On 23 and 24 September, the Europol 2026 Cybercrime Conference took place at the headquarters in The Hague under the theme "Breaking the Deadlock: The Future of Combating Cybercrime."
The event brought together over 500 participants from law enforcement, the private sector, academia, and international organisations for two intensive days focusing on how cybercrime is evolving and what it takes to respond together. The conference was opened by Edvardas Šileris, Head of Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), who outlined the growing scale of cyber threats and the critical need for closer cross-border and cross-sector cooperation.
With the support of the CyberUA the Ukrainian police officers participated and actively engaged in the conference discussions, using this opportunity to exchange experiences, identify challenges in international cooperation and communication and further strengthen their resilience and capacity to deal with electronic evidence.
The main focus of this year’s Europol cybercrime conferences include:
- ⚖️ The evolving balance between cyber enforcement, judicial oversight, and the protection of fundamental rights.
- 🛡️ The challenges of achieving lasting impact in the fight against cybercrime and dismantling complex criminal ecosystems.
- 🎓 The operational lessons emerging from persistent engagement with evolving cyber threats.
Through a series of thematic workshops and expert discussions involving representatives from the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s diplomatic service, as well as ECTEG, INTERPOL, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), participants had the opportunity to exchange perspectives with key stakeholders and discuss common challenges, practical cooperation, and ways to strengthen cross-border coordination in the fight against cybercrime.
The core takeaway from the conference highlighted that no single organization or nation can tackle these challenges alone, reinforcing the necessity of strong alliances, rapid information sharing, and unified global action on cyber-resilience.
Support in this area is a part of the Council of Europe project titled “CyberUA: Strengthening capacities on electronic evidence of war crimes and gross human rights violations in Ukraine”.
