Increased access to the technical tools needed to launch cyber attacks, minimal risk of apprehension and lucrative payouts have created a perverse incentive for criminals to embrace crimes that are cyber-enabled or cyber-dependent.
The nature of cyber crimes, the motivation behind them, the targets and the actors are all evolving. The cyber underworld, once dominated by mischievous computer experts, is now attracting financial criminals, hacktivist groups driven by distinct agendas and nation-states—all of which are targeting organizations of all types, small and large alike. The motivation for hacking has gone from exposing a target’s weaknesses to exposing or stealing sensitive data and disrupting critical business processes.
At significant cost to corporations and their customers, criminals are netting millions of dollars trading personally identifiable information stolen via data breaches or hacking into corporate networks. Recent industries or sectors that have seen the greatest increase in exposure and claims include healthcare, financial institutions, retail, IT service firms, social media, payroll processors and government agencies.
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