The newly-enacted Kansas state budget will significantly strengthen the capacity of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to fight cybercrimes, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and KBI Director Kirk Thompson said in a press release yesterday.

Next year's budget includes $1 million in dedicated funding for specially-trained personnel to focus on computer-based crimes and other cybercrimes against Kansans. The KBI will be able to assign six new agents, an agent supervisor, and a crime analyst to a new unit dedicated to responding against major cyber threats in the state.

Losses reported by victims of cybercrimes in Kansas have grown to more than $17 million in 2018 from $3.9 million in 2015, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center annual report, which tracks reports from victims of Internet crimes.