By Kevin Coleman -- Defense Tech Cyberwarfare correspondent.
Cyber crime is now main stream and has been for several years. One report stated that the U.S. government expects to spend $13.3 billion by 2015 to defend against cyber crime. Everyone from individuals to international corporations like Sony, Citigroup and even Google have fallen victim to criminals operating in cyber space. Some believe cyber crime is not on the rise it just seems that way due to increased media attention; they are partially right. A Google search on cyber crime resulted in 10.4 million web results. This off-the-cuff metric clearly shows the magnitude of this issue.
Some expert sources believe that organized crime is behind a significant portion of cyber crime, while others say the recent increase in cyber crime is driven more by the poor economy. Either way, cyber crime is now an underground economy that is estimated at $100 Billion (annually) worldwide. Particularly troubling is that cyber crime funds terrorism. When al Qaeda’s Chief Cyber Terrorist was taken into custody in his London loft, investigators found he had the data for over 30,000 credit card accounts. Further investigation found that he was using the stolen card data to fund his operations.
The solution to address this problem is like the one needed in cyber warfare; a public-private partnership. Such partnerships may now be forming. Just last week, a group comprised of private sector and industry organizations, called the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance (ICSPA), announced its intention to work with governments to fight cyber crime. We can only hope this trend continues.
FACT: Brazil is said to be at the top of the victim list. It is estimated that 83 percent of the Brazilian population have been a victim of an Internet crime.
