Romanian police participated in an extensive operation conducted by Europol and law enforcement authorities from 13 countries in preventing and combating cyber attacks.

They performed searches in Sibiu and Galati and a criminal file was registered to  a man for disruption of the functioning of illegal operations systems and devices or programs.

Between 5 to 9 December this year, Europol and the law enforcement agencies in Australia, Belgium, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States held a joint action which targeted users of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) - instruments attacks, which resulted in 34 people arrested / detained and 101 people heard and advised.

During the action, the European Centre for Cybercrime Europol supported countries in identifying suspects, both in Europe and abroad, mostly young people aged under 20 years, by organizing meetings operational corroborating information obtained and analytical support.

Participating countries have acted under the direction EMPACT (Multidisciplinary European Platform against Criminal Threats).

During the action, various activities were carried out according to national law: were questioned, detained, arrested or fined people in some cases were sent notices to parents, and among others, have been carried out and house searches.

Those arrested are suspected to be paid "stressers" services and "booters" for use without the right software, DDoS attacks, which loads websites and servers with more information, severely disrupting their work and making them unusable.

The tools used are part of the criminal type facilities ,, DDoS rent "for which hackers can pay and they can head to the chosen targets. Police identified this operating mode among young video gamers.

This marks a successful operation carried out preventive campaigns in all participating countries for youth awareness on the risk of being involved in cybercrime.

Many do it just for fun, without realizing the consequences of their actions, but the penalties are severe and can have negative implications on their future.

Adolescents who were involved in cybercrime have skills that can be used in a positive context.

Knowledge in coding, computer games, programming, computer security or anything related to IT are very popular and there are many career opportunities for those passionate about this area.

A recent study conducted with the support of EUROPOL, published in October 2016 helps us achieve how to get young people to be involved in cybercrime.

More here:

http://www.politiaromana.ro/ro/stiri-si-media/stiri/operatiune-pentru-prevenirea-si-combaterea-atacurilor-informatice

http://www.mdx.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/245554/Pathways-White-Paper.pdf