Russian State Duma to Review Bill on Confiscating Cybercriminals’ Property

Amendments to the Criminal Code have been proposed to allow for the confiscation of assets obtained through cybercrimes. The initiative was introduced by Senator Andrey Klishas and a group of deputies, including Vasily Piskarev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption.

The bill under consideration, No. 238005-8, proposes changes to paragraph “a” of part 1, article 104.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (confiscation of property). The list of articles that allow for such punishment would be expanded to include:

• Article 272 – Unlawful access to computer information
• Article 273 – Creation, use, and distribution of malicious software
• Article 274 – Violation of rules for storing, processing, and transmitting computer information

The explanatory note to the bill, citing statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), states that currently, every fourth crime in Russia involves the use of ICT technologies (internet, mobile communications) or relates to computer information, and the number of such crimes is growing each year.

According to the MVD, last year there were 6,354 cybercrimes committed, which is 62.5% more than in 2020. Most of these crimes fall under Article 272 of the Criminal Code—unauthorized access to data. There has also been an increase in crimes classified as unlawful interference with critical information infrastructure (159 incidents compared to 22 the previous year).

Commenting on the new legislative initiative, Piskarev told journalists:

“Introducing the confiscation of unlawfully acquired assets from cybercriminals will help restore justice and allow these funds to be used to compensate victims.”

This year, law enforcement agencies have observed a decrease in cybercriminal activity—at least, this is indicated by a reduction in the number of criminal cases related to the illegal use of IT technologies (based on results from the first half of the year). However, there has been a noticeable increase in phone fraud: in the second quarter, the Central Bank reported a significant rise in the number of phone numbers used to scam subscribers compared to the previous year.