5 Things You Didn’t Know About Cyber Crime Today
Cyber crime is a type of criminal activity committed on the web.
And it is on the rise.
Nearly three-fourths of all Americans have experienced some kind of cybercrime, according to Crime Watch magazine. Illegal activities include scam email messages, computer hacking, identity theft, fraud (“phishing”), viruses with ransom demands (ransomware), and more.
Cyber crime is a constant and growing threat to individuals, small and large companies worldwide. It threatens personal and business safety and may be affecting our freedom of choice as a nation.
The impact of cyber crime is enormous. It requires constant vigilance and dedicated resources from law enforcement. But even more important is the need for individuals and business leaders to be aware of the dangers and take precautionary steps where possible to prevent or at least deter criminal activity in their own cyberspace.
Here are some notable facts on cybercrime.
Cyber Crime Is On the Rise
Cybercrime has become a professional endeavor. Before 2015, these crimes were committed by young people with a limited amount of computer literacy and a desire for disruption and pranks.
But a growing understanding of the value of the Internet and the power of information has led to a growing legion of professional criminals. 80% of cyber crime last year was committed by organized crime.Organizations like the global mafia have established digital crime divisions.
In the UK in 2005, there were 1,700 incidents of phishing reported. Phishing is a fraudulent practice using the Internet to simulate a legal entity in order to get personal or business information. In2011, just six years later, there were over 14,000 reports of phishing.
The highest wage earning class, those aged 20 to 59, were targeted the most, reporting 83% of all incidents reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Senior citizens older than age 60 reported 14% of complaints, and people younger than age 20 reported 3%.
Internationally, cyber crime has been reported the most in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India. In the U.S., the states most affected have been California, Florida, Texas, New York, and Ohio.
According to the research at Cyber Crime Watch magazine, about 75 million scam email messages are sent every day, affecting about 2,000 people.
It’s Expensive
Estimates of the growing cost of cyber crime are frightening. The worldwide cost will reach $2 trillion by 2019, a three-fold increase from the 2015 estimate of $500 billion.
According to the World Economic Forum’s the“The Global Risks Report 2016,” reported statistics on cyber crime may be much lower than it really is. Much crime goes undetected
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) “ITRC Data Breach Report,” there were almost 900 publicized breaches of data in 2016 that exposed over 29 million records.
The average cost per breach has been estimated worldwide at $4 million and in the U.S., at $7 million.The cost per record was stolen averaged $158 worldwide, and in the U.S., $220.
According to a 2016 Osterman Research survey of 540 organizations in North America, the U.K., and Germany, almost half had experienced ransomware attacks in the last year.
The organizations most affected by cyber crime are the health care and financial services sectors. The financial impact of theft of trade secrets can range from 1 to 3% of a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). This translates to a range of $750 billion to over $2 trillion.
In 2016, the UK saw 3.8 million cases of fraud and 2 million cases of data and computer misuse.
It’s Often An Inside Job
Data is connected more and more as companies become more sophisticated. Insiders who are technically adept have the knowledge and opportunity to access sensitive data and upload it online or load it to a portable storage device and take it out of the office.
Every employee who has access to sensitive data is a security risk, even if data leakage or mishandling is accidental. Companies need to be aware of the dangers that are present with every employee who has access to important data.
In addition to company data, many companies also store sensitive customer data. This drives up the cost of any needed remediation and threatens the very existence of any company so exposed.
The most damaging and dangerous aspect of insider dealing is that they are hard to detect and hard to take a lot of time to get corrected. It can take years to detect illegal activity. Breaches can go unnoticed and damages uncontrolled for a long time.
Managing the risk is difficult because designated employees need to work with sensitive information. That is their jobs. They are privileged insiders, for better or worse.
It all comes down to the trust factor. You need to trust certain employees, and they need to value and honor that trust.
Social Media is the New Black
In previous years, the primary focus of cyber crime was email. But currently, the focus has shifted to social media where a lot of personal information is stored and vulnerable. There has been a lot of cyber crime in this area, and it keeps on growing. The statistics here are scary.
There are many examples of cyber crime in social media. For example, research is telling us that one in four users of social networking who reveal personal information are candidates for cyber crime. This includes sites like Facebook, MySpace, Friends Reunited, Twitter, Second Life, AOL, and LinkedIn.
In 2006, AOL was victim to a phishing attack that disclosed the credit card and Social Security information on 6750,000 members.
In 2012, the site LinkedIn was hacked, and its 6 million members became vulnerable to password theft. 2012 and 1013 saw two years of a Twitter takeover by an underage hacker group.
In 2016, LinkedIn was targeted again, this time with the theft of 178 million passwords.
In 2014, spending on cyber insurance, mostly in the U.S., was $1 billion. In 2016, it had grown to $2.5 billion. As insurance for cyber crime becomes more understood and implemented globally, that number will continue to spiral.
Cyber Security Struggles to Keep Up
It’s been estimated that 25% of reported cyber crimes go unsolved. The actual number of crimes is probably much higher because not all crimes are reported.
Americans, especially, are wary of cyber crime. Only 2 % believe they will never be victimized at some point. And 78 % believe cyber criminals will never be caught.
Worldwide spending to combat cyber crime will surpass $80 billion this year, although, according to the 2015 Global Cybersecurity Status Report, only 38% of surveyed organizations feel prepared to do so.
Various research studies have shown that companies are at least trying to combat cyber crime. Half the companies surveyed have reported that they do use big data analytics to model identity threats. They are also using artificial intelligence techniques to predict and prepare for fraud detection.
Business owners, executives, and IT managers are reporting that they are now focusing on some key areas of cyber security. They are adopting new safeguards for digital business models. They are using information-sharing and implementing business-critical cyber threat intelligence.
Managers are taking advantage of artificial intelligence and starting to realize the potential benefits of big data and the Internet of Things (IoT). They are also thinking globally and taking a proactive approach to prevent geopolitical threats on an international basis.
The race is on: cyber-security initiatives vs. growing cyber criminal espionage.
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