Police cybercrime unit investigated more than 550 cases last year

Last year the police investigated more than 550 cases of cybercrime, and participated in major international anti-cybercrime operations such as the SSNDOB in cooperation with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In a report of its activities during 2022, the police’s cybercrime noted in particular the SSNDOB affair . SSNDOB was an online marketplace that sold stolen Social Security numbers, birth dates and other personal information of US citizens starting in 2012 until it was shut down in June 2022 following a US government seizure.

On June 7, 2022, police in Cyprus seized SSNDOB’s servers, operated by a Cyprus resident who was cooperating with authorities. At the same time, the US Department of Justice announced they had seized SSNDOB’s domains.

The cybercrime said that during 2022 it carried out 37 operations across Cyprus, from which 131 items of evidence were seized. In addition, 2,298 items of evidence were examined in 538 cases.

Beyond that, 28 more cases are pending for which the unit is preparing briefs to be presented in court.

On child pornography, the unit said it interviewed 132 minors. And during the year, it participated in an EU programme called GRACE aimed at developing software for processing and assessing information and identifying victims of child pornography.

“We participate alongside Europol, Portugal, Spain, Romania etc. and we are active members both in terms of development and management,” the cybercrime unit said.