NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Their core work

Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi/KRP) is the country's top-level criminal investigation authority, specializing in serious and organized crime, cybercrime, and cross-border criminal activity. Within EU research, NBI contributes operational law enforcement expertise to projects developing tools for digital forensics, cryptocurrency tracing, and detecting hidden data in digital media. Their role is to ensure that research outputs meet the real-world needs of investigators working on darknet markets, financial crime, and cyber threats.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

NBI's H2020 involvement began in 2017 with a clear focus on financial cybercrime — specifically cryptocurrency tracing and darknet market investigations through the TITANIUM project. By 2021, their participation shifted toward broader digital forensics and AI-assisted policing, covering steganography detection (UNCOVER) and AI-driven threat response (STARLIGHT). The trajectory shows a move from investigating specific criminal tools (Bitcoin, dark web) toward building general-purpose investigative capabilities powered by AI and advanced digital analysis.

NBI is moving toward AI-augmented investigation capabilities with strong emphasis on ethical, human-centric design — expect future interest in trustworthy AI for policing and advanced digital forensics.

How they like to work

NBI participates exclusively as a partner, never as a coordinator — consistent with their role as an end-user law enforcement agency that provides operational requirements and validation rather than leading research. With 75 unique partners across 18 countries from just 3 projects, they work in large, multi-national consortia typical of EU security research. This means they are accustomed to working within complex partnerships and can provide the critical "practitioner voice" that security research projects need for real-world relevance.

Despite only 3 projects, NBI has built a broad network of 75 partners across 18 countries, reflecting the large-consortium nature of EU security research. Their partnerships span law enforcement agencies, universities, and technology providers across Europe.

What sets them apart

NBI brings something most research partners cannot: operational law enforcement experience from a national-level criminal investigation bureau. They can validate whether a forensic tool, AI system, or investigation method actually works in real criminal cases with real evidentiary standards. For any consortium building a security or digital forensics project, NBI offers credibility and practical grounding that academic-only teams lack.

Highlights from their portfolio

• STARLIGHT
  Largest funding share (EUR 149,500) and most ambitious scope — applying AI to high-priority law enforcement threats with emphasis on autonomy and ethical design, running through 2026.
• TITANIUM
  Pioneering work on cryptocurrency and darknet market investigation tools at a time (2017) when law enforcement tooling for virtual currencies was still nascent.