Digital Investigations
Digital Investigations supports law enforcement and judicial authorities with operational tools, training and cross-border cooperation to strengthen investigations of cyber-attacks and cyber-enabled crime.
Funder: European Commission
Due Dates: December 15, 2026, 17:00 CET (Submission) | November 10, 2026, 15:00–17:30 CET (Information session)
Funding Amounts: €1 million–€2.5 million per project for up to 24 months; 90% funding rate; €6.2 million topic budget
Summary: Supports operational tools, training and cross-border cooperation that strengthen law enforcement and judicial authorities’ digital investigations.
Key Information: Requires beneficiaries from at least two participating EU Member States; developed tools must be available to EU law enforcement and Europol at little or no cost.
Description
Digital Investigations is an Internal Security Fund project grant managed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME). It supports law enforcement and judicial authorities’ capacity to investigate cyber-attacks and cyber-enabled crime, implement EU law and strategies, and cooperate across borders and with private entities. Projects should deliver operational capabilities rather than research without practical outputs.
Priorities include digital forensics, visual data and malware analysis, cryptocurrency tracing, criminal infrastructure disruption, large datasets, threat intelligence, metadata and open-source intelligence. Funding also supports responses to criminals’ use of encryption, AI and Large Language Model tools for investigations, cross-border digital evidence exchange, cybercrime contact points, cybersecurity cooperation and improved reporting. Projects should build on existing research and demonstrate user needs without duplicating existing products.
