Global Experts Tackle Cybercrime, Digital Threats at Council of Europe Conference

Global Experts Tackle Cybercrime, Digital Threats at Council of Europe Conference

RMN News Story Highlights

• Over 500 global cybercrime experts are meeting at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to tackle challenges and reinforce international co-operation.

• Leaders stressed that cybercrime is a matter of “democratic security” requiring “urgent, united action”.

• Key discussions include AI, cyber-interference with democracy, and online fraud like “pig-butchering”.

• Malta ratified a protocol concerning racist and xenophobic cyber acts during the conference.

RMN News Technology Desk
June 5, 2025

Strasbourg, France – Over 500 leading cybercrime experts from around the world have gathered in Strasbourg for a major conference organized by the Council of Europe, taking place from June 4 to 6, 2025. The conference serves as a crucial platform to address current challenges, review the global landscape of cybercrime legislation, exchange knowledge, sharpen tools, and reinforce partnerships and international co-operation.

Opening the conference, Secretary General Alain Berset highlighted the evolving nature of cybercrime, stating, “Cybercrime targets election systems, disrupts critical infrastructure, and spreads disinformation”. He stressed the need to rethink security, arguing that cybercrime should no longer be treated as merely a technical issue.

According to Mr. Berset, it is now a matter of “democratic security,” concerning “our ability to defend democracy against fast-moving, cross-border, hybrid threats – while staying true to our values”. Mr Berset also emphasized the strength of the Budapest Convention framework, noting it lies in both its legal tools and the global community it has fostered, urging all Parties to undertake the necessary legal reforms to implement and ratify the Second Additional Protocol concerning enhanced co-operation and the disclosure of electronic evidence.

Maltese Minister of Justice Jonathan Attard echoed the call for urgent action, stating that the “digital realm must remain open, free and secure for all” and that cybercrime is a “central challenge for everyone” requiring “dynamic, cohesive and forward-looking responses”. Minister Attard pointed to the conflict in Ukraine, where “cybercrime has become a weapon of war,” underscoring that these threats are “real and global, requiring urgent, united action”. He added that effective cybersecurity also necessitates the engagement of all sectors of society, “especially the youth who are the innovators of today”.

On the occasion of the conference, Minister Attard also deposited Malta’s instrument of ratification for the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime, which specifically addresses the criminalization of racist and xenophobic acts committed through computer systems.

The conference agenda features discussions on critical topics including:

• Artificial intelligence, cybercrime, and e-evidence
• Cyber-interference with democracy
• Online fraud, such as “pig-butchering” schemes
• The links and interactions between the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) and the new United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime (“Hanoi Convention”)

In addition, a series of workshops are exploring key areas such as crypto-investigations, e-evidence sharing, cybercrime as a war crime, cyberviolence, and youth and cybercrime. Regional workshops are also dedicated to Africa, the Americas, and the Asia/Pacific regions.

Speakers and participants represent a diverse range of stakeholders, including representatives from various Council of Europe bodies, other international organizations such as the European Union, Interpol, OSCE, and UNODC, the United States Department of Justice, as well as experts from the private sector, civil society, and criminal justice authorities from across the world. Some sessions are also available to follow online.

Organized in co-operation with the Maltese Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, this conference is highlighted as one of the largest and most comprehensive platforms for dialogue in the field of cybercrime. Since 2007, it has regularly convened experts from over 100 countries, along with representatives from international organizations, the private sector, civil society, and academia.

The conference is part of the Octopus Project, which is currently funded by voluntary contributions. The work of the Council of Europe in this area is supported by the Cybercrime Programme Office (C-PROC), which assists countries globally in enhancing their criminal justice capacity to tackle cybercrime and handle electronic evidence based on the standards set by the Convention on Cybercrime and its Protocols. C-PROC has supported around 2,400 activities benefiting over 140 countries since 2014.