Minister: Cybercrimes now account for 20% of offenses recorded in Spain

MADRID– The Spanish government pledged on Wednesday to act more aggressively against cybercrime, saying it accounts for around a fifth of all recorded offenses in the country.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the police would receive additional staff, funds and resources to tackle online crime. He said reported cases of cybercrime increased by 72% last year compared to 2019 and 352% compared to 2015.

“The … decline of conventional crime and the increase of cybercrime have brought us to a turning point: today, one in five crimes in Spain is committed online,” he told a conference of press in Madrid.

Nearly 90% of cybercrimes reported last year involved online fraud schemes, Grande-Marlaska said. “This (…) has a remarkable and negative impact on national interests, institutions, businesses and citizens,” he added.

On Tuesday, Spain’s Defense Minister approved the creation of a new military cyber operations training school to further strengthen national security online.

Spain is among the countries with the highest number of remote online attacks in the world, according to data from virus protection specialist ESET. Small businesses are particularly affected.