Events

This week's meeting brought together prosecutors, judges, law enforcement investigators, financial intelligence specialists and policy experts from across South-Eastern Europe and the EU, alongside representatives of international organizations, civil society and the private sector. Participants included experts from institutions such as EUROPOL, INTERPOL, UNODC, national ministries of interior and justice, specialized prosecution offices, financial investigation units, cryptocurrency analytics companies and anti-trafficking organizations.
The event was implemented by UNODC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France.
On Day 2, participants visited the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C), where our team presented its mandate and activities supporting regional cybercrime investigations. Director Gilles Schwoerer presented the overall operations of the Centre while our in-house expert for cybercrime, Cyril C., introduced WB3C’s crypto-assets training programme, highlighting how investigators in the region are being equipped with practical skills for blockchain analysis, cryptocurrency tracing and digital evidence handling in financial investigations.
Discussions throughout the meeting emphasized the growing importance of digital forensics, blockchain analysis and cross-border cooperation in identifying and recovering criminal proceeds linked to trafficking in persons.
Events like this demonstrate how cooperation between international organizations, governments, investigative bodies and technical experts is becoming essential to address increasingly complex financial crimes in the digital era. The group visited the WB3C training facilities and part of the Science and Technology Park as one of the driving platforms for innovation in Montenegro.

Today, WB3C participated in a multisectoral roundtable on the “Protection of Children in the Digital Environment – A New Draft Law”, hosted by the Ulysseus European University – Innovation Hub for Cybersecurity at the University of Montenegro, led by Andreja Mihailovic, PhD in academic cooperation with the University of Genoa.
The discussion, opened by Prof. Dr. Savo Tomović and MP Slađana Kaludjerović, addressed the proposed Law on the Protection of Minors in the Digital Environment from multiple professional angles.

Our Senior Project Manager Vanja Madzgalj MBE noted that clearly this is an exceptionally complex regulatory space. 
On one hand, states face structural barriers: limited jurisdiction over very large digital platforms operating across borders, difficulties in enforcing obligations against global service providers and the technical opacity of algorithmic systems. On the other hand, children are digital natives with legitimate rights to access, participate in, and benefit from the digital world. Protection cannot mean exclusion.

⚡ At the same time, the data are stark.
We see increasing numbers of minors falling victim to digital crimes, including online sexual exploitation and abuse. We also see minors committing digital offences, often without understanding the legal consequences. Internet addiction is emerging at an early age, with long-term psychological and social impacts. Uncontrolled and unsupervised digital exposure is producing measurable harm.
The forum brought together ICT professionals, children’s rights organizations, parent associations, regulators, policymakers, and educators. 

There was broad agreement that:
Cross-border cooperation with EU regulators is essential, particularly in light of the Digital Services Act and emerging European enforcement mechanisms.
Parents and schools carry a critical share of responsibility.
Children’s rights — including access to information and digital participation — must be preserved alongside protection measures.
Clear criminalization of digital child sexual abuse material (CSAM), grooming, and manipulation of minors online is essential.
We also agreed that waiting for perfect solutions is not an option. We must start somewhere.
National awareness campaigns on digital risks, structured parental education, and early cybersecurity education in schools are foundational. Parents need greater support — and greater accountability. At the same time, targeted institutional regulation and enforceable legal provisions remain necessary, particularly in areas of exploitation, manipulation, and platform responsibility.
Protecting minors online is not a single-law issue. It is a societal, institutional, and technological challenge that requires coordinated national action and effective alignment with European regulatory frameworks. The complexity should not paralyze us — it should push us toward pragmatic, enforceable, and balanced solutions.

WB3C has launched a new edition of its four-day intensive OSINT training, bringing together police investigators and prosecutors from across the Western Balkans.
The participants were welcomed by Gilles Schwoerer, Head of WB3C, who underlined the importance of building coordinated investigative and prosecutorial responses to evolving digital threats. The training is delivered by WB3C’s in-house cybercrime expert, Cyril C., specializing in open-source intelligence (OSINT).
The programme focuses on practical, case-based learning to strengthen participants’ ability to collect, analyse and preserve digital evidence in line with legal standards. Through structured exercises, participants develop skills in advanced online searches, metadata analysis, secure data handling and safe navigation of the darknet environment.
By combining investigative techniques with prosecutorial perspectives, the training supports stronger end-to-end cooperation between police and justice actors — a critical factor in delivering prosecution-ready cybercrime cases.
Building sustainable regional capacity in open-source intelligence remains a key pillar of our work to enhance resilience against evolving digital threats.

Today, we hosted an EU delegation led by Zuzana Michalcova Sutiakova, Head of the Western Balkans Division at European External Action Service (EEAS), accompanied by representatives of the European Commission and the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro.

The visit was a valuable opportunity to brief the EEAS on WB3C’s ongoing work across the region, supporting practical cooperation, strengthening cyber capabilities, and ensuring our activities remain closely aligned with the priorities that matter most for partners as they advance on the EU accession path.
We appreciate the open, concrete exchange and the continued engagement of EU institutions in helping the Western Balkans build resilient, secure digital systems, grounded in European standards and shared security interests.

We are so pleased to share with our community that professor Savo Tomovic, PhD received his certificate of completion for the 1-year Digital Forensics specialist training delivered by the Université de Technologie de Troyes (UTT), implemented in cooperation with the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C). 
Prof. Tomović is the Academic Lead of the Cybersecurity Innovation Hub and the Head of the Master’s study programme “Information Security" at the University of Montenegro.
This milestone marks the programme’s first academic participant, deliberately included alongside 15 law enforcement practitioners, to strengthen the link between operational needs and curriculum development. 

The training included 11 weeks (55 days) of classroom work coupled with research and exams. This training is a blend of theory and hands-on practice, built on the original French Gendarmerie investigator curriculum for Professional Bachelor's Degree (Professional License in Digital Forensics). The programme's core areas include: legal frameworks, digital evidence preservation, forensic analysis, OSINT/CyberPatrol techniques, networks/data analytics, investigative methodologies and information security. 
The rest of the group including 15 police investigators will continue with further training until June 2026, when the final exam and the dissertation are expected to take place in Troyes, France, before the UTT examination panel. 

This programme is a unique, EU-recognised, digital forensics qualification combining advanced hands-on investigative training with an accredited 60-ECTS academic credential - directly strengthening institutional capacity to handle complex cybercrime cases end-to-end. It was led by our experienced team of experts including Reza Elgalai, Ljuban Petrovic, Cyril C. and Yannick Casse. 

A symbolic awarding ceremony led by Gilles Schwoerer and Ljuban Petrovic just to say thank you to our dedicated colleague from the University of Montenegro, working hard all year round to support future talent through new future learning pathways.

A very productive meeting this morning with the Atlantic Council of Montenegro, led by Mr. Savo Kentera, President and CEO, together with his team Azra Karastanović and Draško Jabučanin. The Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) was represented by its Head Gilles Schwoerer and the team: Vanja Madzgalj MBE, Cyril C. and Yannick Casse. 

Building on our previous engagements, including the national Round Table on Critical Infrastructure and the 2BS Forum, WB3C is further strengthening this collaboration to address pressing regional challenges.

Our discussions highlighted significant common interests in two crucial areas: critical infrastructure resilience and countering disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).

This prospective partnership reflects a shared commitment to strengthening regional security and societal resilience against interference and information manipulation. We look forward to developing concrete actions and contributing meaningfully to these important efforts.

WB3C paid a visit to the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation this week. We met with the State Secretary Calasan Tatjana to introduce WB3C’s work and share an overview of our plans for 2026, with a focus on education, young people and cooperation with universities. We talked about practical ways to support foundational awareness and cyber skills in schools and development of academic learning pathways such as micro-credentials and new degree programmes in cybersecurity and digital forensics in universities. 

The meeting was also a chance to update the Ministry on how WB3C is developing as an international organization and how our role in Montenegro and the region is growing, as well as to explore how we could work more closely in the future.
We appreciated the open and constructive exchange, and the shared understanding that investing early in digital skills and cyber awareness really matters.
Looking forward to continuing the conversation and building on this momentum.
 

Today we start a short CyberHygiene training for colleagues at Montenegro’s Ministry of European Affairs. The training is led by WB3C-s in-house trainers Cyril C. and Yannick Casse.
Over the two days, we will work through the threats civil servants face most often — phishing, malware/ransomware and social engineering — and the practical habits that reduce risk without needing to advance technical skills such as: safer daily practices, data confidentiality and clear incident response basics.
A reminder worth repeating: cyber hygiene is organizational hygiene. Firewalls and policies help, but day-to-day resilience is built in small decisions made across the institution. Every civil servant counts.
A simple checklist that pays off:
⚠️ Pause before you click (especially “urgent” emails)
⚠️ Use strong passwords/passphrases + multi-factor authentication where available
⚠️ Keep devices and apps updated
⚠️ Report suspicious activity early—speed matters

Director Gilles Schwoerer greeted the participants by emphasizing that cybersecurity culture doesn’t start in the IT department, but it starts in each inbox. We are very pleased to welcome the behind-the-scenes force driving Montenegro's successful advancement towards the EU accession and to share that WB3C is expecting its first multi-year EU grant in March this year, aimed at supporting the region in meeting the requirements from the cyber agenda and strengthening its overall resilience, especially its critical infrastructure. We look forward to joining forces with ministries around the region in 2026 - a year expected to bring a dynamic plan of activities.

We were pleased to welcome the International Telecommunication Union to WB3C again this week to continue our discussions on working together for the benefit of the region—particularly on cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. Our partnership, launched in 2024, is set to deepen as protecting critical infrastructure becomes an increasingly high priority across the Western Balkans, closely linked to the EU accession path and the need to strengthen resilience against a growing threat landscape. We met with Jaroslaw K. PONDER, Head of ITU Office for Europe and Valentina Stadnic, Programme Officer at the ITU Office for Europe, joined by Director Gilles Schwoerer and Project Assistant Vanja Radović on the WB3C side.