The CYBERKOP Action of the Octopus Project has been extended until the end of 2026, allowing the initiative to continue its work in strengthening capacities to combat cybercrime at both the domestic and regional level. Since the extension, activities have continued at a dynamic pace, with several domestic, regional and international initiatives already underway and others planned.

This joint intervention with the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) has already achieved significant impact, resulting in the program’s continuation.

March proved to be a particularly productive period for the CYBERKOP Action. Building on the success of the previous year, the domestic training series on Investigation of Cybercrime for First Responders resumed with the first group of 2026 – the fifth overall – delivered on 24-25 March, in cooperation with the Kosovo Police. With 123 officers trained and now better equipped to identify cyber offences, secure electronic evidence, and coordinate investigations, the programme is steadily reinforcing Kosovo Police’s early-stage response capacities.

CYBERKOP has also further extended its regional engagement by co-organising, together with the CyberSEE joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the nineth activity of the Western Balkans Working Group on Digital Asset Investigations, held from 24 to 26 March in Tirana, Albania. The event advanced practical skills such as cryptocurrency tracing, identifying money-laundering patterns, evidence collection, seizure procedures, and asset management, while promoting closer cross-border cooperation.

Complementing its domestic and regional presence, CYBERKOP continues to support the international engagements in targeted capacity building and knowledge-exchange initiatives. Participation in the Workshop on Forensics for Crimes Against Children and Digital Forensics Research Conference Europe, on 23–24 March 2026 in Sweden and IN CYBER Forum Europe, on 31 March–2 April, in France are aimed to further contribute to advancing capacities on combating online child abuse, handling electronic evidence, strengthening inter-agency collaboration and access to advanced digital forensics tools.

Across these activities, CYBERKOP Action continues to build professional expertise among criminal justice authorities, strengthening their abilities to handle electronic evidence effectively, and promoting international and public-private co-operation in line with the standards of the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention).

With a renewed mandate and an ambitious agenda ahead, CYBERKOP Action will continue to play a central role in advancing capacities for more effective investigations into cryptocurrencies and online child sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as closer cooperation with the cybersecurity industry and major service providers. It will also strengthen collaboration with EUROPOL and the U.S. agencies represented in Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT).