November 9, 2015
Government intelligence agency GCHQ and the National Crime Agency (NCA) have announced that a joint unit to police the dark web and tackle serious cyber crime is up and running.
The Joint Operations Cell (JOC), based in Warrington, brings together officers from the two agencies to focus initially on tackling online child sexual exploitation.
GCHQ director Robert Hannigan said the unit will increase the ability to identify and stop serious criminals, as well as those involved in child sexual exploitation and abuse online.
“This is a challenging task as we must detect them while they attempt to hide in the mass of data. We are committed to ensuring no part of the internet, including the dark web, can be used with impunity by criminals to conduct their illegal acts,” he said.