Financial Crime World

Title: Georgia’s Financial Institutions Brace for Increase in Cybercrime: An Assessment and Recommendations

Georgia’s Cybersecurity Landscape and the Unrecognized Danger of Cybercrime

  • Underreported incidents: Lack of accurate data due to underreported cybercrime incidents
  • Limited resources: Inadequate resources for investigations and response
  • Need for awareness: Lack of focus on prevention and societal awareness
## Cybercrime in Georgia: An Unrecognized Danger

Georgia's cybersecurity landscape is characterized by:
  - Underreported cybercrime incidents
  - Lack of focus on prevention
  - Limited resources dedicated to investigations

### Ambiguity and Incomplete Data

- Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) deals with pure cybercrimes
- Cyber-enabled crimes not included in their statistics

Reactive Approach to Cybercrime

  • Lack of prevention: Focus on response, investigation, and pursuit
  • Need for improvement: Improve digital forensics and cybercrime investigations
## Reactive Approach to Cybercrime

The Georgian Police approach to cybercrime is predominantly reactive, focusing on:
  - Response
  - Investigation
  - Pursuit

However, there is room for improvement concerning:
  - Digital forensics
  - Cybercrime investigations, especially in the regions

### Threats and Predictions

- Transnational criminal activities pose minimal threat for now
- Increase in the digital activities of GOCGs predicted

The Future of Cybercrime in Georgia

  • Complex root causes: Socio-economic and geopolitical factors
  • Expected trend: Cybercrime rates to maintain an upward trend
## The Future of Cybercrime in Georgia

Cybercrime rates in Georgia are expected to maintain an upward trend due to:
  - Complex root causes
  - Socio-economic and geopolitical factors

It is predicted that cybercrime rates will:
  - Surpass the 5% share of total criminal cases registered by the police within the next five years

### Implications for Financial Institutions

Financial institutions face a growing risk of cyberattacks, with potential consequences:
  - Reputational damage
  - Loss of customer trust
  - Financial losses
  - Legal liabilities

Policy Recommendations

  1. Preventive, Proactive, and Protective Policy

    • Comprehensive strategic agenda
    • Change approach to calculating cybercrime statistics
    • Joint interagency task force
    • Legislative framework

  2. Develop Workforce and Institutional Capacity

    • Increase human and technological capacity of cybercrime investigators
    • Establish a national training infrastructure
    • Create specialized cybercrime police units in every region

  3. Develop Cyber Culture

    • Public education and awareness
    • Engage various government agencies and the private sector
    • Tailored educational campaigns

  4. Co-share Resources between CERT and MIA

    • Temporary secondment of personnel
    • Unified operational standards
    • Secure information sharing platform
    • Cybercrime reporting mechanism

  5. Collaboration and Information Sharing

    • Formal and informal cooperation frameworks
    • Adopt legislative requirements for information exchange
    • Cybersecurity awareness-raising campaign

## Conclusion

- **Importance of action**: The need to prevent, detect, and respond to cyberthreats
- **Mitigating the risks**: Implementing the proposed policy recommendations for effective cybersecurity
- **Protecting the financial sector**: Building a robust cybersecurity infrastructure for the financial sector and ensuring the safety of citizens.