OSCE Project Co-ordinator presents awareness-raising videos to boost cybercrime prevention efforts in Ukraine

Two videos designed by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine to support efforts by the Department of Cyberpolice, National Police of Ukraine in raising awareness of cybersecurity issues, were presented at a joint event in Kyiv on Wednesday, 6 March 2019. One video provides instructions on how to avoid fraud and phishing during shopping, the other prompts Ukrainians to abide by basic rules to protect personal and corporate data while they are online.   

“With these materials, we are distributing information that every Internet user should be aware of to avoid being a victim of cybercrime. We also call on citizens to file statements about committed online crimes, even if the damage caused is not significant,” said Head of Cybercrime Department Serhiy Demedyuk.

Both videos have the confirmed status of social advertising and can be used by TV channels for social media campaigns. The OSCE PCU also produced two sets of leaflets with the same messages and gave 1,000 copies of each set to the Department of Cyberpolice for distribution during awareness-raising meetings organized by the police, including in schools. 

“It is important that the authorities run such campaigns focusing on the prevention of crimes. It can diminish the workload for law enforcers investigating cyberfraud, and also help Ukrainians to keep financial and personal data protected,” said Liliia Grudko, Head of the OSCE Project Co-ordinators’ Human Security Programme.  

According to the cyberpolice, in 2018 Ukraine’s law enforcement bodies investigated more than 11,000 crimes committed with the use of ICT, almost third of them were related to payment systems, another third dealt with e-commerce, and over 2,600 were related to the hacking of data.