Dr Erik Van De Sandt
Expertise
I am an academic and law enforcement officer who works for the National High Tech Crime Unit of the Dutch National Police. I focus on organized (cyber) crime, data science and police investigations.
Current positions
Honorary Research Fellow
School of Computer Science
Contact
Press and media
Many of our academics speak to the media as experts in their field of research. If you are a journalist, please contact the University’s Media and PR Team:
Biography
I am currently an investigator at the National High Tech Crime Unit (part of the Central Criminal Investigations Division of the Dutch National Police), strategic advisor to the Cyber Crime Unit of the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force, research fellow in the Cyber Security Research Group of the University of Bristol, and a practitioner-in-residence at the UK's National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online (REPHRAIN).
Operational interests
Within the Dutch national police, I mainly work on the strategic and operational project of developing, transitioning to and executing CSAE: a comprehensive framework for data-driven investigations. My operational work as a police officer at the NHTCU focuses on organized (cyber) crime with an international impact, mostly investigations of cybercrime-as-a-service providers, financially-driven advanced persistent threats and organized crimes that undermine society.
Send me a message if you would like to know more about my work, I frequently speak on conferences, give workshops and - amongst others - was one of the experts on AI for the Dutch Senate (NB I do not respond to webbased email accounts, e.g., Gmail; only academic, corporate or goverment email addresses).
For my academic focus, see 'Research Interests'.
Prior work experience & academic background
Together with my talented colleagues of the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force, I set up the first Cyber Crime Unit on the Dutch Caribbean islands in 2021-2022. Prior to the NHTCU, I worked - amongst others - at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security and was a visiting professional at the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. I hold a BSc/MSc (cum laude) in Criminology and LLB/LLM in Criminal Law from Leiden University, and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Bristol.
Research interests
My research interests are in the security practices of organized (cyber) crime; attacker economics (more specifically the economics of deviant security); English, Russian and Spanish-language underground economies; police investigations in general and the usage of data scientific methods and techniques in data-driven police investigations specifically.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
REPHRAIN: REsearch centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial INfluence online
Principal Investigator
Role
Researcher
Description
The REsearch centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial INfluence online (REPHRAIN) will bring together the UK's substantial academic, industry, policy and third sector capabilities to address the current tensions…Managing organisational unit
Department of Computer ScienceDates
01/10/2020 to 31/08/2024
AMoC: Advanced Modelling of Cyber Criminal Careers
Principal Investigator
Role
Researcher
Description
Recent research in debriefing arrested criminals has identified that cyber crime is not a solitary and anti-social activity, but one wherein online social interactions play a critical role in the…Managing organisational unit
Department of Computer ScienceDates
01/01/2019 to 31/03/2021
Publications
Recent publications
Thesis
Deviant Security
Supervisors
Award date
07/05/2019