ABOUT

Markus Hartmann is a Chief Public Prosecutor at the General Public Prosecutor’s Office of Cologne and Director of the North Rhine-Westphalian Central Cybercrime Department (Zentral- und Ansprechstelle Cybercrime Nordrhein-Westfalen, ZAC NRW). Hartmann‘s team of more than 40 prosecutors and specialists is in charge of any high-profile cybercrime cases related to North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous federal state and economic heavyweight. The department‘s responsibilities include cyberattacks on critical infrastructures and corporations as well as darknet and high-tech hacking investigations. Another important focus of the unit's work is the investigation of cases of child sexual abuse and the distribution of child sexual abuse material in digital media. The ZAC NRW acts as a central point of contact for LEAs, scientific and economic institutions and corporations with regard to cybercrime-related issues. It also serves as a liaison office for cyber-MLA-requests. Hartmann has more than 15 years of expertise in cyber-investigations.