Finland will join an international taskforce investigating and preventing cybercrime at the headquarters of Europol. The Finnish member comes from the National Bureau of Investigation.
The purpose of joining the taskforce is to reinforce the fight against cybercrime.
– Cybercrime is almost without exception cross-border in nature and is best tackled through real-time international cooperation. This calls for swift exchange of information and smooth operational cooperation between law enforcement authorities. J-CAT will provide us with opportunities for prompt information exchange and effective international collaboration, says Senior Detective Superintendent Tero Muurman of the National Bureau of Investigation.
J-CAT, i.e. the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce, is an international initiative based at Europol taking intelligence-led action against cybercrime threats and targets. It combats cross-border cyber-enabled crime, means of payment fraud and child sexual exploitation, and intervenes in actions enabling crime on the darknet, among other things.
J-CAT was set up at Europol in 2014. It has members from 19 EU and non-EU countries. The representative of the latest member country, Finland, will be appointed to the National Bureau of Investigation and sent to Europol.
The taskforce selects its targets based on cases proposed by its member countries, and supports its members in the investigation of the cases. It carried out 25 operations in 2021.
– The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) has already been our key partner in combating cybercrime. Joining J-CAT and placing a permanent liaison officer in the taskforce will further improve the exchange of information on cybercrime, opportunities for international cooperation and, thus, the capacity of the police to fight cybercrime, Tero Muurman says.
Read more: Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) | Europol (europa.eu)
Edited 22.12.2022: Specified the appointment of the Finnish representative
