“In the field of cybercrime, a trajectory of increasing threat was noted, namely when motivated by the growing professionalisation of highly organised transnational cybercrime and committed to extortionist activities or digital fraud”, says the statement.

The document also highlights “the effective worsening of international cybercrime operations against the Portuguese digital fabric, with consequences of increasing public visibility and with a disruptive potential for social or economic dynamics, namely in the context of ransomware operations” (harmful software used to block data from computers and servers through the use of some type of encryption).

Cyberespionage

Regarding cyberespionage against Portuguese targets, the report indicates that there has been “continuity in the occurrence of cyberattacks that aimed to compromise public and private targets, as well as entities with strategic relevance”.

According to RASI, it is a “persistent threat with the possibility of development in terms of the sophistication, volume and disruptive consequences of these actions”.