The objective of this document is to identify and categorise the common challenges in combating cybercrime from both a law enforcement and a judicial perspective. Eurojust and Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) have identified the challenges based on and informed by operational and practical experience, joint deliberations and expert input. Other sources used include final reports of several thematic and strategic meetings with national experts and relevant stakeholders, strategic reports and assessments such as Europol’s EC3’s Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA), as well as various open sources.

The challenges identified fall into five main areas: loss of data, loss of location, challenges associated with national legal frameworks, obstacles to international cooperation, and challenges of public-private partnerships.

This document further examines some of the practical implications of these challenges. In addition, this document lists some of the most relevant ongoing activities and open issues regarding each of the challenges identified. For this purpose, a short overview is given at the end of each chapter. Additional information on some of the ongoing activities as well as some of the open issues can be found in the Annex