SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Sep 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Last year the security forces and bodies registered 14,449 allegedly criminal acts related to information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Canary Islands, which represents an increase of 63.43 percent compared to 2019.
According to data published by the Ministry of the Interior in the VIII Report on Cybercrime, in 2020 the province of Las Palmas recorded 8,942 reported events about alleged cybercrime, compared to 5,507 reported in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
In the country as a whole, 287,963 alleged criminal acts related to ICT were registered in 2020, which translates into an increase of 31.9 percent over the previous year.
The data recorded since 2016 confirm that cybercrime is a growing phenomenon and that its proportional weight within the crime group is progressively increasing. In 2016, the more than 92,000 events detected in Spain accounted for 4.6 percent of all crimes, while the 288,000 reported in 2020 represented 16.3 percent.
The figures are included in the VIII Report on Cybercrime prepared by the Directorate General for Coordination and Studies of the Secretary of State for Security and can be consulted on the Statistical Portal of Crime of the Ministry of the Interior as well as through this link.
Of the total known cybercrimes in Spain, 89.6 percent (257,907) were computer frauds (scams). Threats and coercion committed over the Internet followed a long way behind (14,066 cases), representing 4.9 percent.
OFFENDERS PROFILE
The report indicates that the profile of the cybercriminal is a man (73.3% of those arrested or investigated), between 26 and 40 years old and of Spanish nationality, allegedly involved in the commission of computer fraud, threats and coercion and sexual crimes.
Throughout 2020, 861 cybersecurity incidents were also reported in critical infrastructures in the country, 5.2 percent more than the previous year, according to information registered by the Office of Cybersecurity Coordination (OCC) and by the National Institute of Cybersecurity of Spain (INCIBE). By areas, the highest number of incidents affected the tax and financial sectors (52.5%), followed by transport (24.08%) and energy (14.05%).
This VIII Report on Cybercrime collects information from the police forces of the entire national territory, both in the known facts and in arrests and investigated, reason that has allowed to reconstruct and update the historical series since 2016.
STRATEGIC PLAN AGAINST CYBERCRIMINALITY
The progressive increase in crimes related to information and communication technologies prompted this year the creation of the Strategic Plan against Cybercrime, with the aim of strengthening capacities to combat this type of crime. Approved by the Executive Coordination Committee (CECO) of the Ministry of the Interior on February 18, the plan provided the department with the necessary resources to face cybercrime in five areas: detection, prevention, protection, response and persecution, as well as the adequate attention to the victims.
In the design of the plan, directed by the Cybersecurity Coordination Office (OCC), responsible, specialists, authorities and experts from the National Police and Civil Guard, regional police, the General Council of the Judiciary, the State Attorney General’s Office, the General Council of the Spanish Lawyers, CCN-CERT and INCIBE-CERT, Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO), National Center for the Protection of Infrastructures and Cybersecurity (CNPIC), as well as the university, banking and other institutions private
