Gearing up the Fight against Cybercrime in the European Union: A New Set of Rules and the Establishment of the European Cybercrime Centre (Ec3)

Abstract

In the never-ending cat-and-mouse game between the law and the (r)evolution of technologies there always seems to be new mice around. Botnet attacks, phishing, social networks, Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIPs) and geo-locative software are posing new menaces that were unknown, or largely underestimated, only few years ago. Although technology neutral, the legislation should, to the extent possible, respond to these constantly changing trends and threats. This article focuses on the European Union's new approach to fight cybercrime giving a preliminary assessment of the new proposal for a Directive on attacks against information systems, intended to replace the 2005 Framework Decision. The article also explores the establishment of the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) by 2013 and its key features.