Filenews 27 December 2025 - by Fanis Makridis
What are the forms of crime that should be of most concern to the Cyprus Police? The answer is given through a Europol strategic report published every four years.
According to the Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) report published in 2025 by the European Police Cooperation Office, there are seven areas in which Member States must give weight.
Specifically, the latest report, which decodes "the changing DNA of serious and organized crime", focuses on (1) cyberattacks, (2) online scams, (3) sexual exploitation of children online, (4) migrant smuggling, (5) drug trafficking, (6) firearms trafficking and (7) waste trafficking.
It should be noted that other areas of "traditional" crime remain resilient. The talk of trafficking in human beings, wildlife crime, organised property crime, intellectual property crime, currency counterfeiting, fraud against the financial interests of the EU and the Member States and the avoidance of sanctions,
The publication of the EU's fourth Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) report, which is the most comprehensive and forward-looking analysis to date, analyses the seven above-mentioned forms of crime as follows:
> Cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, governments, businesses, and citizens are becoming increasingly widespread. They exploit vulnerabilities in digital infrastructures, leverage data to access the system, and aim to use data for profit. These attacks are characterised by a combination of profit motives and destabilisation, as they are increasingly carried out in the context of cooperation with states and are ideologically motivated. Advances in artificial intelligence will further improve the ways of acting and identifying the targets of cyberattacks.
> An epidemic of online fraud affects EU citizens, businesses and public bodies. The scale, variety, use of sophisticated methods, and the scope of online fraud mechanisms are unprecedented. Accelerated by the use of artificial intelligence, which aids social engineering and data access, they are expected to outpace other types of serious and organized crime.
> Child sexual exploitation online is transforming, as generative AI is used to produce child sexual abuse material, create online communities of perpetrators protected by a particularly high level of security, and facilitate the ever-expanding online reach of children for illicit purposes.
> As regards migrant smuggling, criminal networks smuggle irregular migrants to, through or outside the EU and charge disproportionately high fees. Hybrid threat actors instrumentalising migration flows create additional opportunities for criminal migrant smuggling networks. It is well known that these networks flexibly adapt their methods and routes and completely disregard human dignity. Migrant smuggling networks increasingly rely on online platforms for marketing, attracting and transferring money.
> Drug trafficking is a dynamic criminal threat with a high destabilising potential for the EU as a society, given its link to violence, corruption, infiltration of the legal economy and global interconnections. They are highly lucrative but also competitive criminal activity. Trafficking in cocaine and synthetic drugs is a highly dynamic criminal activity, characterised by frequently changing pathways, new modes of action and product varieties, as well as the potential shift of violence across the EU.
> Firearms trafficking is shaped by a complex interplay between supply and demand and contributes to the regional expansion of drug-related violence. Sources of illicit firearms are shifting and expanding further under the influence of advancements in technology, artificial intelligence, and the realm of online activities. The availability of weapons in zones of neighbouring and non-EU countries emerging from crises and wars also contributes to this expansion.
> Illicit waste trafficking is an economically motivated crime closely linked to the legal waste sector and employing experts from the field. It has a negative impact on the natural environment, the economy and health, as well as on the safety of EU citizens.
It is of serious concern...
This is the fourth Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) report of the European Union and as "F" is in a position to know, it is of great concern to the Cyprus Police in the context of its continuous efforts to develop policies to deal with crime. This was preceded by three reports (published every four years), in 2013, 2017 and 2021. The 2025 edition presented in this publication is, according to Europol, "the most comprehensive and forward-looking analysis to date. It is supported by information collected from thousands of law enforcement surveys supported by Europol each year, complemented by strategic insights from law enforcement experts, contributions from other EU agencies and international organisations, private sector data from Europol's advisory teams and reflections from our academic advisory group. This integration of different sources of information makes this report unique in its ability to provide a thorough and forward-looking assessment of organised crime threats in the EU."
The internet and artificial intelligence are a threat
The internet and artificial intelligence are taking European crime to new dimensions. The report notes that "the key crime areas that represent the highest level of threat to the EU will be further exacerbated by the change in the DNA of serious and organised crime". And it is explained that "it is growing more and more through the internet and is significantly accelerated by artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies".
In the following analysis, the following parameters are listed:
> Growth online: Crime is increasingly developing online, in particular through the exploitation of digital and online infrastructures by criminal networks. More criminal activities are taking place to a greater extent online, and they are distinguished by their increased volume and wider reach. The digital space acts as a tool that facilitates organized crime, facilitates the increase in its volume or covers it up. Some digital tools, such as dedicated encrypted communication platforms, are designed by criminals for other criminals, while other criminal networks misuse over-the-top communication apps as a shield against law enforcement.
> Acceleration due to the use of artificial intelligence and other new technologies: Artificial intelligence and other new technologies, such as blockchain technology or quantum computing, will accelerate serious and organized crime with their rapid development. These technologies play a catalytic role in the development of crime, as they improve the efficiency of criminal activities by increasing their speed of processing, their impact and the use of sophisticated methods.
