{"id":598,"date":"2013-04-24T16:29:35","date_gmt":"2013-04-24T16:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/?p=598"},"modified":"2013-04-24T16:29:35","modified_gmt":"2013-04-24T16:29:35","slug":"why-cybercrime-is-still-big-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/why-cybercrime-is-still-big-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Why cybercrime is still big business"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dreamstime.com\/register?jump_to=http:\/\/www.dreamstime.com\/royalty-free-stock-photos-criminal-laundering-dirty-money-image22656618\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Criminal Laundering Dirty Money Royalty Free Stock Photos - Image: 22656618\" alt=\"Criminal Laundering Dirty Money Royalty Free Stock Photos - Image: 22656618\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dreamstime.com\/criminal-laundering-dirty-money-thumb22656618.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"273\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>\u00a9 <a title=\"Elnur\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dreamstime.com\/elnur_info\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"author\"><strong>Elnur<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Our security client <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fortinet.com\/\">Fortinet<\/a> asked us to compose<\/strong> a bylined thought-leadership piece on why cybercrime continues to be big business. \u00a0Appearing in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ciocentral\/2013\/02\/01\/why-cybercrime-remains-big-business-and-how-to-stop-it\/\"><b>Forbes <\/b><\/a>, the article takes an unflinching look at why cybercrime is growing in \u00a0magnitude and sophistication. \u00a0The two driving factors are the consumerization of crimeware and the adoption of best business practices by crime syndicates worldwide.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Perhaps most alarming is the fact<\/strong> that crime syndicates are using an \u201centerprise-class\u201d approach to growing their business. \u00a0The structure of these syndicates, in many respects, mirrors the hierarchies of big organizations right down to the executive suite, middle management and the rank and file.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When you couple the growing organizational sophistication of crime syndicates<\/strong> with the explosion in cloud computing, social networking, BYOD and mobile communications, cybercriminals have an unprecedented smorgasbord of attack vectors to choose from.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And like most well managed for-profit enterprises,<\/strong> crime syndicates maintain extensive R&amp;D organizations. \u00a0Custom-order code to produce private botnets, fake anti-virus software and previously unseen deployment systems are just a handful of new schemes being developed in off-the-grid labs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But the similarities syndicates share with the corporate world don\u2019t end there.<\/strong> \u00a0Taking a page out of <b>Wall Street<\/b>, crime syndicates are actively engaging in mergers and acquisitions to grow their botnets through the use of another organization\u2019s best practices.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Blurring the lines of best practices even further,<\/strong> we\u2019re now seeing creative profit-sharing flair as crime syndicates grow sophisticated, pay-per-click\/install\/purchase affiliate programs. \u00a0Up and coming cybercriminal affiliates are now being rewarded on a performance-based pay scale.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So what\u2019s to be done about all of this?<\/strong> \u00a0Clearly, working groups and task forces are essential to stem the tide. \u00a0But despite some high profile take-downs, these efforts are a drop in the bucket.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The bottom line is that global participation is a necessity.<\/strong> \u00a0International bodies that can mediate disputes and dispatch resources to share information about cybercrime trends are mandatory. \u00a0In addition, the Achilles heel of cybercrime needs to be attacked \u2014 and that means going after the cash flow. \u00a0Affiliate programs need to be targeted because they\u2019re the cash cows that pay out commissions and rewards to the \u201cinfantry\u201d that carry out malicious attacks. \u00a0Dry up the well and the rest of food chain withers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Of course, there is no practical substitute<\/strong> for implementing a highly layered security strategy, assessing potential security flaws on a regular basis, and educating users about security best practices while having incident response plans and enforceable policy mechanisms in place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you think?<\/strong> Can cybercrime ever be contained? What needs to happen to enable a lower incidence of \u201cincidents\u201d? What can the private and public sectors do, separately and in tandem, to make it harder for bad guys to ply their trade?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a9 Elnur &nbsp; Our security client Fortinet asked us to compose a bylined thought-leadership piece on why cybercrime continues to be big business. \u00a0Appearing in Forbes , the article takes an unflinching look at why cybercrime is growing in \u00a0magnitude and sophistication. \u00a0The two driving factors are the consumerization of crimeware and the adoption of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,157],"tags":[79,32,158,128,41],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clients","category-it-security","tag-peter-dave","tag-stan-devaughn","tag-thought-leadership-writing","tag-write-angle-technology-writing-services","tag-writing-collaboration"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - 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