Cyber crime is a $6 trillion a year industry
Last week's WannaCrypt attack infected over 200,000 devices and is estimated to have made its perpetrators $72,000.
Increasingly scammers and criminals are seeing the internet as a means of making financial returns. Cyber crime has become a serious business and no business or information is safe from attack.
Uncovering the cost and profitability of DDoS attacks
DDoS attacks are a popular cyber criminal technique, used either to cause a distraction for a different crime or demand a ransom for calling off or not launching an attack.
New research from Kaspersky Lab reveals how profitable this activity can be. Researchers studied the DDoS services on offer on the black market and looked at how far the illegal business has advanced, as well as the extent of its popularity and profitability.
Sleeper accounts wait for at least a week before launching cyber attacks
Sleeper cell accounts which appear normal and hide among normal users, waiting for long periods of time to age the account before striking, are the latest technique being used by cyber attackers.
These accounts are often used for testing or carrying out the attack in stages, according to fraud and financial crime detection service DataVisor.
How criminals use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
It has become common practice for attackers to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to link tools together so that they can be run in parallel when conducting an attack.
Attackers use AI and ML to take the results from one tool and then allow the other tools to "learn" about the finding and use it against other systems. As an example, if a one tool finds a password, that tool can feed the information to another tool or bot that may conduct the exploitation of one or many systems using the discovered password.
Cyber attacks fall in volume but grow in sophistication
Cyber criminals are employing more sophisticated techniques in their attacks, including the use of 'false flagging' to disguise their true source.
This is one of the findings of the latest threat intelligence report from NTT Security, on a positive note though it records a 35 percent decrease in the number of attacks in the final quarter of 2016.
Cyber criminals develop service to protect themselves from scammers
Cyber crime is a competitive business, particularly for those who buy and sell their dubious services via online marketplaces.
But that competition can lead to the scammers being scammed. So called 'rippers' seek to defraud other criminals by selling dumps of fake social media credentials or invalid credit card details, or taking money without delivering the promised goods.
Free online test can tell if you're 'pre-disposed' to negative or bad behavior
In the 2002 movie Minority Report, a law enforcement squad called "Precrime" arrests future criminals before they commit their act. Imagine if businesses could predict the future behavior of potential employees before hiring (or not hiring) them? That’s what Veris Benchmarks’ products aim to achieve.
The company also offers Veris Prime, is a free online test that you can take for yourself, and which measures your personal trustworthiness and shows how your results compare to white collar criminals.
North American businesses suffer twice as many cyber attacks
A new report from Kaspersky Lab finds that businesses in North America are significantly less protected against cyberattacks compared to those worldwide.
According to the study 20 percent of global enterprises suffered four or more data breaches in the past year, while 44 percent of North American businesses suffered a similar number of attacks.
UK economy loses almost £11 billion to cyber crime each year
The UK economy lost £10.9 billion as a result of online fraud and cyber crime last year, according to new research, which works out at about £210 for every person aged over 16 in the country.
The figures come from a survey by Get Safe Online and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and reveal that 68 percent of people in the UK have been targeted in some way by cyber crime.
TalkTalk fined £400,000 for security breach
UK ISP TalkTalk hit the headlines last year for a data breach that resulted in the theft of personal data relating to over 150,000 customers.
Today the Information Commissioner's Office announced that it has issued the company with a record £400,000 (around $510,000) fine for what it called a failure to implement basic security measures.
New study by Kaspersky shows computer risks to those over 55
It's probably no great secret that today's older generation has a flock of followers online that they largely do not want, who are trying to con them out of their money. Trying to take advantage of this generation is nothing new. In the past it was done door to door with scams such as "roofers" and "driveway repairmen".
Security company Kaspersky has done a study of internet users aged 55 and older and the results, while unsurprising, aren't particularly good.
How to manage a cyber attack
Given the rising frequency of increasingly malicious and innovative cyber-attacks organizations have to be prepared and proactive. It is no longer a question of if but when your organization will have to deal with a cyber-attack. The cost of a cybersecurity breach is significant -- in terms of money, business disruption and reputation. Depending on the magnitude of the attack, a cyber incident can potentially put you out of business.
According to UK government research, two-thirds of UK big businesses have been hit by a cyber-attack in the past year. UK telecoms group TalkTalk suffered a high profile attack in October 2015 when hackers stole personal data from customers. According to TalkTalk, the cyber-attack it suffered wiped £15 million off trading revenue as well as forcing it to book exceptional costs of £40m - £45m, and losing it up to 101,000 customers.
Cyber-attacks costing the UK economy £147 billion a year
Apparently, 1.8 million of UK’s businesses have been victims of a cyber-attack, and that costs the country’s economy more than £147 billion, in the last year alone. This is according to a new report by Gareth Bacon, GLA Conservative London Assembly, entitled Safe & Secure: Protecting London’s data.
Pretty much all businesses affected by these security breaches -- 99 percent of them -- are small businesses, counting 249 employees, or less. With that in mind, the report proposes a Mayoral Standard for data security, helping London consumers and businesses protect themselves from cyber-attacks.
UK law firms will be able to profit from pursuing cyber criminals
A pilot scheme from the City of London police means that private law firms will be able to profit from the pursuit of suspected cyber criminals. Rather than handling cases of online crime themselves, police will instead pass details on to private agents.
These firms will then able to use civil -- rather than criminal -- courts to seize the profits of cybercrime. It is thought that police forces are spending too much time and money fighting online crime, and that private agencies might be better equipped to deal with the problem.
New subscription service offers flexible threat intelligence
Depending on their size and the sector they operate in, businesses need to respond to threats of different types and require intelligence to suit.
Endpoint protection specialist CrowdStrike is launching a tiered eCrime subscription that will allow customers to choose the option that best meets their needs to gain new capabilities and insights into the entire eCrime adversary ecosystem, and orchestrate detection and response options in a more effective manner.
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