Cryptocurrencies are part of a relatively new technology which not many understand. Tech savvy criminals started making effective use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as soon as they gained some prominence as a mode of making untraceable transactions. With an increase in the number of bitcoin related crimes, the European Union’s police body – Europol is adding more resources to effectively combat the threat.
The member states of European Union are currently under pressure to regulate bitcoin and other digital currencies after the Paris attack. It was reported earlier this week by a hacktivist group that the terrorist group, ISIL to which the Paris attackers presumably belonged to is in possession of bitcoin assets. These hacktivists have claimed that they have evidence proving that the ISIL has over $3 million in bitcoin assets.
In an effort to increase the manpower and expertise required to keep track of and mitigate any threat or combat crimes involving cryptocurrencies in the European Union, Europol is recruiting interns. Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), Cyber Operations has called for applications for an internship project on the 17th of this month. The facility based out of Hague, Netherlands is involved in collection, storage, processing, analysis and information exchange regarding cybercrimes with national branch units. The internship will involve activities supporting the Cyber Intelligence Team of Europol in data collection, analysis and integration of collected data into strategic tools and products currently used by the department.
Apart from being a citizen of one of the member states of the European Union, the interns should exhibit a good command over at least two European languages including English. In addition, they should also know how to use encryption and anonymization tools and basic knowledge of bitcoin, its transactions, blockchain etc.
Interested parties can apply for the internship before 10th of next month and those selected can start working on the project by the first week of February, 2016.