The Council of Europe, through Octopus Project, CyberEast+ and Artificial Intelligence and Data Protection Division recently organized a workshop within Geneva Cyber Week, examining the impact of artificial intelligence on cybercrime, electronic evidence, and international cooperation. Bringing together criminal justice authorities, law enforcement, financial intelligence units, academia, and the private sector, the session provided a comprehensive forum for addressing the dual nature of AI in the criminal justice landscape.
Firstly, participants examined how AI can automate and scale criminal activity, enhance social engineering, facilitate malicious content, and create new challenges for attribution and accountability. Secondly, the discussion highlighted AI's potential to support investigations through open-source intelligence, large-dataset analysis, forensic support, and pattern detection.
Participants reaffirmed that the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and its Second Additional Protocol remain essential instruments for addressing AI-related offences and cross-border evidence cooperation. The session also underscored the relevance of the Council of Europe's Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and the HUDERIA methodology in ensuring that AI tools deployed by public authorities in criminal justice processes remain accountable, proportionate, transparent, and consistent with fundamental rights.
A key message emerged clearly: AI-related cybercrime is not solely a technical issue and it demands coordinated legal, operational, and human rights responses from investigators, prosecutors, policymakers, regulators, and international partners alike.
Capacity building was identified as an immediate priority, with participants calling for practical training on AI-enabled offending, evidence preservation, chain of custody, and the responsible use of AI investigative tools.
Council of Europe will continue the development of practical guidance for practitioners, regional workshops, strengthened public-private cooperation, and the creation of a repository of good practices.