[BreachExchange] Europol identifies eight main cybercrime trends

[Inga Goddijn]

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2016/09/28/europol-cybercrime-trends/

The volume, scope and material cost of cybercrime all remain on an upward
trend and have reached very high levels. Some EU Member States now report
that the recording of cybercrime offences may have surpassed those
associated with traditional crimes.

An expansion both in the number of cybercriminal actors and opportunities
to engage in highly profitable illegal activities has partly fuelled this
trend, as has the development of new cybercrime tools in areas such as ATM
fraud and mobile malware. However, a large part of the problem relates to
poor digital security standards and practice by businesses and individuals.

A significant proportion of cybercrime activity still involves the
continuous recycling of relatively old techniques, security solutions for
which are available but not widely adopted.

“The relentless growth of cybercrime remains a real and significant threat
to our collective security in Europe. Europol is concerned about how an
expanding cybercriminal community has been able to further exploit our
increasing dependence on technology and the Internet,” said Europol’s
Director Rob Wainwright.

“We have also seen a marked shift in cyber-facilitated activities relating
to trafficking in human beings, terrorism and other threats. In response
law enforcement authorities have increased their skill-sets and their
capability to work together in platforms such as the European Cybercrime
Centre at Europol, but the growing misuse of legitimate anonymity and
encryption services for illegal purposes remain a serious impediment to the
detection, investigation and prosecution of criminals,” Wainwright
concluded.

The Head of the European Cybercrime Centre, Steven Wilson said: “2016 has
seen the further evolution of established cybercrime trends. The threat
from ransomware has continued to grow and has now expanded into sectors
such as healthcare. Europol has also seen the development of malware
targeting the ATM network, impacting cash services worldwide. Online child
sexual abuse continues to be a very high priority for all countries, with
international cooperation established as a significant part of the strategy
to protect children and identify victims. However there are many positives
to be taken from this year’s report. Partnerships between industry and law
enforcement have improved significantly, leading to the disruption or
arrest of many major cybercriminal syndicates and high-profile individuals
associated with child abuse, cyber intrusions and payment card fraud, and
to innovative new prevention programmes such as the no more ransom
campaign.”
Eight cybercrime trends from Europol’s 2016 Internet Organised Crime Threat
Assessment (IOCTA)

*Crime-as-a-Service* – The digital underground is underpinned by a growing
Crime-as-a-Service model that interconnects specialist providers of
cybercrime tools and services with an increasing number of organised crime
groups. Terrorist actors clearly have the potential to access this sector
in the future.

*Ransomware* – Ransomware and banking Trojans remain the top malware
threats, a trend unlikely to change for the foreseeable future.

*The criminal use of data* – Data remains a key commodity for
cyber-criminals. It is procured for immediate financial gain in many cases
but, increasingly, also acquired to commit more complex fraud, encrypted
for ransom, or used directly for extortion.

*Payment fraud* – EMV (chip and PIN), geo-blocking and other industry
measures continue to erode card-present fraud within the EU, but logical
and malware attacks directly against ATMs continue to evolve and
proliferate. Organised crime groups are starting to manipulate or
compromise payments involving contactless (NFC) cards.

*Online child sexual abuse* – The use of end-to-end encrypted platforms for
sharing media, coupled with the use of largely anonymous payment systems,
has facilitated an escalation in the live streaming of child abuse

*Abuse of the Darknet* – The Darknet continues to enable criminals involved
in a range of illicit activities, such as the exchange of child sexual
exploitation material. The extent to which extremist groups currently use
cyber techniques to conduct attacks are limited, but the availability of
cybercrime tools and services, and illicit commodities such as firearms on
the Darknet, provides opportunity for this to change.

*Social engineering* – An increase of phishing aimed at high value targets
has been registered by enforcement private sector authorities. CEO fraud, a
refined variant of spear phishing, has become a key threat.

*Virtual currencies* – Bitcoin remains the currency of choice for the
payment for criminal products and services in the digital underground
economy and the Darknet. Bitcoin has also become the standard payment
solution for extortion payments.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.riskbasedsecurity.com/pipermail/breachexchange/attachments/20160928/c136e344/attachment.html>