PRESS: Russia can toughen punishment for cybercrimes soon

MOSCOW, Nov 7 (PRIME) -- Russia can strengthen punishment for cybercrimes, and such amendments to the Criminal Code have already been discussed in the information cluster of the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC), business daily Vedomosti reported Monday, citing Irina Levova from the Internet Research Institute.

In addition to the RAEC, the discussion engaged representatives from the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service, Microsoft, antivirus genius Kaspersky Lab and cybercrime investigation company Group-IB.

Levova said the amendments should make components of cybercrimes more specific, because certain clauses of the Criminal Code have turned obsolete and ignore the newest technological features. Such violations as DDoS attacks and breaches of personal emails, theft of photos from smartphones do not involve any criminal liability at the moment, she said.

Andrei Yarnykh from Kaspersky Lab confirmed that the work on the amendments to the code is well under way, but he refused to disclose any details.

Group-IB’s founder and General Director Ilya Sachkov said it is not enough to strengthen laws on cybercrimes in the country, because they are committed by international groups, which requires cooperation with other countries to catch perpetrators.

Judges should also learn technological topics, and the Internal Ministry’s staff in charge for cybercrimes should be expanded. Juvenile cybercriminals should be brought to justice, which is not stipulated by the existing law, Sachkov said.

The Communications and Mass Media Ministry welcomes the idea of a tougher law on cybercrimes, but has not come up with any own initiatives yet.

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