SAFEGUARDING ECONOMIC STABILITY IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Ayubov Rakhmatullo Ravshanbek ugli

Authors

Ayubov Rakhmatullo Ravshanbek ugli Leading Speacialist, Institute of Macroeconomics and Regional Studies under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan, r.ayubov@imrs.uz, +998902222388

Abstract

Cyberattacks are increasingly affecting Uzbekistan’s economic growth by causing direct financial losses, disrupting digital services, and raising operational costs for organizations. By the end of 2025, the typology of recorded cyber offences expanded from 18 to 62 categories, with growing incidents of personal data theft, AI-enabled impersonation (deepfakes), and malware distribution. In Tashkent alone, reported cases exceeded 16,000 and losses approached UZS 2 trillion, while the clearance rate remained below 8%. This paper discusses how AI-driven threats and ransomware-as-a-service may intensify economic risks in 2026 and argues that reducing national cyber losses requires faster detection and response. It proposes establishing an AI-based Analysis and Monitoring Unit within UZCERT to continuously analyze telemetry and automate early containment actions.

References

1. NIST, “SP 800-137: Information Security Continuous Monitoring (ISCM) for Federal Information Systems and Organizations.” https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/137/final

2. MITRE, “MITRE ATT&CK®.” https://attack.mitre.org/

3. UK NCSC, “NCSC Annual Review 2025.”

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/ncsc-annual-review-2025.pdf

4. CISA, “Federal Government Cybersecurity Incident and Vulnerability Response Playbooks.”

https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-08/Federal_Government_Cybersecurity_Incident_and_Vulnerability_Response_Playbooks_508C.pdf