After a successful first day of workshops on botnets and malware held at the Council of Europe on 11 April 2023 and bringing together nearly 80 technical experts, Patrick Penninckx, Head of the Information Society Department, opened the Botnet and Malware Ecosystems Fighting Conference taking place in Strasbourg from 12 to 14 April 2023.

Over three days, 400 participants from 30 different countries discussed the next steps in the fight against botnets and malware to create a dynamic, well-connected network of technicians specialised in this field and, above all, a new ecosystem of transversal research in the fight against current and future cybercrime.

The importance of a strong community of experts, but also an effective criminal justice response in line with the human rights and the rule of law requirements was underlined, with the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) serving as a framework for international co-operation between the states Parties to this Treaty, and the Second Additional Protocol providing additional tools.

More information:

 The Botnet and Malware Ecosystems Fighting Conference – BotConf 2023

 Council of Europe: Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention)

 Council of Europe: Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime on enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence

 Octopus project webpage

 C-PROC webpage