ESET is proud to announce its participation in the pilot phase of the Cyber Intelligence Extension Programme (CIEP), a new initiative launched by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3).
The programme aims to strengthen public-private cooperation in the fight against cybercrime by enabling real-time collaboration and intelligence sharing. As part of this initiative, ESET Chief Research Officer Roman Kováč, and Senior Malware Researcher Jakub Souček, recently spent several days at Europol headquarters in The Hague meeting EC3 teams and exploring ways in which ESET’s threat intelligence can directly support investigations into ransomware operations, payment fraud schemes, or complex cybercrime infrastructure.
Europol functions as a people hub, a data hub, and a case hub, a place where collaboration, intelligence, and operations converge. ESET’s team met with law enforcement officers from multiple countries, experiencing firsthand how one central platform fosters effective cross-border cooperation.
“We believe the CIEP sets a new benchmark for actionable intelligence sharing, joint operational readiness, and collective impact,” says Roman Kováč, Chief Research Officer at ESET.
ESET has a long history of collaboration with global law enforcement agencies, including in EC3’s Advisory Group, where we are represented by ESET Senior Research Fellow Righard Zwienenberg. ESET has also contributed to successful law enforcement operations, including the takedowns of prominent threats such as Gamarue, RedLine, Grandoreiro, Lumma Stealer, and most recently, Danabot.
The new CIEP initiative elevates this collaboration further, creating opportunities for direct, real-time engagement with Europol’s operational teams. Public-private partnerships like this one are crucial in mitigating risks within today’s rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape.
ESET extends sincere gratitude to Marijn Schuurbiers, Head of Operations, Gonçalo Ribeiro, Head of Cyber Intelligence and architect of the CIEP programme, and to all dedicated professionals at EC3 for their continued efforts in enhancing the fight against cybercrime across Europe and beyond.
Cyber threats evolve rapidly, but through partnerships such as this, so does our collective defence. Together we can make Europe a safer place.
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