Europe establishes cybercrime fighting unit.

• Position: CYBERCRIME - Brief article

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Robert Mueller, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), predicts that cyber threat will eventually be the number one threat to the United States. The European Union (EU) may not consider it the number one threat right now, but it does see it as a major challenge.

A recent item on DW.de, the German International broadcaster, stated that Interpol, the international crime police organization, said cybercrime cases caused about 750 billion [euro] ($929 billion U.S.) damage in Europe every year. The EU estimates that 1 million of its citizens are victims of cybercrime every day. Not only is it taking a major financial toll, but it's also taking a social one as citizens become leery of conducting business and socializing online.

Cybercrime has increased annually since the EU adopted its first guidelines on "attacks against information systems" in 2005. Disappointed by this trend, the EU Commission has decided to create a European Cybercrime Centre in The Hague.

The center, which will open in early 2013, will reportedly employ 55 investigators from the commission...