Emergence of Cyber Crime

Unfortunately, not all of you are using the Internet in a positive way. The Internet has not only allowed you to communicate around the world, it has also opened up the doors for electronic crime. The Computer Security Institute’s (CSI’s) 2002 Computer Crime and Security Survey raised the level of awareness and aided in determining the scope of cyber crime. This survey of large corporations revealed that 73 percent of the respondents detected the unauthorized use of their computer systems in the last year.

During the past few years, the most serious financial losses due to attacks have occurred through theft of proprietary information and financial fraud, according to CSI. Sixty-nine respondents in CSI’s 2002 Computer Crime and Security Survey reported a total loss of $99,019,000 in theft of proprietary information while 87 respondents reported a total loss of $88,229,000 in financial fraud. These 2002 totals were higher than the combined totals of the previous six years! The survey also confirmed that the following trends have evolved over the past few years:

• A broad spectrum of attacks has been spotted.

• Cyber attacks are hitting organizations from the inside and outside.

• Huge financial losses are reported due to cyber attacks.

• Information security technologies are not the sole solution to prevent these attacks^[3].