Cybercrimes - UNICRI's Initiatives

Past Achievements, Activities and Initiatives

In the past years UNICRI has performed various activities devoted to fight cybercrime.

UNICRI has launched a number of action-oriented research projects dedicated to the better understanding of the nature of cybercrime:

• By researching into Underground Economy business models and the involvement and impact of Organized Crime in cybercrime, UNICRI collected valuable data on the nature of cybercrime.
• In December 2008 the “Profiling Hackers” book was published by Auerbach Publications (CRC Press, Francis&Taylor Group). The book is a result of the UNICRI Hacker Profiling Project, launched to understand and profile hackers, being a launch pad for the very next UNICRI focus: analyzing hacker’s links to organized crime or criminal behavior.
• With the objective of producing a unified and peer-reviewed SCADA Penetration Testing methodology, UNICRI has undertaken an applied study of SCADA/PCS and National Critical Infrastructure security.
• UNICRI’s acquisition of cutting-edge data on malware, botnets and cybercrime activity will aid assessing future threats and trends.

UNICRI is constantly seeking to expand its network in order to enhance deep cooperation among stakeholders. With this in mind, UNICRI has established and continued cooperation with various International Organizations:

• In 20010 UNICRI was responsible for developing Guidelines for Policy Makers in cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union’s COP (Child Online Protection) initiative (http://www.itu.int/cop).
• UNICRI also participated in the World Summit on the Information Society 2010 which was held from 10th to 14th of May 2010 at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

At the same time UNICRI has formed Public Private Partnerships, for example the Digital Trust Symposiums held with the support of VeriSign Inc. in Rome on June 21-22, 2010 and in Brussels on October 5-6, 2010.

UNICRI attaches importance on well-trained law enforcement agencies and judiciary bodies that are technically competent and know how to properly acquire, assess and utilize “digital evidence”:

• For this purpose, UNICRI has hosted specialized training courses tailored to specific needs on request at the campus in Torino (Italy) and abroad. The last sessions were held in April 2010, with the next Spring sessions 2011 in the works. (See current Initiatives)
• UNICRI has furthermore supported and trained judges, prosecutors and lawyers in dealing with cybercrime on a practical level through initiatives such as the European Certificate on Cybercrime and Electronic Evidence.
• UNICRI has also trained and supported Digital Forensics using open-source tools and common methodologies and especially facilitating emerging countries to meet their requirements in this arena.