Modern methods of detecting and discovering crimes committed with the use digital technologies

Introduction: the article is devoted to the study of modern methods for detecting and solving crimes committed using digital technologies, the analysis of the problems arising in connection with this in the practice of the operational units of the internal affairs bodies. The authors note that modern digital technologies, in addition to economic advantages, have predetermined the emergence of new types of crimes, the activation of the processes of improving criminals’ ways of hiding their traces. This largely requires a change in the approaches of law enforcement agencies to the organization of operational-investigative and criminal procedural activities, which have radically changed not only the objects of search, acquisition, collection, analysis and use of information of operational interest and evidentiary value in criminal cases, but also a change approaches to the use of “traditional” methods of operational-search activity. The study analyzed the concepts of digital crimes, carried out their classification. In addition, the article updates the features of organizational, tactical and methodological support for the activities of operational officers to identify and solve crimes committed using digital technologies. Based on the results of the study, measures of a legal, organizational and tactical nature were proposed that contribute to increasing the efficiency of solving problems in the implementation of operational-search activities. Materials and methods: The basis of the study is the Constitution of the Russian Federation, criminal, criminal-procedural and operational-investigative legislation, departmenttal regulatory legal acts regulating the issues of operational-investigative counteraction to crimes committed using digital technologies. The methodological basis of the study was the general dialectical method of scientific knowledge, as well as cognitive methods of generalization, description, methods of observation, comparison and analysis. The results of the study: the lack of comprehensive evidence-based methods for detecting and solving crimes committed using digital technologies, as well as existing gaps in domestic legislation, impede an increase in the level of detection of these crimes and a reduction in the time for investigating criminal cases of this category. Findings and Conclusions: there is an objective need to conduct comprehensive expert research aimed at solving problems related to organizational, tactical and methodological support for the activities of operational and investigative units of internal affairs bodies. The creation and testing of modern methods require: the use of advanced domestic and international experience in combating cybercrime; the widespread introduction of highly efficient hardware and software systems for the study of digital traces of a crime; improving the operational-search legislation in the field of expanding the possibilities of using in the operational-search activities the institution of assistance to citizens who have special knowledge and are able to effectively obtain information of operational interest in the digital environment.