OSCE Trains Uzbekistan Law Enforcement to Track and Seize Crypto, Dark Web Search – Bitcoin News

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has set out to teach law enforcement officers in Uzbekistan how to conduct crypto and dark web investigations. The regional body recently organized a training course for employees of the country’s security agencies in Tashkent.

Uzbekistan police and security agents attend OSCE course on cryptocurrencies

Representatives of Uzbekistan’s Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior and the State Security Service have attended a training course on cryptocurrency and dark web investigations held by the OSCE between 17 and 21 October in the capital, Tashkent.

The course was organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in cooperation with the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan and the Academy of the Prosecutor’s Office, the intergovernmental security body said on its website.

“Attendees learned about the main concepts and key trends in the areas of Internet work, anonymity and encryption, cryptocurrencies, obfuscation techniques, dark web and Tor network,” the announcement said.

They also practiced various approaches and methods of crypto asset seizure, blockchain analysis and darknet searches. The course was based on material provided by the European Cybercrime Training and Education Group (ECTEG).

A new computer classroom donated by the OSCE to the Academy of Prosecutors was inaugurated before the course by Deputy Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan Erkin Yuldashev and Acting OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan Hans-Ulrich Ihm.

Crypto training in the region will continue through next year

Digital technologies have transformed the criminal landscape, noted Evgeniy Kolenko, who heads the Prosecutor’s Office Academy. He insisted that law enforcement training in this field needs a long-term and systematic approach.

“Education in cybercrime requires adequate equipment – ​​both hardware and software,” added Gayrat Musaev, head of the academy’s department for implementation of information and communication technologies and information security. Musaev also praised the new dark web laboratory.

The OSCE course is the first of its kind in Uzbekistan within the second phase of the project “Capacity Building on Combating Cybercrime in Central Asia” financed by the USA, Germany and South Korea. Similar training activities will continue across the region throughout 2022 and 2023.

This year, the government in Tashkent has taken steps to more comprehensively regulate Uzbekistan’s crypto sector. This spring, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev issued a decree that provided definitions for terms such as cryptoassets and exchanges. New registration rules for crypto miners were unveiled in June and earlier in October, Uzbekistan introduced monthly fees for crypto companies.

Do you think law enforcement authorities in Central Asia will continue to increase their focus on the crypto space? Share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’ quote: “To be a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.