CYBERCRIME IN THE BUSINESS WORLD 1

CYBERCRIME IN BUSINESS

D.C. Washington

DeVry University

BUSN-420: Professor Levin

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CYBERCRIME IN THE BUSINESS WORLD 1

It is important to know that Cybercrime is big business in America and throughout the world. Inasmuch as a statistical breakdown shows us this, we can extrapolate that there will remain that are enamored of it. If the “business of America is business” [as Calvin Coolidge so famously said], then, surely we should make it a part of our business regimen to guard against this plaque that so easily affects our daily means to do commerce using so vital a tool as the internet. The sad statistics are palpable and the Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS] give the following:

In 2005, among 7,818 businesses –

67% detected at least one cybercrime. Nearly 60% detected one or more types of cyber attack. 11% detected cyber theft. 24% detected other computer security incidents. Most businesses did not report cyber attacks to law enforcement authorities. The majority of victimized businesses (86%) detected multiple incidents, with half of

these (43%) detecting 10 or more incidents during the year. Approximately 68% of the victims of cyber theft sustained monetary loss of $10,000 or

more. By comparison, 34% of the businesses detecting cyber attacks and 31% of businesses detecting other computer security incidents lost more than $10,000.

System downtime lasted between 1 and 24 hours for half of the businesses and more than 24 hours for a third of businesses detecting cyber attacks or other computer security incidents.

Of course, these were from 8 years ago and gleaned using the NCSS [National Computer Security Survey] documentation that pertains solely to the United States. As our firm does some of its’ business abroad, take note that this is not an American phenomenon so much as it is the result of a human condition. It is ubiquitous. To illustrate this, note the following:

and understand that our 23% of the pie comes from our lack of preparedness in large measure. This Primer – it is hoped – will proactively deter this.

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CYBERCRIME IN THE BUSINESS WORLD 1

Furthermore, FBI statistics indicate that cyber crime statistics show that it is on the rise as can be show here:

This would serve to illustrate that issues stemming from merchandising payments and outright fraud involving File Scams are to be avoided [and, thus, deserve our focus]. It is critical that we think outside of the box that most of us are in by reason of our not being criminal. Many of the people who do this, do it for a living, are skilled programmers and/or practitioners skilled at evading detection simply because of ineffective measures being taken to combat this ongoing issue. The evidence is overwhelming that cyber crime merits our full attention. A December [2014] survey by the Ponemon Institute [which informs concerning data security issues] showed “that nearly half of IT security professionals & experts view cyberthieves as their biggest concern…”

We can do no less. The survey found 92% of respondents suffering some type of cyberattack and the FTC [Federal Trade Commission] reports that in 2007 there were some 221,226 internet-related fraud complaints. Of course, we rely to some degree on our online payments so organized cybercrime via the internet affects us as well.

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CYBERCRIME IN THE BUSINESS WORLD 1

Moreover, we should and must be adaptive as well as proactive as the dark hackers in cyberspace surely are. As illustrated above, our major points of focus should be:

non-delivery of merchandise or non-payment for items sold

FBI-related scams [via emails, text-based phishing schemes etc.]

identity theft

computer-targeting

advance fee fraud

spam

auction fraud

credit card and overpayment fraud.

When, for instance, we routinely send out eBooks and emailings to select customers concerning sales, markdowns and the like, we need to proactively envision the cyber-criminal salivating at the opportunity that this routine measure could afford him. Phishing, mock advertisements, duplicate emails filled with viruses and software Trojans could be there tools to pry into our business clientele. To counter this, we need to implement the state-of-the-art software suite of tools that are available to the business sector to provide tracking and combative measures to detect and stop such efforts.

Referenda:

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/

www.how2becomeanfbiagent.com

http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=41

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096525900970057X

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/feds_ready_to_tackle_cybercrime/

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