November 14, 2024

Data Leaks Reach Record High in Russia


Data Leaks Reach Record High in Russia
Server room of BalticServers
BalticServers, Wikimedia Commons
 

Sberbank, a majority state-owned banking and financial services company, reported that around 3.5 billion data entries containing personal information of Russian citizens are accessible to the public, affecting nearly 90% of the country’s adult population.

“The situation has long been deplorable,” said Stanislav Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of Sberbank’s board.

Sberbank’s analysis, conducted in late 2023 and early 2024, found that online stores and medical institutions were the primary sources of data leaks. Data breaches peaked in 2023, but leaks continue.

Infowatch, an information security firm, previously reported that a significant quantity of Russian personal data has been exposed. According to the organization, nearly one-third of data breaches in Russia involve large databases containing more than 100,000 records. Many of these databases are associated with various services. In particular, users of the online food ordering platform Yandex.Eda and shipping company SDEK were among those in recent leaks. Government databases have also been compromised: in August 2024, it was reported that the FSB Border Service database, containing information on individuals who crossed Russia’s border from 2014 to 2023, had been leaked.

Leaked data typically includes full names, passport details, phone numbers, residential addresses, and email addresses. Attackers commonly exploit such information for phishing scams and other fraudulent activities, often employing social engineering tactics. As such, an increase in leaks has meant a concurrent increase in scams.

The Bank of Russia reported that, in the second quarter of 2024, fraudsters stole R4.7 billion (nearly $48 million) from bank clients through 257,000 unauthorized transactions.

In 2024, Sberbank recorded a significant increase in fraudulent calls to Russian citizens. “Around February and March, we recorded a peak in phone scams, with about 20 million daily attempts to contact Russian citizens,” Kuznetsov said. He estimated that damages from fraud at the end of 2024 could reach approximately R1 trillion (roughly $10 billion).

You Might Also Like

Cryptocrime and Punishment
  • October 17, 2024

Cryptocrime and Punishment

A Moscow investigator has been sentenced for receiving the largest bribe in modern Russian history. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955