MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. The threat of cybercrime in the banking sector is transnational in nature, the losses from hacker attacks on the banking system at the global level are estimated at $500 bln, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday at a meeting on cyber security in the banking sector.
"This threat is transnational in nature," he said. "According to some estimates, global losses from cybercrime total about $500 bln, but it is difficult to calculate because not everything is recorded," Medvedev added.
Medvedev added that the number of such crimes is growing in Russia, and there is not enough experience and strength to confront this phenomenon. "It is almost impossible to fight such crimes alone - cyber security is expensive. We need joint efforts to combat e-crime," he said.
According to the prime minister, on a global scale it is necessary to create and adjust the counter mechanism at both levels of technical equipment and at the level of the formation of the necessary infrastructure in general, as well as in terms of the legislative framework.
Medvedev noted that some steps have been already made - in particular, there are special centers for monitoring and responding to computer attacks. "I am sure that the business and the banking community, government agencies have other ideas that can contribute to strengthen the fight against cyber threats and prevent it in the future," he added. According to Medvedev, Sberbank has made some steps in this direction.
In general, according to Medvedev, protection of funds in electronic payments is a key issue of modern credit and financial turnover, "The issue of cyber ··security in the credit and financial sector applies to any person in our country and abroad."
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The prime minister noted that cybercriminals are attacking not only the specific owners of electronic wallets, but also elements of the entire credit and financial system: bank accounts, accounts of financial companies and the state. "They know the vulnerability of the software element very well. Such criminals are becoming more and more active and the number of such crimes is increasing everywhere," he said.
According to the research of Group-IB, Internet Initiatives Development Fund and Microsoft presented on Wednesday, damage to the Russian economy from cybercrime in 2015 amounted to more than 200 bln rubles ($3.05 bln) or 0.25% of the country’s GDP.
According to experts, this is more than 200% of the financial support to the media from the Russian budget in 2015, and almost 50% of health care costs.
In addition, losses from cybercrime reached 22.8% of the budgetary provisions for research activities.
According to the research, 92% of companies in 2015 faced real cyber attacks, but only 50% were able to assess the damage to the business. This suggests that top managers do not fully understand the cybercrime risks.