Uzbekistan’s Interior Ministry to Publish Annual List of Banks with Highest Number of Cyber Incidents

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan plans to annually publish a list of banks and payment organizations that have recorded the highest number of cybercrimes. This was announced on 3 November during a press conference by Maksudjon Mirabdullaev, a representative of the Ministry’s Cybersecurity Center.

According to Mirabdullaev, the new practice is aimed at increasing transparency and accountability of financial institutions in ensuring information security. “Banks and payment organizations bear strict responsibility for preventing cybercrimes. Previously, incidents of fund leaks or major thefts at individual institutions were not publicized in the media. From now on, we will publish a list of organizations where the highest number of cybercrimes occurred due to vulnerabilities and violations,” he said.

The Ministry also plans to maintain statistics on the nature of incidents and amounts stolen, and in some cases disclose details of investigations related to breaches and thefts resulting from deficiencies in banking security systems. “We will provide information on the methods used to commit cybercrimes and the amounts stolen,” Mirabdullaev added.

The Interior Ministry expects that the publication of annual reports will encourage banks and payment organizations to actively implement protective measures, promptly address vulnerabilities, and raise internal cybersecurity standards. Experts note that such transparency may simultaneously signal the reliability of certain institutions to the market and create additional pressure on regulators and bank management to accelerate system upgrades.

Representatives of the banking sector, according to sources, are already preparing proposals for cooperation with relevant authorities on information sharing and joint incident response exercises. The first publications by the Ministry are expected to be released by the end of the year, allowing for a comparative assessment of cybersecurity effectiveness across financial market players.