UK cops to lose access to Europol's cyber crime resources after Brexit
Cyber cops will be on their own once Britain leaves the EU


The UK is set to lose access to the European Cybercrime Centre, after it was revealed the country will no longer be a member of Europol following its departure from the European Union in 2019.
The European Cybercrime Centre - also known as EC3 - was set up by the cross-border law enforcement group to provide support for EU police forces in tackling cyber crime. EC3 assists national police with intelligence, digital forensics and strategy support, collaborating on cases involving technological elements.
Cyber security experts have expressed dismay at the news. "This is hugely disappointing," McAfee's chief scientist Raj Samani told IT Pro. "Europol have a proven record of success and one would hope a degree of compromise can be reached since the safety of all citizens across the globe is our joint mission."
The government had stated earlier this year that it wished to continue its relationship with Europol following Brexit, but the EU's top negotiator Michel Barnier said that access to Europol would not be possible once the UK leaves the EU, stating that it was a "logical consequence".
Losing access to EC3 will mean that UK police units fighting cyber crime will no longer benefit from intelligence-sharing between EU member states, as well as from the extensive support network offered by Europol's cyber specialists.
"Since before the referendum, the NCA and its partners in policing and wider law enforcement have clearly stated our need to work closely and at speed with European countries to keep people in the UK safe from threats including organised crime, child sexual abuse, cyber attack, and terrorism," a spokesman for the UK's National Crime Agency told IT Pro.
"We are confident that these requirements are being taken into account, and that there is broad consensus on the need to retain our ability to share intelligence, biometrics and other data at speed. It is also vital to ensure we can continue to provide a quick, efficient and dynamic response to crime and criminals impacting the UK and its citizens, be it from serious and organised transnational crime or local level volume crime at the heart of UK communities."
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Adam Shepherd has been a technology journalist since 2015, covering everything from cloud storage and security, to smartphones and servers. Over the course of his career, he’s seen the spread of 5G, the growing ubiquity of wireless devices, and the start of the connected revolution. He’s also been to more trade shows and technology conferences than he cares to count.
Adam is an avid follower of the latest hardware innovations, and he is never happier than when tinkering with complex network configurations, or exploring a new Linux distro. He was also previously a co-host on the ITPro Podcast, where he was often found ranting about his love of strange gadgets, his disdain for Windows Mobile, and everything in between.
You can find Adam tweeting about enterprise technology (or more often bad jokes) @AdamShepherUK.
-
RSAC Conference 2025: The front line of cyber innovation
ITPro Podcast Ransomware, quantum computing, and an unsurprising focus on AI were highlights of this year's event
-
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei thinks we're burying our heads in the sand on AI job losses
News With AI set to hit entry-level jobs especially, some industry execs say clear warning signs are being ignored
-
LockBit data dump reveals a treasure trove of intel on the notorious hacker group
News An analysis of May's SQL database dump shows how much LockBit was really making
-
‘States don’t do hacking for fun’: NCSC expert urges businesses to follow geopolitics as defensive strategy
News Paul Chichester, director of operations at the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, urged businesses to keep closer tabs on geopolitical events to gauge potential cyber threats.
-
‘I take pleasure in thinking I can rid society of at least some of them’: A cyber vigilante is dumping information on notorious ransomware criminals – and security experts say police will be keeping close tabs
News An anonymous whistleblower has released large amounts of data allegedly linked to the ransomware gangs
-
It's been a bad week for ransomware operators
News A host of ransomware strains have been neutralized, servers seized, and key players indicted
-
Everything we know about the Peter Green Chilled cyber attack
News A ransomware attack on the chilled food distributor highlights the supply chain risks within the retail sector
-
The FBI says hackers are using AI voice clones to impersonate US government officials
News The campaign uses AI voice generation to send messages pretending to be from high-ranking figures
-
Employee phishing training is working – but don’t get complacent
News Educating staff on how to avoid phishing attacks can cut the rate by 80%
-
Russian hackers tried to lure diplomats with wine tasting – sound familiar? It’s an update to a previous campaign by the notorious Midnight Blizzard group
News The Midnight Blizzard threat group has been targeting European diplomats with malicious emails offering an invite to wine tasting events, according to Check Point.