The Dutch police will collaborate with dozens of other countries to share knowledge on preventing cybercrime among young people. The national unit has experience with this and is now continuing at the international level under the InterCOP flag.

You write the national police that the program called InterCOP has officially begun. This abbreviation stands for Cyber ​​Offender Prevention. The program stems from the Cybercrime Prevention Squad, a team within the Dutch National Unit. The InterCOP network consists of police forces from 27 countries, including the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden and Portugal. There was already a similar European cooperation called ECOP, but now non-European countries such as the United States, Brazil, Japan and Australia are participating.

The countries participating in the partnership will mainly exchange knowledge. For example, they will jointly prepare criminal profiles that show what kind of young people end up in cybercrime at an early stage. Police forces will also share knowledge about education and law enforcement programs. These are programs such as the alternative criminal action Hack_Right or the HackShield game project. These programs are very successful. The department also wants to collaborate more with operational departments, for example to share information about dark markets that have been disrupted.

In recent years, especially in the Netherlands, the police have increasingly focused on preventing cybercrime by young people. They often commit petty crimes like committing ddos ​​attacks or hacking into teachers’ email accounts, but in many cases it has to do with corruption or pushing boundaries rather than having a financial motive. Educational programs help young people use their digital skills at an early stage, so that they can find a job that matches their skills rather than become criminals.