The article analyzes certain amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation aimed at increasing the effectiveness of counteracting crimes committed using information and telecommunications networks, including the Internet.

The author notes that the virtual network method of committing a crime does not always indicate an increase in the social danger of the act. Supplementing the criminal law with an indication of the commission of a crime using the Internet should compensate for the real gap in the degree of social danger between the traditional form of committing a criminal offense and its digital analogue.

Unjustified digital casualization of the criminal law leads to a violation of the established models of legislative definition of individual crimes, and also contradicts the doctrinal provisions characterizing the content and limits of the objective side of specific crimes. The author also notes the lack of a unified approach to taking into account the digital method of committing a crime within the framework of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The article presents the results of a study on current trends in cybercrime across federal districts and regions of the Russian Federation. The authors emphasize that effective prevention of cybercrime requires analyzing its characteristics not only at the national level but also at the regional level. This approach makes it possible to identify the specific features of criminal victimization in different regions, rank them accordingly, and uncover problems related to ensuring regional security across various parts of Russia. It also enables the timely development of scientifically grounded recommendations aimed at improving measures to reduce regional criminal victimization.

Among the main contemporary trends in cybercrime, the authors highlight the steady increase in cybercrime rates both across Russia as a whole and in all federal districts, despite the overall decline in crime. Other noted trends include a high level of latency and a low detection rate. The study also notes an increase in the involvement of organized criminal groups in cybercrime, greater financial damage from cyberattacks, and the emergence of new threat forms. A pronounced territorial differentiation of cybercrime has been identified, driven by the combined influence of demographic, sociocultural, organizational, and technological factors.

The articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that provide for criminal liability for computer crimes are imperfect both in the context of legal technique and in terms of criminal policy. The elements of crimes are defined casuistically, which significantly complicates the application of the law. The consequences of crimes are defined without taking into account the social values protected by law and the harm caused by these crimes. The definition of the illegality of the act is not disclosed in the law, in practice there is also no uniformity in its interpretation, which results in an unjustified expansion of repression. People do not realize the criminality of their actions, which is negative in the context of criminal policy. Changes to the current criminal law are proposed: to construct the elements of crimes as formal (conduct crimes); to define the illegality of access to computer information as access to it without the permission of the computer owner; to define the harmfulness of a computer program as the purpose of making unauthorized changes to information on a computer belonging to another person.

The legal status of mining in Russia remains one of the most controversial issues. The main difficulty is related to the lack of a clear approach to the legal regulation of this process, which is the creation of new units of cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, the regulatory legal acts adopted last year emphasize the relevance and importance of the analyzed topic.

The article examines the problems of qualifying crimes related to obtaining cryptocurrency, including mining. The legal status of cryptocurrencies in Russian and international legislation is analyzed, identifying gaps in regulation and enforcement. Special attention is given to the qualification of illegal mining as a form of unlawful business, as well as crimes related to electricity theft, fraud, extortion, and money laundering. The study explores relevant court rulings and evidentiary issues in criminal cases involving digital assets. International experiences in cryptocurrency regulation are reviewed, and suggestions for improving Russian legislation are provided. Key directions for the development of criminal law policy concerning cryptocurrency-related crimes are highlighted.

The article examines various aspects of the technical and legal perfection of the novel of Article 2721 of the Criminal Code, introduced into criminal law by Federal Law No. 421-FZ dated 11/30/2024. It seems that there were no sufficient criminological grounds for expanding the criminalization of the chapter on computer crimes by constructing an independent corpus delicti. With the advent of Article 2721 of the Criminal Code, competition arose with Article 137 of the Criminal Code and Article 13.11 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. The independent criminalization of storing personal data in electronic form as an act of moderate severity does not correspond to the nature and degree of public danger of the act. The lack of regulatory and legal regulation in the field of countering the illicit trafficking of programs designed for the illicit trafficking of computer information containing personal data makes it difficult to effectively enforce law enforcement, which requires amendments to the current legislation on the criminal cycle and operational investigative activities.

The article proposes to consider information security as a threecomponent object, which includes the protection of useful information from external influence, the availability of reliable information to ensure the normal functioning of state institutions and the life of citizens, and the protection of a person from aggressive or destructive information impact. The main attention is paid to the last aspect. There are two mechanisms of protection: a personal information filter based on the correct understanding of the value hierarchy and forced restriction of information flows by the state. Neither mechanism is currently fully operational: the subjective value hierarchy of a large number of people does not correspond to the objective picture of the world, and the state has not yet learned to either control or limit information flows. The information environment in Russia is very heterogeneous, a huge amount of destructive information is in the public domain. The possibility of generating and disseminating such information is almost unlimited. But awareness of the problem has already appeared and attempts to build information barriers both in the direction of educating the correct moral guidelines and in the direction of control and regulation of information flows in Russia are being undertaken.

The article is devoted to the criminal-legal assessment of the falsification of history in computer games, which today, along with social networks, Internet portals, video hosting sites, news sites have become an additional communication platform for the exchange of data among users of information technology. According to research by international companies, the number of players is constantly increasing, covering different age groups and regions, which confirms the mass character of the gaming industry. Computer games whose plots are connected with the events of World War II and the Great Patriotic War are especially widespread among the younger generation. In this regard, the article formulates proposals for the qualification of actions that falsify historical facts contained in computer games. Attention is drawn to the uncertainty of the legal nature of computer games, the lack of regulation of the development and definition of the content of game products, which gives rise to difficulties in the criminal-legal assessment of the distortion of information about historical events in games.

Preservation of historical memory is a strategic interest of Russia, which can only be ensured by a comprehensive approach, including a criminal-legal mechanism to combat the falsification of history.

The article develops conceptual bases of criminal-legal qualification of socially dangerous acts of viewers online-broadcasts of crimes against personality. In the structure of the audience of destructive content, shown in real time, the author distinguishes three groups of persons: active sponsors, interactive viewers and passive («shadow») observers. It is concluded that streaming service users who materially incentivize the creator of prohibited online content in the form of donates should be held criminally liable as instigators of crime, participants of the virtual broadcast of the crime, showing user activity in the form of positive feedback, are considered as accomplices of socially dangerous assault, passive («shady») observers, increasing Internet coverage the transmission of unlawful acts, it is necessary to punish in criminal law for failure to report a crime against the person or for leaving in danger. In the present study it is proposed to restore the institution of touch to a crime in Russian legislation, to expand the subject-matter of criminal law rules on putting at risk, to include the feature of public demonstration of unlawful acts in article 125 CC. These changes are aimed at increasing the social responsibility of citizens and preventing criminal attacks against the person.

The article discusses the actual criminal legal issues related to the spread of sexual crimes using the meta-space and involving prostitution in the information and telecommunication Internet, as well as recommendations for improving counteracting these phenomena. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that commercial sex in the digital era is actively transformed, thanks to the development of technology, such as virtual reality, metavsella and artificial intelligence. These innovations open up new opportunities to satisfy intimate needs, but at the same time create challenges for the legal system and society. The authors conclude that the law enforcer can adapt existing practices in order to protect society from new threats, maintaining a balance between innovation and safety, at the same time, without creating artificially new corpus delicti. With these negative manifestations, it is possible to fight with the help of existing norms if added to them, taking into account the processes that appear in metamir.

The article is a continuation of a series of works devoted to the description of the criminal law risks of using mobile applications: the risks of suffering harm as a result of committing crimes and the risks of harm if illegality is not obvious. This paper provides an explanation of the difference in risk identification activities between acts committed using mobile applications and acts generally committed using the Internet. The study found that all analyzed applications for ordering goods or commercial services are combined with the ability to make payments and therefore, in terms of potential risks, they are most consistent with mobile banking applications, but they are inferior in terms of security. In applications for ordering goods or commercial services, the operator often interacts directly with the relevant supplier, determining the essential terms of the transactions they conclude. This specificity determines the most important criminal legal risk of suffering harm — the commission of theft. The risks of harm include the purchase of restricted items through marketplaces. This is due to the fact that through such applications, a wide variety of people communicate about a wide variety of goods, works and services, the composition, content and execution of which may contradict the legislation of the Russian Federation.

The article discusses existing criminal prohibitions in the field of alcoholic turnover in the Russian Federation. An analysis was carried out such as “the use of information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet” in the qualification of crimes related to alcohol turnover. The most dangerous acts in the field of alcoholic turnover are the sale of poor-quality alcoholic beverages and the sale of alcohol products to minors. It is these acts that encroach on public relations subject to criminal law protection. The sale of alcoholic beverages using ITKS has an increased public danger, but at the present placement of information about the sale of alcohol using ITKS is not prohibited by criminal law. On the basis of this conclusion, the author justifies the proposal to change the disposition of the undergoing criminal legal norm, as well as add to the corresponding part of the qualifying sign “using the media or electronic or information and telecommunication networks (including the Internet)”.

The article is devoted to the problem of fair, adequate legal restrictions for persons who have committed criminally prohibited acts using information technology. The author examines the criminological picture of the place and volume of such crimes in the structure of crime, the dynamics and the most pronounced cases of their commission, which are recognized as computer and computerized crimes in the classification of E.A. Russkevich. Based on the generalization of an array of judicial practice, the author shows that the latter group of crimes actually comes down to theft, fraud and drug trafficking, to which the state responds with non-targeted legal restrictions, including conditional imprisonment, restriction of freedom and a fine. Pointing to the development of a fine-tuning of the criminal-legal response, the author shows possible ways to ensure the connection between the nature of an information crime and a proportionate punishment for its commission. The results of the work can be used to further rethink criminal penalties for persons who have committed crimes in the field of information technology.

The article explores the challenges of applying artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to sentencing practices in foreign jurisdictions, through the lens of the criminal law principle of justice. The relevance of the topic stems from the ongoing digitalization of justice and the increasing use of algorithmic systems in criminal proceedings. The methodology includes comparative legal analysis and a critical evaluation of foreign practices (United States, China, Japan) and theoretical approaches. Special attention is given to such phenomena as algorithmic discrimination, opacity of AI models, the datafication of judicial practice, and restrictions on judicial discretion. Based on international examples, the study analyzes the risks of reducing sentencing individualization, replacing justice with statistical norms, and eroding public trust in the judiciary. The author concludes that a critical reassessment of AI’s role in criminal justice is needed, along with the development of comprehensive legal and ethical safeguards to uphold fundamental principles of criminal law. The study engages with a vital debate on the permissible boundaries of digital transformation in criminal law.

The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the system of counteracting cybercrime in the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the PRC) in the context of the active development of digital technologies and the growth of crimes in the information space. The development of the PRC legislation in the field of cybersecurity is presented, including the main regulations — the Cybersecurity Law (2017), the Data Security Law (2021) and the Personal Information Protection Law (2021), as well as the Telecommunication and Internet Fraud Prevention Law (2022). Measures to strengthen criminal liability for IT crimes, the formation of new crimes and the practice of their application are considered. Particular attention is paid to the institutional structure — the role of law enforcement agencies and cooperation with large technology companies. The results of the implementation of targeted campaigns aimed at identifying and suppressing criminal schemes, including the use of artificial intelligence, Internet traffic monitoring systems, blockchain technologies and big data analysis algorithms are analyzed. The international change of China’s cybersecurity policy is emphasized — participation in Interpol operations, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, promotion of the concept of digital sovereignty. A conclusion is made about the high degree of integration of technological, legal and organizational mechanisms in the fight against cybercrime in China, which allows for an effective response to modern threats in the global digital space.

The article is devoted to criminological characteristics and peculiarities of a cybercrime in Mongolia, the main features of which is mainly typical for most states in the world, including its neighbor the Russian Federation. At the same time during the analysis of quantity and quality indicators of such a negative phenomenon, there are some peculiarities, typical for developing countries. The subject of the study is up-to-date state, dynamics and trends of cybercrime of the state, which is located at the Asian continent between one of the BRICS founder, the Russian Federation and China. Cybercrime as a phenomenon without any state borders is vividly shows transnational and multinational traits and character. During the study and analysis of the said phenomenon the following study methods were used: formal-logical, comparative, statistical, sociological and others. The novelty of the content is in usage of the newest statistical data on the essence of the research problem, assessment and consideration of different opinions and judgements on the subject matter. The aim of the study is to highlight the statement, that the modern cybercrime is a phenomenon, typical for all states, with different internal structure, regardless political, economic, ideological and other aspects, which widely shows persistent growth trend and expanding its scale at a time when there is a decrease and stabilization of the number of reported crimes in general.

ICO is a mechanism for issuing and offering tokens to investors, which can be classified into three main categories: crowdfunding ICOs, profitable ICOs, and ICOs that meet the characteristics of securities. Most ICO projects fall into the category of productive crowdfunding. Profitable ICOs are divided into two types: those backed by real assets and those that are not backed by real assets. Tokens with the characteristics of securities can be recognized as issuing shares or investing in funds, depending on their characteristics. As a carrier and application of blockchain technology, ICOs provide modern businesses with the opportunity to radically transform their economic models, but they also give rise to many new forms of illegal and even criminal activity. In this regard, it seems expedient to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical foundations and norms of national criminal legislation in order to ensure legal regulation of illegal ICOs. Deceptive ICO schemes should be classified as fraud (Article 266 of the Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of China). In particular, multi-level marketing aimed at obtaining tokens may be considered as the organization and management of a financial pyramid (Article 224.1 of the Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of China); Unlawful actions related to non-deficit forms of ICO may be classified as illegal economic activities (Article 225 of the Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of China).

The article is devoted to the analysis of the problems of preventing crimes committed through information technology by bank employees. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that in recent years there has been an increase in the crimes under consideration, as well as the damage caused not only to the bank, but also to its customers. Banks also carry reputational risks. It is concluded that the application of preventive measures directly in banks, as well as the search for new forms of prevention of the crimes under consideration, is of paramount importance. Such measures include: optimization of the activities of the bank’s security service units; creation of new computer programs that allow comprehensive monitoring of the activities of bank employees, and improvement of banks’ interaction with law enforcement agencies. The results of the work can be used in further scientific research of the problem under consideration, as well as for the development of practical recommendations used in the prevention of crimes committed through information technology by bank employees.

The article analyzes new means and methods of committing economic crimes in the digital era. The author examines new ways of committing crimes when buying and selling goods on marketplaces and comes to the conclusion that the main measures to prevent economic crimes in the digital economy are making payments on Internet resources from a separate bank card with a small amount of money; ignoring third-party links by the user when making purchases on the marketplace website. At the same time, in the event of a technical failure on the marketplace, as a result of which the user purchases goods without payment, the person is subject to criminal liability. The article draws attention to the widespread use of deepfake technology in theft of funds, and proposes to support the bill in order to prevent such crimes, according to which it is necessary to establish qualifying features in Art. 158 and Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which involve committing a crime using the substitution of personality traits. The author concludes that the introduction of the digital ruble into civil circulation and amendments to certain Resolutions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in terms of recognizing cryptocurrency as an object of theft will help reduce the level of certain economic crimes.

The article examines the conditions that contribute to the formation of criminogenic situations in the sphere of social media, and identifies their types. The influence of criminogenic situations on the individual is analyzed, and it is noted that the process of criminalization of the individual in the media field is built through the influence of a number of key mechanisms. These include: long-term or instantaneous impact of medical content on the individual; widespread distribution of destructive and disinformation content through thematic communities, chats and groups and its normalization; profile anonymity, which creates the illusion of impunity; low level of social control and others. The consequences for the individual as a result of such influence are: a distorted perception of social norms; the formation of attitudes to justify illegal behavior; a decrease in tolerance and, as a consequence, an increase in aggression. The conclusions about the influence of social media on the process of criminalization of the individual are based on the analysis of existing research in the field of criminology, psychology and statistics, which are presented in this article.

Based on the conducted research, proposals are formulated for the use of modern tools for assessing criminogenic situations through information field monitoring systems, as one of the promising areas of studying crimes and their prevention.

The article provides an approach to defining the definition of “penitentiary cybercrime” and examines various types of penitentiary cybercrimes. External and internal threats of cybercrime for correctional institutions have been identified, indicating the subjects of these crimes and considering specific examples. The main subjects of the commission of this category of crimes are both employees of the penal enforcement system and convicts serving their sentences (internal threat). At the same time, other subjects are considered — intruders from among professional specialists in the field of information technology, the so-called hackers (an external threat). Given the importance of official information in ensuring the safety of staff and convicts, as well as the trend towards digitalization of various management processes, penitentiary cybercrime has been studied in the context of a global threat to the stable normal and stable functioning of correctional institutions. The considered real examples of cybercrimes committed indicate that there is a shortage in the organization of penitentiary cybersecurity. In order to reduce the level of cyber threats, a preventive package has been proposed that includes management, criminal law, and scientific and technical measures.

The article is devoted to the criminological characteristics of cybercrime in transport, its state and trends of its development are considered. One of the significant factors influencing the formation and development of the digital economy in the Russian Federation is the active introduction of advanced information and telecommunication technologies (hereinafter — ICT) into various sectors of activity. In the context of globalization, ICTs have become an integral part of the functioning of society, including transport infrastructure. At the same time, the use of ICT in the transport sector generates new challenges and threats, including criminal ones. This thesis is supported by the results of numerous studies conducted by both domestic and foreign experts in the field of cybersecurity and criminology. Modern cyber threats aimed at ensuring the transport security of the Russian Federation require a comprehensive and comprehensive analysis. In this regard, the author of the article attempts to determine the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of cybercrime in the transport sector, as well as to identify the main trends in its development. The study analyzes the provisions of criminological works devoted to both theoretical aspects of countering cybercrime and practical issues of ensuring transport security. In addition, the departmental statistical reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the period from 2018 to 2024 were studied.

Artificial intelligence technology is increasingly penetrating into various spheres of modern life and causes heated discussions about the possibility of its use in the administration of justice. The paper analyzes the positions of supporters and opponents of the use of artificial intelligence directly in the role of a judge and especially when making evaluative decisions when resolving issues of conditional early release or replacing the unserved part of the sentence with a milder type of punishment. Analysis of the results testing the GigaChat neural network showed that artificial intelligence is not able to take responsibility when deciding whether to grant or refuse to grant parole requests, but it is capable of structuring positive and negative criteria that characterize the behavior of the convict, and which can influence the court’s decision. Artificial intelligence, comparing the professionally significant qualities of a human judge and an AI judge, gives preference to a human, since he has unique characteristics that are not typical for technology.

The problem of preventing cybercrime against minors is of an international nature. Currently, there is an increase in the crime under consideration, as well as a change in its structure. The emergence of new forms of cybercrime against minors, such as cyberbullying and cyberbullying, indicates the development of this type of crime. The problems of reducing the level of cybercrime against minors should be solved in the near future by making changes to criminal legislation. Effective recommendations should be developed within the framework of law enforcement activities to neutralize the destructive impact on the child in the virtual space. These quantitative and qualitative changes in the crime under consideration require serious changes. The correct definition of the causal complex of cybercrime against minors will make it possible to develop effective measures to counter cybercrime against minors. The article is devoted to the analysis and systematization of the causes of the crime under consideration and the proposals for their prevention developed on their basis.

The article analyzes the nature of digital victimization, identifies key risk categories and the main forms of victim behavior in the cyber environment. Special attention is paid to preventive strategies aimed at reducing the victim potential of the individual, as well as the possibilities of legal and social response. Recommendations on the development of a system of victimological assistance, educational programs and interdepartmental cooperation are proposed. The need for the formation of a digital security culture as an element of the general prevention of cybercrime is emphasized. Recommendations for improving the victim protection system within the victimological paradigm are proposed. Individual victimological prevention is of great importance. The essential features of the process of cyber-victimization as part of the general victimological theory are noted. The problems that arise in the investigation of cybercrimes, which, in turn, have an impact on the victimological component of cybercrime, are considered. The problems that arise in the investigation of cybercrimes are considered, which, in turn, have an impact on the victimological component of cybercrimes. The key components of the behavioral model of a victim of cybercrime are identified and characterized: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. Typical patterns of behavior predisposing to victimization in cyberspace are given.

The paper presents foreign and domestic experience in the implementation of programs and projects aimed at victimological prevention in the digital space, as international experience is valuable for the formation of an effective system of victimological prevention in Russia and can serve as a basis for comparative legal analysis.

The metaverse, as an immersive and persistent virtual environment, forms a new category of threat to public relations regarding privacy, when combined with the misuse of artificial intelligence technologies to create hyper-realistic synthetic media (photo, video, audio).

Existing legal frameworks, predominantly designed to regulate interaction in physical reality and earlier iterations of the digital environment, are not sufficiently adapted to effectively counteract the challenges posed by the creation, use and dissemination of so-called deepfakes. The application of these technologies to the formation of virtual avatars (images) of people in the metaverse presents a particularly complex regulatory challenge.

Presented is a possible mechanism for establishing legal liability based on the formal recognition of a set of “virtual personality rights”. This complex includes the right to authenticity and control over one’s own avatar, the right to confirm authorship and protection from misappropriation of virtual identity, as well as the right to ensure the integrity of the subject’s virtual environment. The proposed approach also envisages the need to distinguish the legal responsibility between the actors who directly create synthetic media materials using machine learning, those who carry out their subsequent use and distribution, and the providers of metaverse platforms that deliver the infrastructure for such interaction.