Belgium leads the world61 in the rate of IPv6 adoption also thanks to public-private cooperation: relevant stakeholders have considered limiting the use of one IP address to a maximum of 16 users as part of a voluntary self-regulatory measure, which incentivised IPv6 transition.62 More generally, online accountability should be further promoted. This means promoting measures to prevent the abuse of domain names for the distribution of unsolicited messages or phishing attacks. To this end, the Commission will work to improve the functioning of and the availability and accuracy of information in the Domain Name and IP WHOIS63 systems in line with the efforts of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.64 3.2 Stepping up the law enforcement response Effective investigation and prosecution of cyber-enabled crime is a key deterrent to cyberattacks. However, today's procedural framework needs to be better adapted to the internet age.65 The speed of cyber-attacks can overwhelm our procedures, as well as creating particular needs for swift cooperation across borders. To this end, as announced under the European Agenda on Security, the Commission will in early 2018 put forward proposals to facilitate cross-border access to electronic evidence. In parallel, the Commission is implementing practical measures to improve cross-border access to electronic evidence for criminal investigations, including funding for training on cross-border cooperation, the development of an electronic platform to exchange information within the EU, and the standardisation of judicial cooperation forms used between Member States. Another obstacle to effective prosecution is the different forensic procedures for the gathering of e-evidence in cybercrime investigations across Member States. This could be alleviated by working towards establishing common forensic standards. In addition, to support traceability and attribution, forensics capabilities need to be reinforced. One step would be to further develop forensic capability in Europol, adapting the existing budgetary and human resources at Europol's European Cybercrime Centre to meet the growing need for operational support in cross-border cybercrime investigations. Another would be to mirror the technological focus set out above for encryption by looking at how its abuse by criminals creates significant challenges in the fight against serious crime, including terrorism and cybercrime. The Commission will put forward the results of current reflections on the role of encryption in criminal investigations66 by October 2017.67 Given the borderless nature of the internet, the framework for international cooperation provided by the Council of Europe Budapest Convention on Cybercrime68 offers the 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 https://www.google.com/intl/en/ipv6/statistics.html#tab=per-country-ipv6-adoption&tab=per-country-ipv6adoption. http://bipt.be/public/files/nl/22027/Raadpleging_ipv6.pdf. A query and response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the registered users or assignees of an internet resource. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces of the internet. To cite just one example, the (virtual) central command and control server of the Avalanche botnet moved physical servers and domains every five minutes. Presidency of the Council, "Outcome of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting of 8 and 9 December 2016, No. 15391/16. Eighth progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union of 29 June 2017, COM(2017) 354 final. The Convention is the first international treaty on crimes committed via the internet and other computer networks, dealing particularly with infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography 14