The number of cybercrimes in Russia

Main article: Cybercrime and cyber conflicts: Russia

2024

Reduce IT crime detection to 25.9%

Prosecutor General of Russia Igor Krasnov in October 2024 announced a decrease in the level of detection of crimes in the field of information technology to 25.9%. This trend is observed against the background of a consistently high number of cybercrimes committed, despite the introduction of additional countermeasures.

According to RBC, in 2023 the number of illegal acts in this area increased by 29.7%, reaching 677 thousand cases. In the first eight months of 2024, the growth was 16.4%, which corresponds to 500.4 thousand crimes. Most of them are committed using the Internet and mobile communications.

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The Prosecutor General noted the special activity of organized groups using malicious software, phishing sites, special equipment, electronic platforms and [[[call centers|[call-centers]] with replacement numbers. In addition, financial pyramids continue to be created in the virtual space.

Igor Krasnov stressed that information and communication technologies are actively used in the commission of drug crimes, as well as acts of extremist and terrorist orientation. Since the beginning of 2023, 3.2 thousand such crimes have been registered.

The Prosecutor General criticized the quality of the operational work carried out, noting the template, lack of initiative and lack of offensive. To improve the situation, Igor Krasnov called for more active development of electronic document management between law enforcement agencies and financial market organizations, as well as cellular operators. This will allow you to quickly receive significant information. In addition, he recommended paying increased attention to monitoring and blocking information about the sale of SIM-cards in violation of the requirements of the law.

Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said earlier that over the past five years, the number of illegal actions in cyberspace has doubled. The share of this type of crime is about 40% in the total array, and in heavy and especially heavy compositions it is approaching 60%. Since the beginning of 2024, the total amount of damage from cybercrime has exceeded ₽116 billion.^[1]

The share of cybercrimes in Russia for the year reached 38% in total

The share cybercrimes of all types registered Russia crimes per year increased from 31.8% to 38%. At the same time, relative to the level of 2023, their array increased by 17.4% (to 240.9 thousand). Such information from TAdviser May 30, 2024 was shared in the press service of the deputy with State Duma of the Russian Federation Anton Nemkin reference to. Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation

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Up to half of all crimes are facts of fraud committed remotely using information and telecommunication technologies or in the field of computer information. The number of such crimes in the first 4 months of 2024 reached 121.8 thousand. The growth rate of crimes in 2024 exceeded 12.7%.

Nevertheless, the number of thefts committed from bank accounts of citizens during the period under review decreased by 6% compared to 2023 and amounted to 33.5 thousand.

The increase in the share of cybercrimes is caused by objective reasons, said Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications. First, the rapid development and spread of digital technologies plays a role. Secondly, Nemkin continued, cybercrime attracts with its anonymity.

"This kind of crime is very difficult to investigate at all. Unlike traditional crime, in cyberspace, criminals can operate from anywhere in the world, hiding their identities using a variety of techniques such as VPNs, anonymous networks, and encryption. For example, up to 90% of the so-called call centers are not in Russia today, "the deputy said.

In addition, according to Nemkin, the popularity of cybercrimes is also associated with their profitability: for example, over the past 5 years, the financial damage from cybercrime amounted to about 500 billion rubles, while in 2023 the amount reached 156 billion rubles. An important way for cybercriminals to earn money is by selling personal user information. The cost of data can depend on its details, the relevance of the information, as well as on its type. For example, financial data is valued much higher than the address or full name. At the same time, the commission of such crimes requires relatively small initial costs, the deputy explained.

Despite the fact that remote theft remains leaders in the overall structure of IT crimes, the share of other categories will only grow, Nemkin emphasized. First of all, this applies to crimes related to unauthorized access to InformSystems. For example, only in the period from December 2023 to February 2024, Kaspersky Lab recorded a sixfold increase in DDoS attacks compared to the value of 2022-2023, therefore, probably, in the future, the structure of IT crimes may change, the deputy said.

Nemkin also added that already in 2024 the State Duma can adopt the most important, in his opinion, bills in the field of information security. So, the first concerns the tightening of responsibility for allowing data leaks. The second is the legalization of the activities of "white" hackers.

"In the context of large-scale leaks, increased responsibility is probably one of the few opportunities to clearly convey to business the need to comply with current legislation in the field of protection and processing of personal data. The legalization of "white" hackers, in turn, will allow integrating the latest data protection tools, "the deputy explained.

In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is working on the issue of classifying crimes using IT as aggravating circumstances, Nemkin recalled.

2023

Children committed almost 4 thousand. IT crimes in the last 4 years

The number of IT crimes committed by children and adolescents has grown 74 times since 2020. TAdviser was informed about this on April 26, 2024 in the press service of the State Duma deputy RFAnton Nemkin with reference to the senior inspector on special assignments of the Main Directorate for ensuring the protection of public order of the subjects of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Artem Babintsev.

"Over the past 4 years, according to our official statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of IT crimes committed by persons under 18 years old has increased 74 times. That is, if in 2020 this number was 54 crimes, then in 2023 we have already recorded 4 thousand such crimes. This indicates that technology is developing, the involvement of adolescents in the digital criminal environment is also developing. This causes us some concern, "said Artem Babintsev.

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The number of crimes using IT as a whole increased by 30% only over the past year, and the damage from them exceeded 156 billion rubles, recalled Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications. As he explained, such crimes include the dissemination of prohibited and illegal information on the network, which is promptly blocked by Roskomnadzor. In particular, various information is blocked aimed at involving minors in dangerous acts - over 12 years of work, the regulator has blocked about 130 thousand such materials on the network.

"As we can see, materials involving dangerous and illegal activities are especially actively distributed on foreign platforms - for example, as noted in, a Safe Internet League social network Likee very large number of messages about the involvement of underage users in the creation are recorded in relation to. pornographic content In addition, teenagers are increasingly involved in criminal schemes, who open bank accounts in their name, receive maps and transfer them to third parties, or independently withdraw the stolen money from their accounts in order to transfer them to criminals, "the deputy said.

He also stressed that it is important to finally find an effective way to combat such a phenomenon as drifting - the use by fraudsters of citizens who agree to provide their accounts and documents for the withdrawal of stolen funds. So, according to April 2024, at least half a million Russian citizens can be intermediaries in the process of withdrawing funds by fraudsters - many are not even consciously involved in this.

"More than 60% of droppers are under the age of 24, and many have become them since the age of 14 - when they get the opportunity to open an account with the bank and create a card. Thus, attackers involve adolescents in illegal activities, who often do not even realize what they are signing up for, "Nemkin explained. - At the same time, you need to understand - this is not just an ethical problem, this is a crime for which you will have to answer. Our task is to protect young people from such dangerous steps that can further greatly affect their future. "

Over the year, more than 100 thousand were identified in Russia. IT criminals

In 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation revealed more than 100 thousand. IT criminals, with a 20% increase in the number of solved crimes. Such information on April 4, 2024 with TAdviser was shared in the press service of the State Duma deputy RFAnton Nemkin with reference to the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

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The number of examples of the use of information technology for illegal activities is growing from year to year, said Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications.

"According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one in three crimes was committed using digital tools. Their total number in 2023 amounted to 677 thousand. At the same time, negative dynamics is observed. The growth compared to the previous period is almost 30%. In 2022, the department recorded about 522 thousand crimes, "the deputy said.

According to him, the difficulty with solving IT crimes is explained by the fact that some of them are related to the actions of international groups.

"For example, IT crimes include interference with corporate or government information systems, which international cyber groups often do. This also includes the problem of network and telephone fraud. We know that up to 95% of the so-called call centers are located outside of Russia. Therefore, the positive dynamics of disclosure is indeed a worthy result, "Nemkin said.

According to the deputy, the number of IT crimes, apparently, will only grow.

"Fraudsters clearly do not want to" slow down, "the same can be said about attempts to unauthorized access to InformSystems. For example, in the period December 2023 - February 2024, Kaspersky Lab recorded a sixfold increase in DDoS attacks compared to the value of 2022-2023, "Nemkin said.

Meanwhile, the issue of classifying crimes using IT as aggravating circumstances is already being worked out, the parliamentarian recalled. Tighter accountability could be another tool to combat cybercriminals.

"But the main thing, of course, is not only to preserve, but also to increase the existing level of disclosure. Including, due to international cooperation with friendly countries, "Nemkin added.

29.7% increase in IT crime

The number of IT crimes in Russia in 2023 increased by 29.7% compared to 2022. Irina Volk, an official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministry of Internal Affairs) of the Russian Federation, cited such statistics on February 8, 2024.

According to her, every third crime in Russia at the end of 2023 was committed using information and telecommunication technologies. The disclosure of such criminal offenses in 2023 increased by 21%, Volk said.

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The Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that in this regard, preventive work with the population, its informing about new methods and schemes for committing high-tech crimes and methods of protecting citizens from them remains the most effective method of countering cybercrimes.

The continuing increase in the number of crimes in the IT sphere may be due to an increase in the use of the Internet as a means of communication and commerce, as well as the attractiveness of the information and communication environment for the criminal element due to factors of anonymity, cross-border and a relatively simple method of enrichment, the department said.

On December 20, 2023, at a meeting of the government commission for the prevention of offenses, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said that the number of illegal acts on the Internet has doubled over the past five years. According to him, cyber attacks on companies, remote theft of funds from citizens and fraud are most often committed. According to him, such a variability in the implementation of criminal intentions comes from abroad, including call centers located on the territory of Ukraine.

The Kyiv special services use schemes to intimidate victims with non-existent criminal prosecution or debt financial dependence and this ends with the latest crimes against public security, - said Vladimir Kolokoltsev at the end of 2023.[2]

Cybercrime detection rate increased by a quarter in Moscow in 2023

In 2023 To Moscow , a quarter more cybercrimes were disclosed in than in 2022. Such data MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia were disclosed at the end of January 2024. More. here

2022

The number of IT crimes in Russia since 2014 has grown 50 times to 510 thousand.

In 2022, about 510 thousand crimes using information technology were recorded in Russia against 10 thousand in 2014. Thus, we are talking about a more than 50-fold increase in the number of IT crimes. Such figures May 22, 2023 representative of the forensic center of the Investigative Committee Temirlan Salikhov.

According to him, cybercriminals use artificial intelligence to create phishing sites, as well as to generate text that may look like a message from a specific organization or some faction.

Over the year, 510 thousand cybercrimes were registered in Russia

On March 20, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin at an expanded meeting of the board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that crimes in the IT sphere amounted to a quarter of all criminal offenses in Russia in 2022, exceeding half a million. The head of state added that the fight against crime using information technologies is one of the unconditional priorities of the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia, in 2022, Russian law enforcement agencies identified about 10 thousand persons who committed fraud on the Internet or over mobile communications. Compared to the same period in 2021, the number of identified cyber fraudsters increased by 45%.

In the total volume of cybercrimes, almost half were cases of fraud (48%). Moreover, if the number of thefts from bank cards decreased by 28%, the number of frauds with electronic funds increased by 4.4%.

Abuses in the digital environment are due to the increased activity of the population in the use of Internet resources and remote services, including banking, the development of new forms of paid services and services, as well as the use of electronic means of payments, digital currencies in calculations, the Prosecutor General's Office stated, summing up the results of 2022.[3]

Every fourth crime in Russia occurs using the Internet

At the end of January 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministry of Internal Affairs) of the Russian Federation published statistics on crime in the country. In particular, it includes indicators of illegal actions using information technologies.

Cybercrime rates have generally remained stable. Every fourth crime is committed using high technologies, - the message on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs says.

Ministry of Internal Affairs published cybercrime statistics for 2022

According to the ministry, in 2022, 27.6% fewer thefts were registered, 29% - facts of fraud using electronic means of payment, 22.5% - criminal acts in the field of computer information.

At the same time, 21% more crimes were registered on the fact of selling drugs via the Internet. The number of deliberately false reports of an act of terrorism also increased, 92% of them were committed remotely. It is also reported that the detection rate of crimes committed using digital technologies increased by 4.4% in 2022.

In general, the number of crimes registered in 2022 decreased by 1.9% compared to last year. During this period, law enforcement officers solved more than 1 million crimes.

As Izvestia notes with reference to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2022 the number of crimes committed using information and telecommunication technologies, including plastic cards, mobile communications, computer equipment, began to decline for the first time since 2017. Experts associate the positive dynamics with an increase in people's awareness of the methods of attackers, as well as a decline in the activity of criminals in the spring of 2022 against the background of Russia's special operation in Ukraine. However, experts warn that this trend is unlikely to continue.^[4]

2021

The number of cybercrimes in Russia has grown 1.8 times

In 2021, about 518 thousand cybercrimes were registered in Russia, which is 1.4% more than a year earlier, but immediately 1.8 times higher than in 2019. This is evidenced by the data of the RTM Group company, which conducted an assessment based on the initiated criminal cases related to the use of information technology.

In particular, the number of claims of fraud (theft with deception of the victim) increased by 5.1%, exceeding 249 thousand. However, the number of applications for criminal cases in connection with computer hacking crimes decreased by 10.6%, to 157 thousand. About a quarter of the crimes involved other rosters, including illegal organisation and gambling. Experts estimated the damage to Russia from the actions of hackers at 150 billion rubles at the end of 2021.

The number of cybercrimes in Russia in 2 years has grown 1.8 times

RTM Group manager Yevgeny Tsarev told Kommersant that the growth in the number of successful attacks in 2021 has accelerated compared to 2020. It was 35%. This, he said, was primarily due to the actions of fraudsters, mainly telephone, and not hackers. In 2022, Tsarev expects an increase in the number of successful attacks by at least 30-40%. Including - due to the development of social engineering schemes and the use of new tools.

The effectiveness of attacks in 2022 is unlikely to decrease, since the population is at a low level, said Oleg Sedov, Development Director of the Cyber ​ ​ Literacy of the Population at Rostelecom-Solara. He stressed that by February 2022, people "live in a state of uncertainty of prospects, on the one hand, and constantly rising prices, on the other." In this regard, Russians are trying to save as much money as possible than attackers, in turn, actively abuse.^[5]

The Ministry of Internal Affairs recorded decrease in growth rates of quantity of cybercrimes

Almost every fourth crime is committed using IT technologies, while the growth rate of their number has slowed down, official representative MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia Irina Volk said on November 19. If in the first half of 2021 the number of cybercrimes increased by 20.3%, then in ten months of this year - by 8.1%^[6]

According to Irina Volk, it was possible to achieve positive results thanks to the activity of specialized units for solving and investigating crimes in the field of high technologies. They were created in the operational and investigative services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its territorial bodies, where employees receive special education and the necessary equipment, which allows them to increase efforts in the fight against IT crime.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of cybercrimes continues to grow, but the growth rate has decreased

The President of the Russian section of the International Police Association, Lieutenant General of Russia Iouri Zhdanov notes that the technical equipment of the units is constantly being improved in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the training system is improving.

In particular, at the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, leading employees of the center are involved in lecturing on countering cyber threats, cyber security Sberbank who oppose cyber attacks by Russian and foreign cyber fraudsters on a daily basis^[7]

Earlier in the month, President Vladimir Putin said that it was necessary to further improve the efficiency of work, improve approaches in the fight against crime. Among the areas where it is especially important to do this, he also identified the sphere of information technology^[8]

The growth of IT crimes due to the pandemic by 1.5 times

In Russia, due to the pandemic, the number of IT crimes has increased 1.5 times. This became known on October 12, 2021.

According to Minister Kolokoltsev, the bulk of such offenses is fraud, but this also includes the spread of drugs.

Kolokoltsev stressed that under the influence of the pandemic, the process of digitalization of society has intensified. Citizens switched to a remote mode of work and study, in connection with which their activity on the Internet increased.

Organizations have become more likely to use electronic platforms to provide services. All these factors led to a further increase in crimes committed using information and telecommunication technologies.

In Russia, their number over the past two years has increased 1.5 times and continues to grow. The bulk of such encroachments are frauds, - said Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS states CIS The minister named the joint counteraction to extremism, illegal to terrorism migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs among the priority areas of law enforcement^[9] to^[10]

320 thousand cyber crimes in 7 months, an increase of 16%

According to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the seven months of 2021, almost 320 thousand cybercrimes occurred. This is 16% more than in the same period last year. About 127 thousand crimes were committed using mobile communications, 104 thousand - using cards.

The number of cyber frauds in Russia has grown again. It may take months to investigate

For six months of 2021, over 84 thousand were registered. IT thefts (+ 11.1% compared to the same period last year) and over 117 thousand. IT fraud (+ 12.8%), said Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation - Head of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General of Justice Sergei Lebedev in an interview with RIA Novosti on August 20, 2021^[11]. He clarified that in this case, cyber fraud means any theft committed remotely using the Internet, telephone or other types of communication.

In total, in the first half of 2021, investigators completed an investigation of more than 30 thousand "cyber attacks," almost 23 thousand people were prosecuted, Lebedev added.

Sergei Lebedev cited statistics on cybercrime in Russia for the first half of the year "(photo - Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation)"

Due to the growth of IT crime, authorities are increasing their technical capabilities and creating specialized units. This also applies to the preliminary investigation bodies in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia - departments for the investigation of this type of crime have already been created in each region. But there are factors preventing such crimes from being investigated more quickly.

So, for example, according to Sergei Lebedev, the maximum speed of information exchange between law enforcement agencies and banking institutions, mobile operators, Internet providers today could significantly affect the effectiveness of the investigation of such crimes and the timely identification of criminals.

Currently, for an investigator who investigates the fact of remote theft, there is an extremely formalized mechanism for obtaining information (on the flow of funds on bank accounts of fraudsters, telephone connections, and so on). He carries out the initial collection of evidence sufficient to appeal to the court with an appropriate petition, the preparation of documents and the petition itself, obtaining a court decision, sending it to the institution for execution, - explains the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. - In the case of a multi-stage theft scheme, such a circle is repeated repeatedly. The investigation could take months.

In the conditions of modern digital technologies and a rapid pace of life, this state of affairs looks unthinkable, Lebedev believes. When carrying out work on solving and investigating crimes, law enforcement officers should receive the necessary information as quickly as possible, ideally online.

For example, today the Central Bank takes three days to detect and close so-called phishing sites, but this is not enough either. To prevent the illegal activities of fraudsters in a timely manner, the exchange of information and the response to illegal manifestations must be highly prompt.

2020

Prosecutor General's Office: less than 25% of cybercrimes are disclosed in Russia

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, less than 25% of cybercrimes are disclosed in Russia. The head of the main organizational and analytical department of the Prosecutor General's Office, Andrei Nekrasov, named this figure in an interview with TASS by the Russian Information Agency.

In recent years, the number of crimes committed using information and telecommunication technologies or in the field of computer information has increased to a scale that allows us to talk about them as a threat to national security, he said.

According to him, the number of cybercrimes at the end of 2020 increased by 73.4% and amounted to 510,300 units. Five years ago, violations of the law in the field of technology accounted for less than 2% of cases in the structure of crime, and in 2020 - already 25%.

Prosecutor General's Office: less than 25% of cybercrimes are disclosed in the Russian Federation

An increase in such crimes was observed in all regions. The most significant is in St. Petersburg (from 2.2 thousand in 2019 to 19.5 thousand, or 780%) and the Leningrad Region (from 3 thousand to 7.4 thousand, by 143%), "

The representative of the Prosecutor General's Office stressed that such trends are closely related to the digitalization of public relations, as well as to such features of cyberspace as the availability of information, reach of a wide audience, anonymity and cross-border character.

In March 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that over the past six years, the number of crimes in the IT sphere has grown tenfold, he demanded to increase the detection rates of such crimes "not thanks to paper reporting, but thanks to painstaking work on the ground."

According to the Investigative Committee, published at the end of 2020, over the past seven years, the level of cybercrime in Russia has increased by more than 20 times. Offenders become increasingly aggressive and remain anonymous by carefully hiding their tracks.^[12]

Increase in the number of cybercrimes 11 times in 5 years, to over 510.4 thousand cases - Prosecutor General's Office

The number of cybercrimes Russia in has grown 11 times in 5 years, according to the report "The State of Crime in Russia" for 2020, prepared by the Department of Legal Statistics and. information technology State Offices of Public Prosecutor

According to the ministry, in 2020, crimes committed using information and telecommunication technologies or in the field of computer information, as a year earlier, accounted for one of four registered crimes. In total, more than 510.4 thousand cybercrimes were registered in 2020. Most of them occur via the Internet or using phones.

Prosecutor General's Office: The number of cybercrimes in Russia has grown 11 times in 5 years

According to statistics from the Prosecutor General's Office, cyber fraud in 2020 accounted for about 70% of all thefts committed by deception or breach of trust. Over the year, more than 237 thousand such episodes were revealed, which is 73.4% more compared to 2019. In 25.8 thousand cases, electronic means of payment were used, and an increase in the number of such acts was recorded in most regions of the country (more often than others in the Saratov and Omsk regions, as well as the Perm Territory).

According to the Department of Legal Statistics and Information Technologies of the Prosecutor General's Office, in 2020 the number of thefts from bank accounts or electronic wallets increased significantly. If in 2019 there were almost 94 thousand of them, then in 2020 - already more than 169.5 thousand.

Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said that in the first half of 2020 there was a sharp increase in the number of cybercrimes - by 92%. At the same time, according to him, the disclosure rate in this area remains low, at 25%.

Krasnov also noted that the "contactless and fast way of committing" cybercrimes makes society more and more vulnerable, for which law enforcement agencies are "often" not ready.^[13]

The number of cybercrimes in Russia increased by 94.6%

On December 2, 2020, information appeared that in Russia the number of crimes committed using information and communication technologies in 2020 increased by 94.6%. This was reported by the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk. There is also an increase in the number of cybercrimes characterized as particularly serious. It grew by 129.7% compared to 2019.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the most vulnerable were settlement cards. The number of their use for criminal purposes has increased 6 times compared to statistics for 2019. The statistics on mobile devices are also disappointing - they were used twice as often to commit crimes this year than in the previous one.

The growth of cybercrimes in Russia is often associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Thus, the deputy chairman of the board of Sberbank PJSC Stanislav Kuznetsov said that the number of cases of cyber fraud in three years has grown 30 times.

"There has never been such a rampant cybercrime," Kuznetsov said.

Since the beginning of this year, Sberbank's support service has received more than three million complaints from customers whose funds they tried to steal. According to the expert, every 12th call to the average Russian is either spam or an attempt at fraud.

The expert community has repeatedly advocated tightening legislation in the field of cyber movements under articles for which they are only fined so far, but the bill has not been implemented.^[14]

Interior Ministry: The number of IT crimes in Russia in the first half of the year almost doubled

On July 10, 2020, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that in January-June, the increase in IT crime amounted to 91.7% compared to the same period last year. The share of these illegal acts in the total crime structure reached 22.3%. At the same time, in other areas over the same period, the department notes a decrease in the crime rate^[15]. In absolute terms, the number of crimes in the official message of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not given.

Earlier, for the entire 2019, 294,409 cybercrimes were registered, the growth was 68.5%^[16]. Such data on the same day, July 10, was cited by the chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Leksander Bastrykin, during an operational meeting with the heads of certain units of the central office of the department on the investigation of cybercrimes and crimes in the field of high technologies.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs recorded a significant increase in IT crimes in the 1st half of 2020

The number of cybercrimes has grown steadily in recent years. Thus, according to the Investigative Committee, since 2013, the crime rate using high technologies has increased by more than 20 times. But experts note that the situation with the pandemic contributes to the increased dynamics. The day before, at an online conference, Petr Gorodov, head of the Main Directorate of International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, expressed his opinion on the reasons for this. People are afraid of the situation with the pandemic, and criminals are trying to take advantage of this, he said.

Cybercriminals are trying to impose on people some things and actions that are dangerous that they do not yet know about. Of course, the crisis associated with the pandemic worsened the state of affairs in this area. I think that in this situation we should pay additional attention to cooperation and ensure the improvement of the skills of specialists, because we see that there are few technical specialists working in this industry, "said Petr Gorodov. - And, I think, this problem is not only in Russia, it is a global problem.

Mikhail Pribochiy, Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab in Russia, the CIS and the Baltic States, earlier, answering TAdviser questions at an online conference, also noted that the number of attacks on end users and ordinary people has significantly increased. These are fake calls, spam mailings, spam, when the user is informed, for example, that he has won something and must pay taxes on it.

Recently, Pribochy called the attacks of ransomware "hits." Now those who carry out such attacks do not just offer the user to decrypt his data for money, but earn twice from the victims. The first time - by paying for decryption of data, and the second time - to prevent user data from getting on the Internet. Moreover, they ask for more money for the second option than for the first, said a representative of Kaspersky Lab.

He also noted the growth of cybercrime associated with video conferencing, with remote work. In particular, the increase in the number of fake sites imitating well-known video conferencing platforms.

In connection with the growth of cybercrime, the Investigative Committee has created a specialized department for the investigation of crimes committed using high technologies, the ministry said in a statement following an operational meeting on July 10. The newly created unit should become a platform combining the efforts of various government departments, scientific institutions and specialists to effectively and harmoniously counter criminal phenomena in the information sphere.

Investigators are required not only to carry out procedural functions to investigate such crimes, but also to create special approaches, methods for conducting investigative actions, to form an analytical base that accumulates information about committed cybercrimes in the country, which are interregional and often cross-border in nature, the Investigative Committee explains.

2019:180 thousand cybercrimes registered in 8 months - Prosecutor General's Office

In the first eight months of 2019, 180153 cybercrimes were registered in Russia. This is 66.8% more than in the same period of the previous year, the Prosecutor General's Office reports on its website. We are talking about crimes committed using ICT or in the field of computer information.

The Prosecutor General's Office characterizes the growth of cybercrime as "very significant." If compared with the data that the department provides for other types of crimes, the growth rate in this segment is the highest.

For comparison: the number of serious crimes during the same period increased by only 16.7%, and especially serious crimes even decreased by 3.1%. The number of thefts increased by 3.5%. The number of cases of appropriation or embezzlement decreased by 1.4%, robberies - by 7.9%, robberies - by 8.9%. The number of drug trafficking crimes decreased by 3.4%.

With a record increase in cybercrime, only an increase in the number of cases of mediation in bribery by 46.4% and cases of bribery by 35.4% are comparable. At the same time, the total increase in the number of corruption crimes amounted to only 3.6%. Also, one of the fastest growing is the segment of petty theft - here the number of incidents increased by 38.9%.

From January to September 2018, 121247 crimes committed using ICT or in the field of computer information were registered in Russia. As the Prosecutor General noted then, compared to the same indicator in 2017, the number of crimes of this orientation almost doubled.

For the entire 2017, 90,587 cybercrimes were recorded in the country. If in 2017, on average, 7.5 thousand such incidents were recorded per month, then in 2018 - more than 13 thousand. At the same time, their share in the total number of crimes for the year increased from 4.4% to 8.1%. Investigations in January-September 2018 were carried out only for 31.8 thousand cybercrimes.

In addition, in 2018, there was a tenfold increase in cybercrime over the past six years. In 2013, 11 thousand cybercrimes were registered, in 2014 - 44 thousand, in 2016 - 66 thousand.

The Prosecutor General's Office cited statistics on the growth rate of various types of cybercrimes from 2015 to 2016. During this period, the number of cases of ICT fraud increased from 2.2 thousand to 13.4 thousand, that is, six times, and the number of thefts - from 2.3 thousand to 8.5 thousand, that is, more than three times. 5.5 times - from 995 to 5.5 thousand - the number of cases of theft, deletion or blocking of computer information for the purpose of fraud has increased.

2016:66 thousand IT crimes recorded - Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation

The number of cybercrimes in Russia has increased sixfold since 2013. This was announced in August 2017 by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yury Chaika at a meeting of the Prosecutors General of the BRICS countries in Brazil.

In 2016, 66 thousand were recorded. IT crimes. In 2013, this figure was 11 thousand.

Russia, the number of crimes committed using modern information and communication technologies increased sixfold from 2013 to 2016. Their significant growth is also observed this year (+ 26%, 40 thousand), "the press service of the department quotes Chaika

Chaika also said that the damage from IT crimes in the first half of 2017 exceeded $18 million. In USA 2016, in Russia, two-thirds of extremist crimes and every ninth crime of a terrorist nature were committed using a network.

2014: The number of financial cybercrimes in Russia has doubled and reached 11 thousand

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Russia in 2014, 11 thousand crimes in the field of telecommunications and computer information were registered.

"The main motive for committing (crimes) is the desire to extract material benefits. In 2013, theft and fraud accounted for 30% of all registered crimes in the information sphere, acting as the undisputed leader in this category. In 2014, their share was already 41%, and if the number of registered frauds did not change much, then the number of thefts doubled, "said Alexei Moshkov, head of the Bureau of Special Technical Measures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

According to him, modern services act as tools for advertising and attracting potential victims, communication, transfer of funds, subject to the anonymity of attackers. "The current situation poses a serious threat, discredits the network business and undermines user confidence in electronic payments," Moshkov said.

One of the important trends in the field of IT crimes, he called the widespread use of mobile platforms as a means to obtain confidential information. First of all, this uses malware aimed at stealing funds from bank accounts using the mobile bank system. However, cases of remote control of devices were also recorded.

"In addition, attackers successfully use new services and technologies for mobile devices for their own purposes, turning their functionality against their owners. Most modern smartphones and tablets use account binding, and often store data in cloud services, "Moshkov explained. After gaining access to the user's account, attackers can download the subscriber's contact lists, photos and videos, information about his correspondence, information about movements, and block the device as lost or stolen. Sometimes cyber criminals gain access to bank card data and passwords with accounts in various services. This information is used to steal funds and blackmail, concluded Moshkov

Earlier it was reported that in the first half of 2014, more than 7 thousand cybercrimes were registered in Russia.

2013: Increase in the number of computer crimes by 8.6% to 11 thousand - BSTM Ministry of Internal Affairs

According to the Bureau of Special Technical Measures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (BSTM MVD), the number of computer crimes in Russia in 2013 increased by 8.6%.

According to the results of 2013, 11 thousand cybercrimes were registered.

The main motive for cybercriminals was the extraction of material benefits, according to law enforcement agencies. Almost all cases of illegal access to information (19% of all computer crimes) are aimed at theft of funds. The number of crimes organized for the purpose of hooliganism is extremely insignificant.

In 2013-2014. the largest share of computer crimes, according to the BSTM of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, falls on fraud (37%), followed by illegal access to computer information (19%) and the distribution of child pornography (16%). Computer piracy and the spread of malware account for 8% of all computer crimes committed during this period.

Among the main trends in computer crime in the BSTM of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is noted that an increasing number of traditional types of crimes are moving online, an increasing number of crimes are committed from selfish purposes, and mobile devices are increasingly becoming the target of criminals.

2012:5696 cybercrimes recorded (+ 11%) in the 1st half of the year

MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS published in October 2012 statistics on high-tech crimes for the first half of 2012. According to Russia the ministry, 5696 cybercrimes were recorded, which is almost 11% more than in the same period in 2011. They are dominated by crimes related to the creation, distribution and use of malware, as well as online fraud. Internet

Internet fraud, according to law enforcement, is the most common crime in IT, and the number continues to grow. For 6 months of 2012, 1,443 such crimes were recorded (an increase of 44%). At the same time, according to experts, the real number of Internet scams is several times higher, since these crimes are characterized by a high level of latency. Especially in the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted an increase in the number of crimes using remote banking systems.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs also reported on the results of Operation Weed, the task of which is to suppress crimes related to the spread of child pornography in peer-to-peer networks. Internet To date, 1,179 users have been identified distributing illegal content from 61 countries around the world. As of September 2012, the Russian investigation authorities opened 131 criminal cases on the basis of materials received during Operation Weed. Through international communication channels, 204 messages containing information about electronic resources that are used to distribute child pornography were sent to law enforcement agencies of foreign countries by employees of the Department "K" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. 23 countries have already joined the joint work to prevent crimes in this area, including,,,,,, and USA Great Britain Canada Australia, the Germany France Belgium Netherlands ministry said in a statement.

2011:70 crimes related to Internet fraud revealed in Moscow

In 2011, according to the Office for Combating Economic Crimes in Moscow, more than 70 crimes related to online fraud were identified by Moscow cyber police. Of these, 90% are economically oriented.

Previously, the first place was occupied by crimes related to bank card fraud, but in the last year internet banking crimes have become the leader. At the same time, the damage from fraudsters hacking into remote banking programs reaches tens of millions of rubles.

2008: 14,000 IT crimes recorded, 5572 criminal cases opened

In 2008, more than 14 thousand IT crimes occurred in Russia, which is 2 thousand more than in 2007. In total, the "K" unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation during 2008 opened 5572 criminal cases - 21.4% more than in 2007.

This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the words of Boris Miroshnikov, head of the Bureau of Special Technical Events of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, during his speech at the 11th National Information Security Forum "Information Security of Russia in a Global Information Society" (Infoforum).

True, these statistics are quite conditional. First, it partly duplicates the data of related divisions. For example, cases of bank card fraud can take place both in the category of economic crimes and in the category of information crime.

And secondly, the so-called latency is extremely high in this area - organizations are usually not inclined to advertise the unreliability of their IT systems, so up to 85% of crimes around the world are hidden and do not fall into official reports.

In 2008, law enforcement agencies transferred 5638 criminal cases to the courts under Article 272 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Illegal access to computer information"), 1359 cases under Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Creation, use and distribution of malicious programs for computers"), eight criminal cases under Article 274 ("Violation of the rules for operating computers, computer systems or their network"). Also in 2008, 1,078 crimes were recorded under Article 159 ("Fraud") and 620 criminal cases were opened, which is 66% more than in 2007.

"The information space is simply teeming with illegal actions: a huge number of fraudsters stealing personal data, distributors of viruses, creators of underground meeting points that cause great damage to telecom operators in the form of traffic theft, a huge list of various kinds of sites with child pornography, extremist sites, unlicensed products and so on," Miroshnikov said.

The head of the Bureau of Special Technical Measures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation noted that there is a positive trend in the fight against the spread of child pornography in Russia - in 2008, 160 criminal cases were initiated under Article 242 of the Criminal Code ("Illegal distribution of pornographic materials or objects"), which is 74% more compared to 2007.

Among other positive changes in the field of cybercrime, it was noted that providers "began to take responsibility for self-purification, self-regulation," as well as public institutions joined the fight against criminals. This made it possible to close more than 1.2 thousand information resources for negative content without trial in 2008.

In 2008, the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained criminals who organized DDoS attacks on the websites of various companies and extorted money for stopping them. To organize attacks, about 8 thousand were infected. PC, and more than 10 large Russian companies suffered from them.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is trying to gain business confidence, but so far the situation is far from ideal. If the above statistics give an adequate idea only of the overall dynamics of crime development (the number of offenses, which is not surprising, is growing), then the performance indicators of the BSTM are quite specific. In 2007, 4.5 thousand criminal cases were opened, in 2008 - 5.5 thousand. The main problem in the fight against network crimes for the authorities is obviously the transnational nature of the Internet.

As Sergei Mikhailov (FSB) noted, inside Russia, the FSB interacts quite well with all registrars and providers. At the request of the department, they quickly close unreliable resources and provide the necessary data. But outside the country, the situation is completely different.

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