Although not part of the EU, the States of Jersey Police were able to submit an umbrella bid as part of a broader Cyber Crime bid being led by Lithuania, in conjunction with 18 already established EU Centres of Excellence.

Yesterday, representatives from Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus were in Jersey to attend the inaugural conference. The meeting gave an opportunity for stakeholders from Law Enforcement, the Business Community, Local Government, Legal Officers and Academia to come together to discuss Cyber-related challenges.

The aim of the network is to:

- Conduct a threat analysis of the business and financial sectors of the islands and provide preventative advice to industry and law enforcement.

- Develop a training and education framework for business and law enforcement communities of the islands, recognising the requirements, unique to small jurisdictions compared to larger national centres.

- Working with new and existing centres of excellence to ensure future networking and collaboration among the centres in developing innovative solutions in the fight against cybercrime, including establishing best practice and sharing concepts, training and products.

Deputy Kristina Moore said: “Cyber Crime has no boundaries or borders, so developing and investing in our infrastructure, involving not only common standards but training, research and education is necessary to protect our communities from the threat of Cyber Crime.

“This network will mean that Jersey and the other small jurisdictions are leading the field in this emerging threat area and helping to protect our community from risk.”

Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull, Head of Crime & Criminal Justice Services with States of Jersey Police, said: “We are delighted to have secured this funding which will allow us to work with other small islands during the next 2 years and to be hosting this inaugural event here in Jersey.

"The exciting programme we have mapped out for the duration of the project will allow the small islands to better protect, prevent & investigate cyber-attacks. Whilst we remain really safe communities in the traditional sense we cannot afford to be complacent when it comes to on-line protection both at home & work."