The internet now connects almost 5 billion people to one another, and that number is growing by more than half of a million per day.
With a community this size, its unsurprising there are a few bad apples out there.
In Australia, if you become a victim of a cybercrime, it will cost you on average, $655 and only $89 of that is ever recovered or reimbursed.
When a business is the victim of cybercrime, costs increase to an average of $8,899 for small businesses, and $33,442 for medium businesses.
When a business does incur these costs, 86% of the time its due to human error, and the cyber criminals are aware. They actively target employees as a means of circumventing IT security.
As well as the direct costs, cybercrime causes a lot of hassle as well. Individuals may need to seek police assistance, with fraud and identity theft investigations often taking many weeks or months to conclude. They may also lose access to accounts for extended periods or have to cancel and renew credit cards.
Businesses can suffer reputational damage, extended outages which lead to lost sales and productivity as well as lost customers and breached contracts.
Overall, cybercrime is something you need to care about to keep your workplace, family and self as safe as possible.
The most important thing you can do is take 10 minutes to consider and understand the training we provide. Each month we give you the key information you need to know for one important topic.
It’s also important to understand what to do if you see something that doesn’t look right. In the workplace you should contact the IT department, but you should also consider who might be able to help if you see something on your personal devices.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do cybercriminals actually make money out of me?
Cybercriminals are always inventing new ways to extract money and value from their intended victims, but some of the common ways are:
Draining bank accounts - using social tricks or fake demands, they will try to gain access to victim’s bank accounts and initiate transfers to their own bank accounts
Stealing Credit Card numbers - By using fake websites or hijacking legitimate websites, they will steal credit card information to make fraudulent purchases
Stealing ID documents to apply for credit - By gaining access to your ID, they can apply for credit cards and other credit facilities to make purchases in your name
Encrypting data and ransoming it back - They will often lock or steal personal and sensitive data, then request a ransom payment from you in order to return it
Using access to your computer to mine crypto currency - If they can gain access to your computer without you knowing, they will often use it to create crypto currency at the expense of your electricity bill
Using access to your computer to launch other attacks - Your computer could also be used to launch further attacks against other targets
Reselling Identity, Credit Cards and Accounts/Passwords on the black market - there is now a large black market for the buying and selling for information between cybercriminals
Are Cybercriminals actually targeting me?
Unlikely. Due to the size of the online community, most cybercrime does not target a specific individual. From emails sent to millions of people, to robo calls from the 'ATO' which scroll through a list of numbers to fake websites set up to trick any users that visits, cybercrime is usually started in a scatter gun style. That said, if you are unlucky enough to respond to the phishing email, stay on the robo call or buy something from the fake website, you can bet the cybercriminals will focus on you and the information you have given them.
