opportunity amongst a diverse group of countries to use an optimal legal standard for the different national legislation addressing cybercrime. A possible addition of a protocol to the Convention is now being explored69, which could also provide a useful opportunity to address the issue of cross-border access to electronic evidence in an international context. Rather than the creation of new international legal instruments for cybercrime issues, the EU calls for all countries to design appropriate national legislation and pursue cooperation within this existing international framework. The pervasive availability of anonymisation tools makes it easier for criminals to hide. The "darknet"70 has opened up new ways for criminals to access child sexual abuse materials, drugs or firearms, often with little risk of being caught.71 It is also now a key source of the tools used in cybercrime, such as malware and hacking tools. The Commission, together with relevant stakeholders, will analyse national approaches with a view to identifying new solutions. Europol should facilitate and support investigations on the darknet, assess threats and help to determine jurisdiction and prioritise high risk cases, and the EU can play a leading role in coordinating international action.72 One growing area of cybercrime activity is the fraudulent use of credit card details or other electronic means of payment. Payment credentials obtained through cyber-attacks against online retailers or other legitimate businesses are then traded online and can be used by criminals to commit fraud73. The Commission is presenting a proposal to boost deterrence through a Directive on the combatting of fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment.74 This aims to update the existing rules in this area and to strengthen the ability of law enforcement to tackle this form of crime. The cybercrime investigative capabilities of Member States' law enforcement authorities also need to be improved, as well as the understanding of cyber-enabled crimes and investigative options by prosecutors and the judiciary. Eurojust and Europol contribute to this objective and to enhanced coordination, in close cooperation with specialised advisory groups within Europol's Cybercrime Center and with the networks of chiefs of cybercrime units and of prosecutors specialised in cybercrime. The Commission will dedicate EUR 10.5 million funding to fight cybercrime, primarily under its Internal Security Fund-Police Programme. Training is an important element and a number of useful materials have been developed by the European Cybercrime Training and Education Group. These should now be widely rolled out for law enforcement professionals with the support of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL). 69 70 71 72 73 74 and violations of network security. https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/185 In 2017, 55 governments had ratified or acceeded to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime. Terms of Reference for the preparation of a draft 2nd Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, T-CY (2017)3. The darknet consists of content in overlay networks which use the internet but require specific software, configurations or authorization to access. The darknet forms a small part of the deep web, the part of the Web not indexed by search engines. A notable exception is the recent takedown of two of the largest criminal Dark Web markets, AlphaBay and Hansa: https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/massive-blow-to-criminal-dark-web-activities-afterglobally-coordinated-operation. Europol already plays an important role in this area. For a recent example see: https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/massive-blow-to-criminal-dark-web-activities-afterglobally-coordinated-operation. The proceeds of fraud are an important source of income for organised crime and therefore an enabler for other criminal activities such as terrorism, drug trafficking and trafficking in human beings. COM(2017) 489. 15