COW Project: Faculty research in the service of combating crime

At the end of last year, a prestigious European project with significant participation from faculty experts expanded its application activities at FIT BUT. Moreover, this is the first ISF (Internal Security Fund) project to appear at BUT, according to our data. A characteristic feature of this type of European financial instrument is its focus on security and protection of society, while emphasizing the transfer of technology into practice. And that is precisely where the new activity is headed.

The COW: Countering privacy-enhancing challenges of cryptocurrencies, OSINT and wireless project is a two-year project. In addition to experts from FIT VUT, partners from industry and technology intermediaries are also involved: the Czech company Netsearch, which specializes in security and privacy issues in network traffic, the Dutch organization TNO, which is an entity straddling the public and private sectors and mediating initiatives for applied research and development, and SME CFLW, also from the Netherlands, which monitors the dark web. The third type of entities involved are law enforcement agencies, including the Police Presidium of the Czech Republic, as well as institutions from Germany (e.g., the Federal Criminal Police Office) and Finland. Their participation clearly demonstrates that the COW project is strongly implementation-oriented. In layman's terms, law enforcement agencies come up with a specific problem and a request for a non-commercial solution, which is then made available throughout Europe.

And what is the problem that the participating institutions and researchers will attempt to solve with their findings? Criminal abuse of the privacy features inherent in cryptocurrencies, illegal online marketplaces, and wireless devices. Why is this happening? Obviously, the goal is to hide illegal activities from investigation and legal consequences. Criminal networks use the above-mentioned means, for example, to coordinate activities such as drug production and trafficking, cybercrime in general, or to carry out crime as a service. To avoid prosecution, they use:

• end-to-end encrypted communication implemented through tools such as TorBrowser or Telegram,
• cryptocurrencies such as Monero, which is highly resistant to tracing, to transfer value,
• wireless devices and IoT devices to secure their operations, e.g., by deploying surveillance systems at target locations.

The COW project is developing methods and tools ready for immediate use that will support law enforcement agencies in investigating and combating the criminal misuse of the above-mentioned means. Their development includes, for example, the analysis of OSINT sources or dark web traffic. Another specific feature of the project is the development and subsequent provision of specialized training and courses for security forces and judicial authorities. These outputs will transfer the knowledge and skills needed to process and interpret evidence collected using the new tools. The project combines physical and digital traces, adds valuable insights from network analysis and cryptocurrency flow monitoring (this is where FIT researchers play an important role), and supports new methods of collecting digital evidence from covert operations in the field.

We are proud that FIT is coordinating the COW project (namely Dr. Vladimír Veselý and Dr. Matěj Grégr), thus having a significant impact on scientific and research activities that have a concrete impact on social security and the fight against crime. This further demonstrates that FIT is a place where cutting-edge security research in various domains is conducted, both in the context of the Czech Republic and beyond.