Cybercrime poses a growing risk to individuals and large organizations in the USA and around the world. As such, efforts and resources should be allocated by law enforcement agencies to enforcement of policies, regulations and laws in effort to reduce and mitigate the risks of online crime. Unfortunately, the implementation of existing law enforcement efforts in preventing online crime and deterring criminals’ initiation of criminal events both online and offline is still unknown. We believe that in order to design online environments that are effective in reducing and mitigating victims’ harm, as well as preventing the initiating of online and offline criminal events, law enforcement agencies should draw on an evidence based cyber security approach.

An Evidence Based Cybersecurity is an approach aiming to support law enforcement agencies’ and policy makers’ decision-making processes regarding the deployment of enforcement efforts by calling for rigorous scientific investigations of the effectiveness of these policies, tools, and efforts in achieving their goals in the field. This approach focuses on the human players who use cyberspace for various purposes, the various junctions along the cybercrime ecosystem on which these actors meet, and the technology they use in order to support their operations. The proposed training aims at preparing law enforcement agents such as detectives, investigators and special agents to become effective professionals through exposure to theoretical knowledge, practical skills and hands-on experience that are most needed by governmental, private and law enforcement organizations.

The Evidence Based Cybersecurity Research Group and the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange at Georgia State University’s Andrew School of Policy Studies offer an online training program on Intelligence and Evidence Gathering in Darknet Environments. The three-day workshop will be implemented online, and will leverage the Evidence Based Cybersecurity research group’s internet network, which is separated from GSU’s network, and allows the group to assess the effectiveness of security tools and policies, as well as gather intelligence from the darknet without jeopardizing the GSU internet users’ community.

The training program will implement a wide range of activities including a set of lectures and hands-on exercises in an effort to deliver key methodological and technical skills which are necessary for developing a cost-effective intelligence and evidence gathering by law enforcement agencies. The interdisciplinary team of educators (composed of Criminology, Computer Science and Computer Information System scholars) will support workshop participants’ development of knowledge in a number of areas as well as critical thinking, which is essential for designing an effective response to online crime challenges.