Cybercrime is rampant, are you part of the problem?

With the newest prediction that cybercrime will net $1 trillion (that's $1,000,000,000,000.00) PA in 2021, most people still cannot see we have a problem.  

To most people, cybercrime is not a problem.  

I have been called a scare monger, these stats show that no level of scaremongering is going to resolve the problem or show it for what it is.  A frigging big problem!

To some, These are just statistics that can be manipulated where needed.   Hopefully it is a wake up call!

Our attitudes have to change when it comes to digital systems.  When it comes to cybercrime!   When it comes to personal and business security in the digital world!

We are no longer allowed to say we have nothing worth stealing.   Everyone, everyone that has or uses a digital device - yes you reading this article - everyone, is a target of digital crime.   

To the digital criminal any information is important.    Any information combined with other information becomes more important information!   

The more information they have the easier it is for them to get more information. That information can them be used in so many different ways!

Business have to stop saying we are too small to be a target, it will never happen to me and the cyber criminal is stupid.   

How can a bored 14 year old know more about the digital world than me.  

Most of them do know more about our systems than the users.   Users see what is on the screen and what is typed by the keyboard and clicking of the mouse.   Very few people understand what happens under the hood.

They do not start out as criminals, but they have three things going for them.   They are hacking to learn.   Learning about systems, vulnerabilities and more importantly,  learning about the digital world.   They learn how it all works.   Already they are ahead of 95% of standard users.

Time is on their side.    Time to find out how to hack.   I have seen someone spend 24 hours straight getting a system to work.   The payoff is the knowledge.   They use that knowledge and information to get more and more knowledge and information.  To hone their craft.

They talk.   They communicate with each other through Skype, chat rooms and other online forums.   "I have got this far, what am i doing wrong to get it to work properly" is a question we see regularly.   This question and many like it will get hundreds if not thousands of responses.

They want to learn, some because it is there, some to be famous, some just to know they can do it.   Of the hundreds of millions of wanna be hackers there are just as many reasons to do it.   There is no single reason.   The internet allows them to do that.

They have the passion, they have the drive, they have the understanding and they are developing their knowledge.  This alone makes them dangerous.

I highlight the lack of understanding in my lectures.    "I didn't know they could do that!" is usually the response i get, followed by "it's that easy?"

Yes they can do that and yes it is that easy.   

To protect ourselves we need to educate ourselves.   We have to become paranoid.   We have to use common sense.   

We have to increase awareness, awareness that the bad guys are out there and we are the targets.