with particularly significant threats that have a direct impact on networks, systems and people within the EU experiencing a constant increase.
The trend is a notable challenge for Europe: The EU’s Cybersecurity Strategy for the Digital Decade outlines a number of ways that cyberthreats can undermine the EU’s economy, democracy and society, such as discouraging people from using digital services or compromising critical infrastructure.
“Europe’s investing heavily in digitalisation, and policy makers recognize security’s important role in ensuring these investments pay off,” said Dr Holger Nitsch, Project Coordinator and Head of Research and Social Science for the Bavarian Police Academy. “But information, resources and expertise to counter cyberthreats are spread thin and difficult to mobilise when needed. Different organisations in different countries often have different pieces of the same puzzle, which makes it difficult for any single entity to see the big picture when investigating security incidents and criminal activities that span multiple countries.”
