The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), via its Telegram channel “Cyberpolice Bulletin of Russia,” has urged Russian citizens to either delete sensitive data from their mobile devices or move it to secure storage to protect against cybercriminals.
Special caution should be exercised with photos and scans of personal documents, including passports, SNILS (individual лицевой счет, equivalent to a personal account number), TIN (taxpayer identification number), driver`s licenses, and bank cards. The MIA advises storing these document images in secure cloud services that utilize two-factor authentication to ensure their safety.
Experts also recommend against storing passwords for various services in phone notes or sending them to oneself via messengers. It is advisable to use password managers, store such information offline, or create a backup of chats containing sensitive data and then delete them from the device.
Furthermore, the MIA urged users to regularly clear message histories from banking applications to prevent fraudsters from exploiting this information in their schemes. It is also recommended to remove work-related documents and intimate photos from the gallery. The statement emphasizes that “a leak of such images could lead to blackmail or extortion attempts. The safest option is to move them to password-protected cloud folders or delete them entirely.”
Finally, law enforcement officials advise deleting unnecessary contacts from the address book and backing up important ones securely. The MIA also recommends against adding personal details as notes within contact cards, explaining that malicious actors could use this information for criminal activities.
Clement Ashworth 
Barnaby Whitfield