My oh my! It seems as if the cyber criminals are really racking up the money...and lots of it. Estimates are that the U.S loses about $3.2 billion annually to phishing alone (see my newsletter on the topic). Thus, phishers have come a long way since the first known use of phishing in 1996. In addition, fraud that's based on spam brought in a whopping $43 billion last year.
Interestingly enough, cyber criminals are everywhere. Just recently, the Australian Federal Police said that a majority of its cyber crime incidents were driven by Russian organized crime. Go figure! Perhaps most illuminating was when asked about the contributors to cyber crime, Australian officials indicated that Australians weren't changing their passwords or updating the anti-virus software that can help to protect their computers from hackers who work for these organizations.
When I grew up the mention of organized crime invoked images of Al Pacino in the blockbuster The Godfather. I dare say that the lives of everyone I knew were far removed from the dangers that played out on the screen. So it's incredible that today so many law-abiding citizens, by not doing our part to protect our computers, just might be (unknowingly) aiding and abetting such organizations.
This just goes to show us that computer security is everyone's business. Computer security professionals who take on the responsibility to protect our systems need everyone's help. Frequently changing our passwords and not sharing them and making sure that we have the latest anti-virus software installed can go far in helping the good guys. Given today's cyber threats, we all must do our part to protect our computers and try in every way possible to thwart the efforts of the bad guys.
