OSCE hosts police expert meeting on combating cybercrime

VIENNA, 30 October 2008 - Fighting the threat of cyber crime is the focus of an OSCE conference for policing experts that began in Vienna today.

The two-day meeting, organized by the OSCE Strategic Police Matters Unit, brings together representatives of law enforcement agencies from OSCE participating States and the private sector to discuss case studies, good investigative practices and the importance of enhancing co-operation between law enforcement bodies, Internet service providers and the private sector to combat cybercrimes.

"Cybercrime is on the rise and shows no signs of slowing down. What is especially troubling is that most cybercrimes go unreported, much less solved," said Kevin Carty, the OSCE's Senior Police Adviser.

"Law enforcement agencies across the OSCE area need to be able to rely on expertise more readily available in the private sector, which is why we are focusing on building strong and efficient alliances between the private and public sectors."

International experts from Austria, Ireland, Turkey, Russia and the USA will present recent cases they have successfully investigated as examples of good investigative practices. There will be a special session devoted to examining how law enforcement co-operation with the private sector can be improved in fighting this type of crime.

Additional information about the event can be found at the Policing On Line Information System (POLIS) website http://POLIS.osce.org