7 minute read
Welcome to the world’s fastest growing industry
FBI IC3 report: cybercrime cases up 69%. By Scott Nursten, CEO, ITHQ
WELCOME TO THE WORLD’S FASTEST GROWING INDUSTRY
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) reported 791,790 cybercrime cases in 2020 with direct losses of almost $4.2 billion. Many more cases are unreported or unknown - the Solarwinds breach compromised the entire supply chain and went undetected for months.
The IC3 report aims to use data to catch cyber criminals and recover stolen funds. To some degree, it is working. But cybercrime is slippery; criminals hide behind foreign IP addresses and cloaking technologies.
It’s also incredibly lucrative. With 69% growth, cybercrime is the fastest growing industry on the planet. Is your business prepared for the war that is coming?
CYBER DEFENCE SPEND VS CYBERCRIME PROFITS
Global cybersecurity spend was $153 billion in 2020 (Juniper research). Sound impressive? Cyber criminals took $2 trillion from their victims over the same period.
IBM puts the average cost of a corporate breach at $3.86 million, yet businesses are not even investing 10% of this amount in cyber defences on average.
The biggest single reported payout in the year was a wire fraud business email compromise costing $60 million. Another case cost $2 million and yet another cost $977,000. These three cases, each costing a million dollars plus, show the scale of loss is growing dramatically.
The $4.2 billion losses do not include consequential costs such as lost time, lost earnings etc. This is the amount paid directly to criminals from American companies and individuals desperate to fi x a problem they could have prevented for a fraction of that.
GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE
The IC3 report is the only one of its kind to categorise cybercrime, attack methods, direct losses and criminal patterns. It shows how crimes are escalating across the world, many with international links.
Excluding the US, the UK leads the top 20 international victim countries by a wide margin. 216,633 known attacks were UK-based. In second place, Canada is 40 times less likely to fall victim to an attack with 5,000 cases.
HOW 5% OF VICTIMS PAID 50% OF THE LOSSES
Of all reported cases, 95% (33 types of crime) mainly effect consumers and count for just over half of the losses. The remaining 5% (4 types of crime), those reported mainly by businesses, account for the other half. This means the average business paid more than $100,000 compared with the average consumer paying $5,000.
TOP 4 LOSSES TO BUSINESSES
1Business Email Compromise (BEC) 19,369 cases $1,866,642,107 lost While phishing can lead to BEC, it’s more likely that executive email accounts are hacked or spoofed, leading to identity theft and funds being diverted or converted to cryptocurrency.
2Tech support fraud 15,421 cases $146,477,709 lost Criminals usually targeting older people at home used the same tactics to gain access to corporate networks. Playing into doubts and insecurities, they pressure people into making a decision, say they’ll get in trouble if they don’t act fast. It’s powerful stuff if you’re new to remote working and get a call from ‘tech support’ saying they need your login to fi x an urgent issue. 3 Phishing 241,243 cases $54,241,075 lost Phishing aims to get onto the network, rather than directly accessing cash. Once access is gained, the real attack is carried out. IC3 received 241,243 phishing-related complaints last year, making the $54 million price tag relatively small compared with BEC for example, but phishing is often simply how they pick your lock. This means losses are often attributed to other crimes further down the line.
4Ransomware 2,474 cases $29,157,405 IC3 have added a special note to the ransomware loss rate, indicating a much higher average cost than the $12,000 indicated here. They state that adjusted losses do not include lost business, time, wages, equipment, or remediation services. Cases or losses are often unreported or made directly to the FBI, creating an artifi cially low loss rate here.
We work with a business that lost millions of pounds following a ransomware attack earlier this year. In my opinion, these losses are definitely under-accounted.
❛❛ Global cybersecurity spend was $153 billion in 2020 .Cyber criminals took $2 trillion from their victims over the same period ❜❜
WHAT DOES FUTURE CYBER RESILIENCE LOOK LIKE?
The IC3 report is incredibly useful, but it only looks backwards. Training your staff in cyber awareness is a great start but we have to prepare for advanced, layered and persistent attacks.
Criminals access your network first, fi nd out everything they can about you, stealing valuable data, maybe trying email scams. Once they’ve exhausted every avenue, they’ll encrypt everything and ransom you. After you think “phew, it’s over”, they may still sell your exfi ltrated data as well.
Layered attacks are already happening. Only the criminals know what they have planned for tomorrow, which is why strategy is so important.
Because BEC is top of the danger list, it may be tempting to race out and buy email security software. But that alone is not enough, because once email security is fixed, attackers will use something else. Then what?
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SECURING IOT WHEREVER YOU WORK
For more information, feel free to get in touch with me at transform@ithq.pro www.ithq.pro
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Without your support, children’s hospice care wouldn’t be possible. From helping families spend precious time together to supporting them through some of their toughest times, every penny you or your business raises or donates to Chestnut Tree House will make a big difference. Your support helps local children and young people with life-shortening conditions and their families across Sussex. Families just like Faith’s.
FAITH’S STORY
In 2018, Vicki went to her local hospital for her 16-week baby scan. Excited to welcome a little girl to her family of four, she was anticipating a happy day. But at the scan, Vicki received the devastating news that her baby girl had occipital encephalocele, meaning that her skull didn’t fuse so she had brain tissue and fl uid leaking out of the back of her head. The family were referred to a specialist hospital in London, who confi rmed the diagnosis. They were told that she had less than a one per cent chance of surviving and that their little girl would likely pass away during the pregnancy or at birth. The family’s bereavement midwife suggested a referral to Chestnut Tree House, so they could explore their options for end-of-life care.
Describing how she felt when she fi rst visited Chestnut Tree House Vicki said, “the word ‘hospice’ conjures up a lot of thoughts. But you walk in and there is unbelievable comfort, it instantly felt like a home away from home. I remember saying; ‘if we can get our little girl out of hospital for end-of-life care, let’s get her here as quickly as we can’. We just felt safe.”
Faith was born at London’s Kings Hospital on 16 January 2019 and despite her obvious brain exposure, she defi ed all expectations and was born breathing and healthy. “We had a five-minute cuddle and it felt like a lifetime. When you are not expecting to have a cuddle with a baby that is alive, it’s huge.”
To help with Faith’s brain exposure, she had to have a seven-hour surgical procedure at just 36 hours old.
“Faith has very complex needs; she is severely visually impaired, hearing impaired, is very delayed, has motor impairment, is tube fed and has daily seizures. No one dares to talk about Faith’s life expectancy, because she has done amazing to even get this far. We can’t live every day like it is our last, but we almost have to, because any day could be her last.”
In January 2021, Faith celebrated her second birthday, where the family chose their favourite photos from every month of Faith’s life to celebrate all the magical memories that they have created together. “At least half of our favourite memories with Faith are all because of Chestnut Tree House, either at the House or at a community event.”
When asked what life would be like without Chestnut Tree House, Vicki says, “I don’t know. It would take away a big part of Faith’s quality of life; the swimming, the sensory room, everything, we couldn’t do that without them. “If you’re thinking about fundraising for your local children’s hospice, then all I can say is thank you. Because of you, so many families like us have a lifeline. Because of you, we are not always in hospital surrounded by machines, we are somewhere that feels like home. And that is massive.”
DONATE. FUNDRAISE. GET INVOLVED.
There are so many ways that you and your business can get involved with Chestnut Tree House and support families like Faith’s. Get in touch today and make a big difference.
