What is Cybercrime?
Cybercrime is the umbrella term for criminal activity that involves a computer, network or another set of digital devices. It encompasses a wide range of offenses, including hacking, ransomware attacks, malware and identity theft.
Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, but they still rely on a few key principles to achieve their objectives. The most damaging attacks target human trust and exploit vulnerabilities in existing security technologies to gain access to sensitive data. To combat these threats, firms need to implement robust security systems, backed by advanced tools and technologies, and an effective incident response plan.
Whether they target small businesses, multinational enterprises or critical infrastructure, cyberattacks can have severe consequences for the organizations targeted. They can result in the loss of customer confidence and revenue, the unauthorized release of private information or the erosion of public trust in government agencies. They can also stall business operations and damage productivity.
The nature of cyberattacks requires a new way of thinking about cybersecurity. The Internet is a planet-spanning network, offering criminals multiple hiding places in real and virtual spaces. Transaction-based crimes, such as fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, and money laundering take advantage of the relative anonymity and speed of online transactions.
Other cyberattacks leverage the weaknesses and pitfalls of Internet-based shopping technologies, such as artificial or fabricated online stores and fake seller accounts, to generate significant financial losses for consumers and eCommerce merchants alike. They can also include attribution fraud, where criminals impersonate the activities of real users (clicks, conversations) to display fraudulent ads; domain spoofing; video placement abuse; and the use of hijacked or malware-infected devices in a botnet.