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News
Conclusion of the 1st CEPA OC Course 2015 in Budapest
On 26 June 2015, the 1st OC course 2015 was concluded in Budapest with a final ceremony including handover of certificates.
This CEPA further training course is sponsored by the European Union as part of the ISEC project “Central European Police College Online Website and Organized Crime Course English”.
Attended by high-ranking national and international guests, the final ceremony for the course participants was held in the premises of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior in the International Further Training Centre in Budapest.
From 1 – 26 June 2015, twenty police practitioners from the CEPA Member States who are dealing with criminal police tasks were given the opportunity to participate in this CEPA further training activity held at four locations: Prague (CZ), Brdo (SLO), Bratislava (SK) and Budapest (H).
This further training activity was focused on the transfer and deepening of knowledge on investigation and combating strategies in the field of cross-border / international crime as well as on the corresponding extension and improvement of regional police cooperation.
During the course, the participants worked in the workshop on the core issue of “Joint Investigation Groups (JIT)”. The results of the workshop were finalised in writing and presented to an international audience during the final ceremony.
The written workshop results will be made available to all investigation officers in the CEPA countries so that also those policemen not taking part in the course will profit from the results. In addition, the results will be provided for download from the CEPA insider homepage.
During his speech vice-rector JUDr Marek Kordik from the police academy in Bratislava mentioned the significance of CEPA for international police cooperation.
The participant from Slovakia, Mr Jakub Gajdos, in his speech referred to the unique character of this CEPA further training activity and thanked all CEPA actors for the implementation of this course.
Representing the Hungarian board member, the head of department of the international relations section of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, Istvan Erdös, and the head of CEPA in Hungary, Zoltan Feher, handed over the certificates for the successful completion of the 1st CEPA OC course.
As part of the closing event also the meeting of the course managers of the CEPA main training course was held. In addition to the results of the present OC course the experts and representatives of CEPA defined the first concrete tasks for the 2nd OC course in 2016.
Opening of the 1st CEPA OC-Course 2015
On 1 June 2015, the first CEPA OC-Course on “Prevention and Fighting of Internationally Relevant Crime” was opened in Prague.
This course is funded by the European Union as part of the ISEC Project (“Central European Police Online Website and Organized Crime Course in English” – CEPOOCEN).
In his opening speech, Mr Petr Novák, member of the CEPA board of directors from the Czech Republic, underlined the significance of international cooperation and of the joint fighting of organized crime. Mr František Hřebík, Deputy Director of the Police Academy of the Czech Republic, referred to the improvement and extension of regional police cooperation and to the international significance of CEPA in the field of further education and training in Europe.
The representatives of the Central Coordination Office (ZKB) from Austria and from the National Contact Offices from Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic welcomed the participants and wished them all the best and good luck for this course.
Special thanks were expressed to the organizers from the Czech Republic. It was said that this English language course which is financed from EU funds was carried out for the first time. CEPA is thus unique in its kind because as a further training institution it organizes an equal-quality training seminar on the subject of organized crime both in English and in German.
During four weeks and at the seminar venues of Prague (CZ), Brdo (SLO), Bratislava (SK) and Budapest (H), the 20 participants from the seven CEPA states will learn about the cultures of these countries and about the working methods of the police units in these CEPA member states. Lecturers from all CEPA member states will give presentations on major criminal police issues.
In addition, the participants will be informed about the latest strategies to fight internationally organized crime. Legal and international rules and regulations will complete the theoretical course programme. During excursions and practical exercises, the participants will learn about operative processes and tactical combating measures employed in the individual CEPA member states.
Similar to the CEPA Main Course 2015, the participants of the 1st CEPA OC-Course will carry out a workshop on “Joint Investigation Teams (JIT)”. The workshops are structured around 3 issues and/or assignments by the workshop manager Ms Kaja Lehr from Germany. The participants will write a final thesis on the 3 workshop assignments. The results of their workshop contributions will be presented by the course participants to an expert committee on 26 June 2015 in Budapest where the course will be concluded. The final theses will be published on CEPA’s homepage.
Towards the end of this opening ceremony the organizers once again referred to the sponsoring of this course from EU funds and to the construction of the English language homepage.
2nd CEPA Journal 2015 has been published
Experiences with Joint Investigation Teams
The CEPA-Journal 02 2015 regarding the topic "Experiences with JIT" has been published.
You can order printed versions for police offices/officers from your National Contact Point or even the Central Coordination Office of the CEPA
Semi anual report 2/2014 of the Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance MELANI
Semi annual report 2/2014 of the Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance MELANI
The Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance MELANI has celebrated its tenth anniversary. Therefore, the 20th semi-annual report does not merely focus on the main events of the second half of 2014, which concerned primarily incidents of blackmail and attacks on poorly protected systems. The report also takes a look at the development of cybercrime over the past decade.
Ten years of MELANI
There has been a massive increase in both the number of internet users and the number of platforms and services over the past ten years. New services and applications have produced further opportunities to find vulnerabilities and to exploit them too. This has also had an impact on criminal structures and has been exploited accordingly. Recent years have seen the development of a veritable underground market where everything needed for an attack can be obtained. At present, various states are also keenly interested in using the internet for espionage and surveillance methods. Compared with the first MELANI semi-annual report from 2005, however, it is obvious that the topics have largely remained the same: the spotlight was already on targeted espionage attacks, phishing, DDoS, defacement and social engineering back then.
New ransomware in the second half of 2014
The ransomware scene became even more diverse in the second half of 2014. Following on from CryptoLocker, a new piece of malware known as SynoLocker emerged. Significantly, the attackers only had to exploit a security vulnerability in a specific file server in order to trigger an infection with SynoLocker. It took more effort to cause an infection with CryptoLocker, as the Trojan could not be planted without first having user interaction such as password entry. With the Trojan, attackers infiltrate the system and encrypt files in order to extort money from the victims.
In addition, a new extortion trend is moving towards hackers accessing sensitive data, encrypting it and then threatening the affected company with disclosure if a specific sum of money is not paid. In other cases, it even happens that the whole database of a website is encrypted, making it unusable until the extorted amount is transferred.
Poorly protected systems – not just a risk for operators
At first glance, attacks on poorly protected systems such as webcams, wireless networks and content management systems for the creation of websites cause damage only for the operator or person responsible for the content. It is often forgotten that compromised systems can be used for phishing, spreading malware and sending spam, including with contaminated attachments or links to malicious websites. This semi-annual report describes concrete examples and gives recommendations for preventing imminent dangers.
Complete connectivity: smart and safe?
There is a continuously growing trend toward using smartphones to control everyday items, cars and homes remotely. Even people's mental state is being carried over to the internet with the use of health apps. However, all of this convenience means that people are also exposed to the dangers and risks of the internet and should protect themselves accordingly. The second MELANI semi-annual report for 2014 gives an insight into the possible threats lurking in our new smart world.
http://www.melani.admin.ch/dokumentation/00123/00124/01597/index.html?lang=en
Annual report 2014 of the The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland MROS received significantly more suspicious activity reports (SARs) in 2014 than in the previous reporting year. With a total of 1,753 SARs, this represents an increase of 24% over 2013. The total asset value of these reports remained high, at over CHF 3 billion.
In 2014, MROS received the highest level of reporting volume since its inception. With a total of 1,753 SARs, this exceeded the 2011 level of 1,625 SARs ‒ the largest reporting volume until now ‒ by more than 100 reports. More than 85% of total reporting volume came from the banking sector. While reporting volume from this sector rose from 1,123 SARs in 2013 to 1,495 SARs in 2014 ‒ an increase of 33% ‒ the number of SARs from other financial sectors declined, most notably from fiduciaries and asset managers.
Total asset value rises
The total asset value of reporting volume increased by 12%, to more than CHF 3.3 billion. One SAR involved assets of more than CHF 200 million, while six other SARs involved assets of over CHF 75 million. Together these seven SARs made up approximately one third of total asset value.
At CHF 2.85 million, the amount of assets involved in SARs forwarded to the prosecution authorities was comparable to 2013 (CHF 2.8 million).
Predicate offences: twofold increase in cases of suspected bribery
The number of SARs involving bribery as suspected predicate offence more than doubled. This was due, in particular, to one large and complex case that triggered over 50 SARs. The case was forwarded to the prosecution authorities for further investigation.
As in previous years, fraud was again the most frequently reported predicate offence to money laundering, with the number of SARs relating to this offence increasing over the previous reporting year (448 SARs as opposed to 373 SARs in 2013). Moreover, the number of reports involving phishing, i.e. the fraudulent misuse of a computer, remained high.
The number of SARs involving terrorist financing fell, from 33 in 2013 to 9 in 2014. However, whereas the 33 SARs in 2013 concerned 8 individual cases, all 9 SARs in 2014 related to separate cases. Hence, the situation remained comparable to the previous reporting period.
https://www.fedpol.admin.ch/dam/data/fedpol/kriminalitaet/geldwaescherei/jabe/jb-mros-2014-e.pdf
Situation report 2015 of the Federal Intelligence Service FIS
How safe is Switzerland? What should Switzerland’s inhabitants be worried about, who poses a threat to us and what are the dangers we face? To answer these questions, the FIS’s situation radar offers an overview from the security-policy point of view; it gives the FIS’s perspective on what the main security concerns for Switzerland are at present and what are currently only latent threats.
How safe is Switzerland? What should Switzerland’s inhabitants be worried about, who poses a threat to us and what are the dangers we face? To answer these questions, the FIS’s situation radar offers an overview from the security-policy point of view; it gives the FIS’s perspective on what the main security concerns for Switzerland are at present and what are currently only latent threats.
Closing Event of the 23rd MEPA Main Course in Hungary
On 8 May 2015, the 23rd MEPA main course was concluded with a handover ceremony of certificates in Budapest.
The handover ceremony for the participants of the 23rd MEPA main course on ”Prevention and fighting of internationally relevant crime“ was organised in Budapest in the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, Centre for International Training and Education, and was attended by high-ranking national and international guests.
The 23 police practitioners from the MEPA member states dealing with criminal police tasks were offered the opportunity to participate in this MEPA further training course held between 23rd June and 8 May 2015 at seven locations – Budenheim (G), Prague (CZ), Bratislava (SK), Traiskirchen (A), Ljubljana (SLO), Biel (CH) and Budapest (H).
This further training course was focused on the provision and intensification of investigation and combating strategies in the field of cross-border / international crime as well as the related increase and improvement of police cooperation at the regional level.
During the course, the participants concentrated on the main workshop issue of “Joint Investigation Groups (JIT)“. The workshop results on ”searching, securing, seizure“, “hearing of witnesses“ and “right of arresting, inspection of records“ were elaborated both in writing and presented to an international audience during the closing event.
The written results of the workshops will be made available to all investigating officers in the MEPA member states so that also those police officers not participating in the course will be able to profit from the results. In addition, the results will be offered for download from the MEPA insider homepage.
During his speech, Dr Wolfgang Willi, head of the Centre for International Affairs of the Security Academy of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior, underlined the importance of MEPA for international police cooperation.
The participants Ms Gabriella Szabo (H) and Dietmar Muschner (D) referred to the unique character of MEPA’s further training activities and thanked all those responsible for the implementation and organisation of the course.
The certificates on the successful completion of the 23rd MEPA main course were handed over by the Director General of the Centre for International Further Training Activities of the Ministry of the Interior in Hungary and Member of the MEPA Board of Trustees, Dr Istvan Farkas, and by the head of MEPA in Hungary, Mag. Zoltan Feher.
As part of the closing event also the MEPA main course managers’ meeting was held. In addition to the evaluation of the results of the present main course the experts and representatives of MEPA submitted first concrete tasks for the next MEPA main course in 2016.
MEPA-Online training for the National Contact Points within the framework of the EU-funded ISEC-Project
Following a strategic decision taken by the Board of Directors of the Central European Police Academy (CEPA) in 2013, this forum expressed the necessity to extend the range of training courses of the CEPA in order meet the requirements related to the fight against crime, specifically in the cross-border dimension. In this context furthermore it was determined to have this additional tasks covered by means provided by the European Union, which were granted by the European Commission in respect of the high importance of this issue.
Under the umbrella of the CEPA-ISEC-Project, co-funded by the European Union, several meetings and events took place. They went hand-in-hand with the setting up of the Internet-Website of the CEPA in English language. In order to prepare and facilitate the National Contact Points of the member states of the CEPA for their new tasks resulting from this Project, an intensive workshop took place from 11 to 13 May 2015 in the premises of the special police forces of Austria (“Cobra”) in Wiener Neustadt. This workshop was led by an IT-expert of the State Police of Baden-Württemberg.
The aim of this workshop was chiefly to update the participants of all National Contact Points on the on-going technical implementations on the IT-sector, on the one hand which already have been finalized and on the other hand which still have to be dealt with in the upcoming future. The utilization of the several functionalities of the IT-system was trained by the demonstration of practical examples and hands-on tutorials.
Finally this meeting gave an excellent opportunity provided for an extensive exchange of experiences concerning the CEPA-Online tools; issues and feasible solutions were discussed into depth as well as areas of improvement and the outlook for the future of the IT-landscape of the CEPA.
International Expert Seminar on “Human Trafficking, Sexual Exploitation – Prostitution“
Between 13 and 17 April 2015, the MEPA expert seminar on “human trafficking, sexual exploitation – prostitution“ was organised by the Hungarian NCP in the Centre for International Further Training of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior in Budapest.
All in all, 32 police practitioners from the MEPA member states of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia as invited country participated in this seminar which was intended for police officers dealing with the fighting of international human trafficking in their daily work.
The seminar was primarily aimed at updating the participants’ knowledge and know-how in the field of human trafficking crimes.
The participants and lecturers gave presentations on the present situation, on major problems and tendencies of prostitution as a society phenomenon, particularly also on findings concerning victimization as well as the way of how victims are chosen and on the activities of the police and related authorities as well as NGOs and about cooperation opportunities between these authorities in connection with prostitution.
Many of the colleagues profited from the occasion for an intensive exchange of views among experts and of experience. The presentations given by the lecturers and seminar participants were of high quality.
The evaluation at the end of this further training activity revealed that thanks to the varied and interesting programme the participants could intensify their expert knowledge, gather new experiences and knowledge and could establish new contacts with expert authorities. Within MEPA this seminar should therefore remain a fixed element of future activities.
News in English
CEPA-Website Under Construction.
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We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
The Central Coordination Office of the CEPA.