Page 19 - RusRPTAug21

“We see that phone fraud has almost doubled in a recent year and a half. We believe that the situation is so difficult now that we think the situation has all the signs of a national calamity,” Kuznetsov said.
The criminals have been investing their takings into an increasingly sophisticated apparatus to perpetrate crime. Sber estimates that today there are some 150–170 criminal call centres work in Russia targeting normal Russians, and each of the call centres has 30 to 40 operators each.
Sber’s comments are backed up by a survey from Rambler&Co that found the majority of Russian Internet users (69%) have experienced fraud on the Web. At the same time internet best practices are not followed by the majority of Russians as only a third of the country’s Internet users (30%) try to keep their data safe by avoiding contacts with the people they do not know personally.
The issue of cybercrime is rising up the government’s agenda as it responds to an explosion of attacks in the last year. Crimes committed on the Internet increased by 51.6% on the year in January–March, while the number of crimes in the IT sphere on the whole rose by 33.7%, Prime Minister Mishustin said on the same day as the Biden-Putin call.
“In the last few years, the number of attacks on the delivery chains has increased. This disappointing trend continues,” Mishustin said in an online address to a conference.
Mishustin called for more resources to be thrown into understanding the problem. “We should use the best industry practices, including those of our foreign partners, and find effective solutions together,” he said. “The cybersecurity matters are coming to the fore. We should protect space apparatuses and onland stations against possible attacks and ensure security of data transfer from space to the Earth and back.”
2.6 bneGREEN: EU carbon guidelines offer relief to Russian exporters
The European Commission has revealed new proposals concerning its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which would regulate carbon certificates for importers to the union.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, Russian state energy policy is focusing increasingly on ESG, as Russia belatedly prepares to tackle the EU carbon tax introduction and other "green" challenges.
Under the draft guidelines, the carbon certificate mechanism would be phased in gradually and would initially apply to a narrow range of goods: iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium and electricity imports. The reporting system should be in place by 2023, with financial payments beginning in 2026.
"Moreover, EU production and imported goods will be treated under the same regime – CBAM will be gradually phased in, in direct proportion to the
19 RUSSIA Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com