Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, is committed to continuing its mission of “making the world a safer place” in the Metaverse.
The metaverse is coming to everyone and with it, new challenges. This has been pointed out by the International Criminal Police Organization, known as Interpol, in a release recent where he reported on the launch of his own virtual world.
International police noted that as metaverse technology is growing and spreading, so too could potential crimes, especially those that can be committed against children, such as sexual assault and harassment, and also cyber and financial crimes, such as data theft, money laundering, fraud, counterfeiting, ransomware and phishing attacks.
Given the potential risks, Interpol has decided to bring law enforcement to the Metaverse, through its own virtual world provided by its cloud platform, Interpol Secure Cloud.
Interpol unveiled its Metaverse during the organization’s 90th General Assembly, held in New Delhi, India. During the event, Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock stated that the police organization is always motivated to support its 195 member countries in the fight against crime and in making the world, virtual or not, safer for everyone.
“We may be entering a new world, but our commitment remains the same.”, Stock said.
The Interpol Metaverse
The nearly century-old police organization stated that for the police to understand and know how to act within the Metaverse, they must first experience it. For this reason, it has created The world's first Metaverse designed specifically for law enforcement.
Although last week, Ajman Police, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, announced its entry into the virtual world, Interpol is the first police organization to build its own Metaverse.
In addition to announcing its new virtual world, Interpol also announced the creation of a Metaverse Expert Group, which will be tasked with delving deeper into this technological innovation and representing the concerns of the organization and law enforcement agencies on the global stage regarding it. The goal of this expert group is to ensure that the Metaverse is built as a new world that is safe by design.
Crime in the virtual world
One of the biggest criminal trends today is cybercrime, Interpol said. The organization noted that many cybercriminals are already exploiting the Metaverse, moving into virtual worlds to perpetrate a variety of attacks against users, including social engineering scams, violent extremism and the spread of disinformation.
Considering the risks posed by digitalization and the accelerated growth of the Metaverse, Interpol is taking advantage of the opportunities offered by new technologies to continue its mission of protecting communities and ensuring the rule of law.
According to research and analytics firm Gartner, one in four people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse by 2026.
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