Türkiye detains 46 suspects linked to cybercrime Operation Siberağ-7

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has made a post on his X account saying Türkiye has conducted Operation Siberağ-7 in 24 provinces against individuals wanted for cybercrimes.

Suspects are linked to "illegal betting and the creation of an organisation for committing crimes" related to football and other sports events, Caliber.Az reports.

2️⃣4️⃣ ilde “Nitelikli Dolandırıcılık, Hırsızlık”, “Futbol ve Diğer Spor Müsabakalarında Yasa Dışı Bahis”, “Çevrim İçi Çocuk Müstehcenliği ve Tacizi” olmak üzere Siber Suçlardan arananlara yönelik yapılan “SİBERAĞ-7” operasyonlarında 4️⃣6️⃣ şahıs yakalandı❗

Aziz Milletimizin… pic.twitter.com/UuO95lSPN3

— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) September 16, 2024

“Some 46 suspects have been detained in Batman, Balıkesir, Izmir, Edirne, Isparta, Manisa, Siirt, Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, Kocaeli, Konya, Mersin, Malatya, Muğla, Nevşehir, Osmaniye, Sakarya, Sivas, and Uşak, during Operation Siberağ-7,” the statement reads.

Detainees also connected to "indecency and harassment of children online," according to a statement.

In 2023, Türkiye has become one of the most targeted regions for cybercrime globally, as reported by Kaspersky. This highlights the nation's increasing exposure to cyber threats amid ongoing digitalisation efforts by various institutions.

Phishing attacks, in particular, have surged significantly in Türkiye. The third quarter of 2023 saw a 20% increase in such attacks compared to the previous quarter, and a dramatic 47% rise from the same period in 2022. These attacks use deceptive methods to unlawfully obtain personal information, including passwords, credit card numbers, and sensitive banking details.

Additionally, Türkiye is a major target for attacks on industrial control systems (ICS), which are crucial across various sectors like energy, mining, automotive manufacturing, and building automation. These systems, which include engineers' workstations and supervisory control and data acquisition servers, are prime targets for cyber threats aiming to disrupt essential infrastructure. 

Kaspersky identified over 27 million attacks directed at Internet of Things (IoT) devices in Türkiye throughout 2022, notably targeting critical elements of smart city infrastructures, particularly electricity and water systems.