Macedonia's Interior Minister Mitko Cavkov has opened a regional conference on fighting cyber crime in Ohrid.
Organized with the help of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the conference brings cyber crime experts from the Balkans and Turkey, and aims to establish efficient mechanism for cooperation between the countries to investigate and stop cyber crime, as well as seize illegally gained funds.
"Macedonia strongly supports the private sector and believes that it is important to have it involved in identifying cyber crime and money laundering. This type of support will greatly improve the efficiency of law enforcement agencies", said Cavkov. Public Prosecutor Vladimir Miloseski added that cyber criminals have been able to skirt borders and work together, while law enforcement is often impeded by national jurisdictions.
"The convention on fighting cyber crime has already been signed by 40 countries, and we have seen it become easier to seize assets of cyber criminals and to secure evidence needed to prosecute them", said Miloseski. According to Alexander Seger. Head of the Cyber Crime Programme Office with the Council of Europe, there is nearly no crime anymore that doesn't in some way involve use of modern electronic equipment.
Yet, Seger added, the bulk of cyber crime is never reported or investigated, and only one percent of reports end up in court.