Amsterdam, 22 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Hacking, sexual exploitation of children, and financial fraud are the most worrying trends when it comes to cybercrime in the European Union, according to an analysis released on Monday by Europol, which also warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an ever-growing role.

Millions of citizens in the EU are victims of organized crime online every day, the European Union's police authority in The Hague said.

Criminals are increasingly targeting small and medium-sized companies, which may be less likely to have advanced tools to protect their data from ransomware attacks, Europol said.

Meanwhile, the agency said users continue to fall victim to phishing campaigns and other forms of financial fraud.

The number of cases of online sexual extortion targeting vulnerable minors is also increasing, it said.

Europol also sounded the alarm about AI-assisted cybercrime, which is more and more starting to pose a significant challenge to law enforcement authorities.

It noted particular concern for the AI-assisted creation of child sexual abuse materials, as well as AI-enabling sophisticated blackmail methods used by scammers and those looking to groom children.

According to the analysis, deepfake video and audio are also being widely deployed.

For example, voices can copied for phone calls to extort money or bank access data. AI is also used to manipulate videos or images showing the sexual abuse of children.

MIA file photo