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Russian ministry reports number of cyber crimes in financial sector increases

This year the Internal Affairs Ministry took down two largest hacker group that attacked Russian banks

MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. The number of cyber crimes in the financial sector is increasing annually by 20 - 30%, representative of the Cybercrime Department of the Russian Interior Ministry Alexander Vurasko said in an interview with TASS.

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"Almost every year we see an growth of cyber crime in the financial sector by 20 - 30%," he said.

According to Vurasko, the number of such crimes is growing around the world every year. At the same time, Russia is among top 10 countries with the deepest penetration of the Internet in everyday life, and this has a direct impact on growth of the number of cyber crimes.

According to Vurasko, the damage from cyber attacks depends on the targets. "If we imagine a pyramid of threats, individuals, clients of banks will be on the first level. The number of victims will be significant, but total damage relatively small. Total gain of a criminal group specializing in theft of money from individuals, typically ranges from a few hundred thousand to several million rubles," Vurasko said.

"This year we have suspended the activity of two criminal groups that carried out targeted attacks on banks. Apprehension of these two groups is a landmark event, as for the first time in our practice we have opened criminal casesunder Article 210 of the Criminal Code "Creation of a criminal community", with the sentence of up to 20 years in prison," he said.

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