The European Union (EU) has begun funding a new consortium called TITANIUM (Tools for the Investigation of Transactions in Underground Markets). The project will run for three years and cost €5 million. The consortium hopes to developer technical solutions for investigating and preventing crime and terrorism that involves cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, and underground markets.
The partners involved in the TITANIUM consortium are:
- Austrian Institute of Technology (AITAustria)
- Coblue Cybersecurity (Netherlands)
- Countercraft S.L. (Spain)
- dence GmbH (Germany)
- Universitat Innsbruck (Austria)
- INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization)
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany)
- Ministry of the Interior (Austria)
- Ministry of the Interior (Spain)
- National Bureau of Investigations (Finland)
- TNO (Netherlands)
- Trilateral Research Ltd. (UK)
- University College London (UK)
- VICOMTECH-IK4 (Spain)
The project’s co-ordinator, Ross King, from the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), said:
“Criminal and terrorist activities related to virtual currencies and darknet markets evolve quickly and vary in technical sophistication, resilience and intended targets … The consortium will analyse legal and ethical requirements and define guidelines for storing and processing data, information, and knowledge involved in criminal investigations without compromising citizen privacy.”
The law enforcement agencies involved in the consortium hope to develop tools that will reveal common illegal transactions, anomalies, and money-laundering techniques. They’ll use the findings to develop the skills and knowledge among EU law enforcement agencies.
Source: Enterprise Innovation | Image via Shutterstock