From 11 to 13 July, the Council of Europe will bring together ministers and other high-ranking government representatives, criminal justice experts, and representatives from the Internet industry, civil society and data protection organisations from all over the world to step up international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime.
The Octopus conference will focus on solutions to strengthen the rule of law in cyberspace through a Protocol to the Budapest Convention. Consultations will be held with civil society, data protection experts and industry to review proposals for more effective ways to secure electronic evidence needed in criminal investigations, for example, through mutual legal assistance and direct cooperation with service providers. The Protocol is to be finalised by the end of 2019. A related topic is access to the WHOIS directory containing information on domain names.
“Access to evidence stored on virtual servers in the cloud is vital to protect society and individuals against cybercrime. Without data, there is no proof and therefore no justice. The adoption of a new protocol to secure evidence in the cloud while respecting the safeguards imposed by the rule of law will be another key milestone in this treaty’s history,” said the Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland.
Cyberviolence, the global state of cybercrime legislation and progress made through capacity building programmes will also be discussed.
The conference will be opened at 2 p.m. on Wednesday 11 July (Assembly chamber).
