The figures were reported at a meeting on cybersecurity and cybercrime prevention held at the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the leadership of Interior Minister Aziz Toshpulatov.
Over the first nine months of the year, authorities uncovered 17,483 cybercrimes, including 5,600 identified through the initiative of law enforcement officers themselves.
A system developed jointly with the Central Bank, together with a mechanism for blocking funds stolen from bank cards, helped prevent the illegal withdrawal of UZS 77.344 billion. Authorities also blocked 43,001 bank cards associated with criminal activity.
Law enforcement agencies additionally disrupted more than 38,000 malicious phishing programs designed to steal money from citizens’ bank accounts. The measures helped protect the devices and funds of more than 668,000 people from theft.
Internet monitoring resulted in the examination of 6,771 reports, the blocking of 3,192 dangerous online resources and the disruption of 1,446 malicious links intended to facilitate fraud.
Authorities also held 335 people administratively liable and brought criminal charges against another 1,011 for distributing prohibited material in cyberspace.
The meeting criticized shortcomings in the organization of cybersecurity efforts in Tashkent city and the Tashkent, Andijan, Bukhara and Samarkand regions.
Officials stressed the need to address failures in implementing assigned tasks at the local level, strengthen the personal accountability of managers and improve preventive measures.
Following the meeting, officials were given specific instructions to expand the use of modern information platforms in cybercrime prevention, step up public awareness campaigns and regularly assess the effectiveness of measures being taken.
