The Dark web is becoming increasingly a place where illegal activity thrives, while criminals operate in perceived anonymity. Reportedly, almost 30% of hidden services on Tor relate to some form of illicit activity, such as selling illicit drugs, weapons, compromised data, counterfeit documents, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and other illicit products.

Europol in its annual Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2019 highlights that the “dark web remains the key online enabler for trade in an extensive range of criminal products and services and a priority threat for law enforcement” and recommends that “more coordinated investigation and prevention actions targeting the dark web as a whole are required, demonstrating the ability of law enforcement and deterring those who are using it for illicit activity”¹. At the same time, the report notes that cryptocurrencies continue to facilitate cybercrime, hackers and fraudsters and encourages law enforcement to “continue to develop, share and propagate knowledge on how to recognise, track, trace, seize and recover cryptocurrency assets”.

In this regard, in the framework of the Joint Project of the European Union and the Council of Europe - iPROCEEDS, a 5-days Pilot Training on Cryptocurrency and Dark web Investigation is being organised from 2 to 6 December 2019 in Bucharest, Romania. The training aims at increasing the skills, expertise and knowledge of law enforcement officers on investigating the Dark web and virtual currencies, resulting in more efficient and effective investigative efforts with a direct impact on the criminal threat. The training is attended by investigators from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Kosovo*².

• iPROCEEDS project webpage

^{1 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2019
2 *This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.}