Police Search For Cyber Criminals Together With Citizens During Hackathon

The Hague – During a two-day hackathon, the police has worked together with various external parties to solve a number of unresolved cyber cases. Insights are also shared about various aspects in the field of combating cybercrime.

During the hackathon, parties work on real cyber cases, which are completely anonymised prior to the event. In this way, also people without the authority are able to work on these cases. The cases concern digital crimes that are the most common, such as phishing, Friend-in-emergency Fraud and Bank Help Desk Fraud. The purpose of this unique collaboration is to look for connecting points, so that these cases can really be solved at a later moment.

Bryan Sewbarath-Misser, one of the organisers of the hackathon, says: ‘’During the corona period, we saw a huge shift from traditional to digital crime. The developments in the field of cybercrime are moving at lightning speed. We cannot combat this with criminal law alone, the private sector also has a responsible role in this. Fortunately, this happens more often. Think about banks for example, who immediately contact clients when suddenly high amounts of money are withdrawn. We could also make good use of the knowledge of private parties such as the police, because they naturally view certain problems differently than we do. We will try to bundle this knowledge during this hackathon.’’

The external parties participating in the hackathon are professionals who work for companies in the Cybersecurity world. Teams work together and present their insights and solutions to a panel. There is of course a nice prize for the best team. Various lectures are also provided on Cybersecurity.

Bryan: ‘’Most importantly, the aim of this event is to share knowledge and insights. Our hope is that this exchange will be continued after this hackathon, and that the private sector, police, and justice will continue a more intensive collaboration together. In this way, we enhance the chance to catch cyber criminals.’’

Would you like to know more about what the police does to combat cyber crime? Please read this page.