In the first 11 months of this year, the number of cyber attacks registered by Croatia's interior ministry increased by 10 percent, Interior Minister, Davor Bozinovic, said at a information security conference on Tuesday.

“Danger of cyber threats is constantly growing, given that criminals are researching new techniques and procedures for increasingly advanced attacks on critical infrastructure, companies and citizens,” state news platform Hina cited Bozinovic as saying.

He added that “the virtual space, especially in the last two decades, has become the most powerful medium for spreading radical and extremist ideologies, but also for those who seek to realize their political beliefs through non-democratic methods.”

“An additional aggravating circumstance in the rise of cyber-crime is the war in Ukraine, which, in addition to conventional methods, also includes hybrid warfare,” said Bozinovic.

Although cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure of EU member countries have been increasing over the past few years, there was a significant jump in this type of threats this year, after Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.

“The share of cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure increased from 20 to 40 percent. This jump was largely a consequence of Russia’s attempts to damage Ukrainian infrastructure and its aggressive attempts to spy on countries who are helping Ukraine,” Bozinovic said.