2025-07-23
Last year, Lithuanian citizens and businesses lost more than EUR 17 million to cyber scam. Attempts to extort money were twice as numerous, totalling as much as EUR 35 million*. Scammers are getting more and more sophisticated - sending false messages, posing as tax inspectors, bank employees, police officers or even relatives. And they target every one of us.
"When we talk about cybercrime, we are talking about the real loss of people's money, security and trust in public institutions. We want the actions of the responsible institutions following the National Audit Office's audit to have a real impact - to help people feel safe in the digital world," said Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.
Back in 2020, the National Audit Office noted in its audit Is cybercrime combated effectively? that the fight against cybercrime in Lithuania lacks clear direction, coordination and promptness. Investigations are stalling, prevention is uncoordinated and information is not shared between the responsible authorities. Five years after this audit, the situation in this area has changed. Following the implementation of the recommendations made by the National Audit Office, officials are receiving more training and their capacity to investigate cybercrime is being strengthened. All information on cybercrime is collected, analysed and used for strategic decisions.
One of the most significant initiatives is the ongoing development of a common national platform where all the country's key institutions will have to report cyber incidents. This platform will bring together the three main authorities responsible for public security: the Police, the National Cyber Security Centre and the State Data Protection Inspectorate. This will allow for faster identification of threats, a coordinated response to incidents and more effective inter-agency cooperation. In addition, the internal infrastructure of prisons has been modernised to prevent fraud directly from prisons.
Both of these initiatives are crucial in the fight against cyber scams, but neither has yet been fully implemented.
It should be noted that further systemic gaps remain to be addressed. There is a need to ensure that authorities cooperate on prevention by strengthening citizens' digital literacy and ability to identify cyber threats. Prevention needs to become coherent and coordinated. In addition to continued training of officials, it is essential to create a network of cooperation - a space where they can share information and successful practices.
At present, there are still no established criteria on how authorities should identify cybercrime to assess its damage. This is a necessary prerequisite if we are to move beyond declarative protection to real action.
Read more about the audit Is cybercrime combated effectively? and its results: The growing threat of cybercrime requires more attention to fight against it | National Audit Office
We also invite you to take a look at the results of the audit Ensuring cybersecurity: With the end of the European Cybersecurity Month, the National Audit Office calls for improvement of the cybersecurity assurance system | National Audit Office
* Data from the Centre of Excellence in Anti-Money Laundering