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ANALYSIS OF CYBERCRIME AND COUNTERMEASURES
Boburjon Shokirov
Student of Fergana state university
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15474563
Annotation.
In this thesis, the author analyzes the regulatory and legal
documents on cybercrime and its prevention in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The
thesis examines the part of the normative-legal framework specifically related to
cybersecurity as outlined in the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On
Normative Legal Acts", supported by practical examples.
Keywords:
Cybercrime, cyberspace, crime, crime prevention, normative
legal documents.
With the development of technologies, the purposes of their use are also
fundamentally changing. According to statistical data from Demandsage.com,
over 18 million users in Uzbekistan have registered on the Telegram messenger.
Moreover, the founder of the Telegram-based authorship channel, Russian
citizen Georgy Lobushkin, reported the statistics of this social network in
Uzbekistan. According to him, Uzbekistan ranks second after Russia in the
number of Telegram channels. Thus, Uzbekistan is second only to Russia in
terms of the number of Telegram channels and their audience. The total
audience of Telegram channels in Uzbekistan is 740,990,000 users. Additionally,
the Telegram market in Uzbekistan is developing rapidly and appears highly
promising. As of now, there are over 123,000 Telegram channels and nearly
18,000 chats in Uzbekistan.
According to data from datareportal.com, as of January 2023, 5.35 million
users are registered on social networks in Uzbekistan, representing 15.3% of the
total population. It is evident that the number and scale of internet users are
steadily increasing. However, proportionally, many individuals are also using
these networks for malicious purposes, causing significant damage to society.
In particular, the number of crimes committed through the Telegram social
messenger and the amount of damage caused by it have increased significantly
over the past three years. For example, according to information posted on the
website IIV.uz on July 23, 2023:
"A 48-year-old resident of Pastdargom district in Samarkand region, Yu.B.,
reported the loss of his mobile phone and the unauthorized withdrawal of
2,220,000 soums from his bank card. Following investigative operations
conducted by the Cybersecurity division of the Rapid Response Service, it was
revealed that the crime was committed by R.K., a 32-year-old resident of
Yunusabad district in Tashkent. R.K. was involved as a suspect in the
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investigation. After finding the victim’s phone, he activated the SIM card in his
own device, gained control over the bank card, and committed the crime. A
criminal case was initiated under Article 169, Part 3 of the Criminal Code of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, and a preliminary investigation is underway."
This case illustrates how a simple act of negligence—losing a SIM card—can
lead to a crime, aided by the broad capabilities of the cyber environment. The
frequency of such crimes highlights the necessity of analyzing what constitutes a
cybercrime and the legal liabilities associated with them.
According to Article 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
the purpose of the Criminal Code is to “protect individuals, their rights and
freedoms, the interests of society and the state, property, the natural
environment, peace, and human security from criminal encroachments, and to
prevent crimes while educating citizens in the spirit of respect for the
Constitution and laws of the Republic.”
Hence, any attack or socially dangerous act against individuals, their lives,
property, or the constitutional order is considered a crime and subject to the
liabilities defined by the Criminal Code. Within the context of this study, we
examine the legal responsibilities outlined in national legislation for crimes
committed in cyberspace and first seek to define the concepts of cyberspace and
cybercrime from the law.
To create a legal basis and regulate countermeasures against cybercrime,
the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Cybersecurity” (Law No. O‘RQ-764),
adopted on April 15, 2022, plays a key role. The purpose of this law is to regulate
relations in the field of cybersecurity. It provides legal definitions for several
concepts, including:
Cybercrime
– a collection of crimes committed in cyberspace using
software and technical tools to gain access to, alter, destroy information, or
disable information systems and resources.
Cyberspace
– a virtual environment created using information
technologies.
Cyber threat
– a set of conditions and factors in cyberspace that pose a
threat to the interests of individuals, society, and the state.
Cybersecurity
– a state of protection in cyberspace against internal and
external threats to individuals, society, and the state.
Cybersecurity incident
– an event in cyberspace that causes disruption to
information systems or compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or
accessibility of information.
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Cybersecurity object
– a set of information systems used to ensure
cybersecurity, including critical information infrastructure.
Cybersecurity subject
– legal entities or individual entrepreneurs with
specific rights and obligations related to the possession, use, and administration
of national information resources and services, including critical information
infrastructure.
Cyber protection
– a set of legal, organizational, financial-economic,
engineering-technical, and cryptographic measures aimed at preventing
cybersecurity incidents and attacks, mitigating their consequences, and
restoring the functionality and reliability of telecommunications and
information systems.
Cyberattack
– a deliberate action using hardware, software, or combined
tools that threatens cybersecurity in cyberspace.
Critical information infrastructure
– includes systems of strategic and
socio-economic importance used in public administration, defense, law
enforcement, and various sectors like energy, telecommunications, healthcare,
finance, transport, and more.
Subjects of critical information infrastructure
– state bodies,
organizations, or legal entities who own or operate critical information
infrastructure, including those ensuring its functionality and cooperation.
From these definitions, it is clear that cybercrime refers to a group of
crimes committed using software and technical tools in cyberspace to gain, alter,
destroy information, or disrupt systems. Therefore, analyzing crimes that
involve the internet, software, and technical tools is essential.
The Law “On Cybersecurity” serves as a legislative basis for addressing
crimes committed in cyberspace. Recently, cases involving website hacking and
the spread of malware have increased across social media platforms.
Cybercrimes became particularly prominent during the pandemic.
Several articles in the Criminal Code outline penalties for crimes involving
computer technologies. For example, Article 278⁵ of the Criminal Code specifies
that intentional disruption of another's computer equipment or system
(computer sabotage) is punishable by:
Deprivation of certain rights for up to 3 years
A fine ranging from 66.9 million to 89.2 million soums
Restriction of liberty for up to 2 years
Imprisonment for up to 2 years
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Committing such acts as part of a group, repeatedly, or by a dangerous
recidivist can result in up to 3 years of imprisonment.
Further analysis is necessary to determine which crimes can be committed
in cyberspace and the legal measures applied. At present, cybercrimes most
often appear in property-related offenses such as fraud, robbery, extortion, as
well as in the production, storage, and dissemination of materials promoting
pornography, racial hatred, and subversive ideologies.
References:
1.
DemandSage. (2024). Telegram Statistics and User Growth Trends in
2024. Retrieved from https://www.demandsage.com/telegramstatistics
2.
Lobushkin,
V.
(n.d.).
Telegram
channel.
Retrieved
from
https://t.me/lobushkin/
3.
Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. (1995). Bulletin of the
Supreme Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan, No. 1. Retrieved from
https://lex.uz/docs/-111453#-271724
4.
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. O‘RQ-764 dated April 15, 2022.
(2022). National Database of Legislation, April 16, 2022, Document No.
03/22/764/0313. Retrieved from https://lex.uz/uz/docs/-5960604
5.
Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Retrieved from
https://lex.uz/docs/-111453
6.
Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan. (2023, June
23). Resolution No. 17 on Judicial Practice in Fraud-Related Cases, Paragraphs 9
and
22.
Retrieved
from
https://lex.uz/docs/
6523582?ONDATE=23.06.2023%2000#-6523785
