To strengthen the prevention of fraud with bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, 80 officers from the Brazilian security forces worked together with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States.
According to one official publicationagents from public institutions and research in Brazil interacted with US security agencies to update the methods they use to combat cryptocurrency crime.
Likewise, the agents worked to renew the techniques of collecting traces, as well as interviews and interrogations in procedures related to cybercrime.
Regarding this activity, the Minister of Justice and Public Security of Brazil, Anderson Torres, said that, given the pace at which cybercrime evolves, It is necessary to act quickly to combat crime in the virtual environment and in deep web.
In Brazil cybercrime is on the rise according to data published by cybersecurity firm SonicWall. In its report corresponding to the year 2022, it details that, among eight countries studied, the Brazilian territory was the only one to record a 61% increase in malware attacks or malicious programs.
In addition, Brazil appears on the list of the 10 countries in which organizations and institutions are exposed to malware attacks.
Brazil also appears as fourth in the list of 10 countries that have suffered the largest ransomware attacks or data theft. Cybercriminals extracted from Brazilian territory more than 33 million dollars in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, product of different operations carried out throughout the past year.
A survey conducted by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky reveals that he 56% of companies in Brazil claim to have suffered ransomware incidents and 54% predict that there will be an attack against their business at some point, as they see this threat as the most likely cybercrime to affect their business.
Usually the cybercriminals operating ransomware often claim ransoms with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. As CriptoNoticias reported last February, payments for this ransomware in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies exceeded USD 600 million in 2021.
Cryptocurrency fraud is also on the rise in Brazil and the rest of Latin America, which is one of the concerns of the country’s regulators, who are speeding up laws on the industry.
The document recently approved by the Senate includes cryptocurrency fraud in the Penal Code and imposes a sentence of 2 to 6 years in prison for those who commit crimes with crypto assets.