MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Russia recorded over 4,000 hacker crimes in 2020, said Andrei Nekrasov, head of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office Department of Organization and Analytical Management.
"Last year, over 4,400 crimes classified under the special articles on computer-related offences (Article 28 of the Russian Criminal Code) were documented, including illegal access to computer information, creation of malware and others crimes that are also often called hacker crimes," he specified.
Speaking about cyber attacks, Nekrasov pointed out that the ones against Russia’s critical infrastructure facilities are the most dangerous. "These actions were classified under a separate article - Article 274, part 1 of the Russian Criminal Code. Their share is not significant in a total amount of crimes with the use of IT and communication technologies, but it is growing steadily," he noted. Nekrasov explained that in many ways, this was largely due to an increase in computer attacks.
The official recalled that in 2017-2018, computer attacks using ransomware targeting the IT resources of government agencies and major companies were recorded. In 2019, the banking sector was also affected. "Cybersecurity experts highlight the ongoing rise in cyber attacks on the information resources of the Russian Federation, which more than tripled in 2020, according to their figures, and they predict that this trend will continue," Nekrasov said. According to him, these cyber attacks target the IT systems of government departments, educational facilities, as well as credit and financial organizations, defense industry agencies, communications facilities, as well as the fuel and energy industry.