Mitigating new threats and adapting investigation strategies in the era of Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) connects practically everything and makes everything more vulnerable as well. IoT devices increasingly benefit from the convergence and integration of technologies, such as machine learning, real-time analytics as well as 5G that will provide faster and more reliable connections for all devices.

There are a number of implications particular to IoT devices, which have been consistently highlighted by researchers and Police Authorities. For example, the vulnerability of IoT devices may be exploited by criminals who seek to collect personal data, compromise user credentials or spy on organisations or people. Furthermore, IoT devices may represent a threat that goes beyond the digital world, i.e. they may become an increasingly physical threat, since they find applications in, e.g. industry and infrastructure, as well as in building smart cities. Malevolent actions against connected devices with direct physical impact (e.g. car-to-car communication, hacking of vehicles, hospitals, nuclear plants) are also a growing concern.

Therefore, the successful proposal should help Police Authorities understand the implications of the fast-developing IoT environment in order to keep pace with the evolution of its applications, recognise and tackle the emerging (digital and especially physical) threats that this may pose.

At the same time, IoT proliferation will provide opportunities for the Police Authorities and other relevant security practitioners to collect a new range of data in relation with criminal activities. New investigating schemes are needed for Police Authorities to access and exploit IoTs evidence, in compliance with EU values. To this end, the proposal should examine the extent to which, e.g. modern European vehicle models, smart TVs, private surveillance systems, virtual assistants or voice control systems can be considered as sources of evidence for the collection and analysis of data, as well as how such data can be used for deriving indicators of an imminent threat.

The research should assess legal, organisational and technical implications of IoT development in the context of investigations, including e.g. privacy issues, and propose strategies, including training materials, tools and path to standards that would foster “by design” a lawful access to relevant evidence.

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content should be addressed only if relevant in relation to the objectives of the research effort.

The successful proposal should build on the publicly available achievements and findings of related previous national or EU-funded projects as well as create synergies with similar on-going security research projects from the Calls 2021-2022 on Fighting Crime and Terrorism and on Increased Cybersecurity, in order to avoid duplication and to exploit complementarities as well as opportunities for increased impact. Possibilities of coordination with related activities in the Digital Europe Programme[[REGULATION (EU) 2021/694 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 29 April 2021 establishing the Digital Europe Programme and repealing Decision (EU) 2015/2240.]] should be analysed too.

Proposals funded under this topic are expected to engage with the Europol Innovation Lab during the lifetime of the project, including validating the outcomes, with the aim of facilitating future uptake of innovations for the law enforcement community.