Interior ministry says cybercrime dropped by 40 percent compared to 2020

April 10, BPN. The Minsk police’s cybercrime chief Alaksiej Novaš has told reporters that cybercrime decreased by some 40 percent in 2021-2022 compared to 2020.

“If we go back to Minsk’s statistics in the second half of 2020, today we can say that we have achieved a certain reduction in crimes,” Novaš said, replying to a question from BPN.

Just under 8,000 cybercrimes were recorded in 2020, of which 90 percent involved “tweaking and stealing computer information.” In 2021-2022, the threshold was 4,500-5,000, he said.

“We managed to break this rather serious wave,” Novaš said.

On February 2, Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakoŭ said that in 2022, “we managed to break the wave of cybercrime and improve the protection of the digital field from the actions of criminals.”

Investigators and judges classify disclosure of officials’ and loyalists’ data as a form of cybercrime. It was widespread at the height of the protests that followed the 2020 presidential election. Criminal prosecution of the organizers and perpetrators of the leaks continues to this day.