The Latest on Cyber Related Fraud
Last year almost 6 million cyber fraud crimes were committed, the most common being bank and credit card fraud. We are more likely to be a victim of cyber fraud than of any other crime, with 1 in 10 people defrauded last year. The unique thing about cyber fraud is that it affects people of any age, background and situation – anytime someone access the internet via a smartphone, computer, tablet or device they are at risk of fraud. What also makes cyber fraud unique is that the criminals may be attacking you from anywhere in the world!
Earlier this year Britain’s biggest ever cyber fraud criminal was convicted after stealing over £113 million from various banks. He defrauded 750 business customers of Lloyds, RBS and other banks after tricking them into revealing their account details by claiming they had been hacked. He also tampered with the victim’s phone lines meaning victims couldn’t receive calls from their bank whilst the attack was happening. The mastermind of this massive fraud has now been jailed for 11 years!
So with cybercrime such a threat what are the latest trends that you need to know about?
Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware which blocks access to a computer system until the victim complies with the demand of the criminal. Ransomware can encrypt the victim’s files, lock their system and freeze the victim out with a message demanding payment to return access. Ransomware attacks are becoming more advanced and are now being perpetrated against businesses and organisations as well as against individuals.
Payment Fraud
EMV (chip and PIN), geo-blocking and other industry measures continue to help prevent card-related fraud but contactless cards are now under attack by crime syndicates. Another threat is malware attacks directly against ATMs meaning any card type is at risk when used at an affected cash point.
3. Secure Backup
You should have a secure offsite backup of your data. In the case of your data being held to ransom you can retain access by ensuring you have a workable back up plan i.e. that data is stored elsewhere in an accessible format such as on the cloud.
The criminal use of data
Data remains a key commodity for cyber-criminals. Most commonly criminals hack into systems to extract data and then hold organisations to ransom for its return. The news recently reported various attacks of this nature on the NHS. However, data is also increasingly being used to commit more complex fraud as well.
Crime-as-a-Service
The digital underground is underpinned by a growing Crime-as-a-Service model which connects specialist providers of cybercrime tools and services with growing numbers of criminals and criminal gangs. The potential of this service to grow is massive and more and more criminals are likely to start accessing this type of crime-as-a-service facility.
Recently the UK Metropolitan Police have published the first edition of the Little Book of Cyber Scams. The book has been created to help businesses take the necessary steps to defend themselves and their customers against cyber criminals and to dramatically reduce the chances of becoming a victim. You can pick up a copy and more information by contacting the FALCON team at [email protected].
