Most fraud and financial crime today is conducted over the internet. Photo: Stephen Clar
Cyberfraud: the black hats outnumber the white hats
Cyberfraud and cybertheft tend to be under-detected and underpunished in most countries, including Australia, but it is estimated the amount being stolen from corporations worldwide at present totals about $4.9 trillion a year – or close to 5 per cent of global GDP (Australia’s GDP in 2015 was $1.62 trillion).
Most fraud and financial crime today is conducted over the internet, which has made it much easier to conduct, cost-free for phishers, less risky for perpetrators, and far more lucrative.
While we are familiar with the daily fraud threat in the form of “419” emails from scammers saying “Your Account Payout $2,815.48 is Pending” or asking us to click on a link so they can download malware, the big money is in targeting corporations. Financial institutions are a prime target but often do not publicly acknowledge losses unless they are too large to hide.
Read Cyberfraud: the black hats outnumber the white hats by Clive Williams, published in The Canberra Times.
