According to the international police organization Interpol, the increasing spread of digital worlds presents investigators with a major challenge. Virtual worlds can span the jurisdiction of multiple countries’ judicial authorities, while the associated systems and devices are complex and inconsistent, Interpol said in a study presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Police could be confronted with virtual crime scenes where there is no physical evidence to collect, only digital interactions with virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies. Such online environments are dynamic, meaning evidence can easily disappear or appear altered, Interpol said. Nevertheless, digital worlds also offer opportunities for law enforcement, ranging from simulations and virtual crime scene security to virtual training.
Criminal landscape increasingly complex
In the study, Interpol highlighted the need for investigators and digital forensics specialists and the justice system to understand the virtual world and the technology associated with it. This is necessary to ensure the security of the virtual environment and to protect the rights of the individual there.
“The emergence of powerful technologies such as the Metaverse is making the criminal landscape increasingly complex and transnational and presenting law enforcement authorities with new challenges,” said the Secretary General of the organization based in Lyon, France, Jürgen Stock. “We see that the metaverse and artificial intelligence provide new opportunities for criminal activity that the world is not fully prepared for.” International cooperation remains important in order to find an effective response to this evolving crime landscape.
With 196 member states, Interpol is the world’s largest police organization and coordinates international police cooperation. Its predecessor was founded in Vienna in 1923. Through Interpol, states exchange information on wanted people, among other things.
