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Thankfully, most terror organizations lack the technical savvy and resources to pull off major cyber attacks.
Terrorists: The threat of terrorism increased significantly in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. “Hacktivists” tend to be more interested in embarrassing companies or publicizing damning evidence of some sort and are usually not interested in robbing their targets of money or assets. Hacktivists: Some groups of cyber criminals are driven by a particular political or social agenda. This is affirmed by tech writer Steve Ranger in his article, “Cybercrime and Cyberwar: A Spotter’s Guide to the Groups That Are Out to Get You.”Įxactly what is organized cyber crime’s threat to governments, banks and other large corporations? A good place to start is with the various types of cyber criminal organizations and their exploitation techniques, as identified by Ranger. Just like in traditional organized crime, cyber criminals tend to associate with criminal leaders who have the ideas, influence and contacts to pull off complex, far-reaching scams and hacks.Ĭyber crime bosses like these are only becoming more proficient in their illegal activities. These are just a few of the many cyber crime examples. Another significant cyber crime occurred in May, when health insurance company Magellan announced that a syndicate of hackers had stolen hundreds of thousands of patient logins, along with personal financial information. For example, the cellphone carrier T-Mobile announced that many of its users’ personal information had been breached due to coordinated phishing and phone scams. The year 2020 also saw a number of organized cyber crimes unrelated to the pandemic. Many of these attacks have emanated from cyber crime organizations. Many scammers and fraudsters have taken advantage of the highly fluid uncertain nature of the pandemic, along with the public’s desire for information, by sending out fake COVID-19 updates, often with malware attached. Just over the past year, there has been a significant spike in cyber crime, which many experts attribute to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organized Cyber Crime ExamplesĪccording to a report in Bank Info Security, cyber crime organizations continue to adapt, finding new ways to exploit personal user data or sensitive business files.
In the internet age, well-trained security experts with a master’s degree in cyber security can help capture (and defend against) organized cyber crime syndicates. In the days of Al Capone’s mafia, Eliot Ness’s band of untouchable law enforcement officers brought organized crime to justice. Organized cyber crime groups may be small or large, loosely affiliated or well-defined some groups are almost corporate in nature, with established leadership and various members filling specific functional roles. These cyber crime organizations are groups of hackers, programmers and other tech bandits who combine their skills and resources to commit major crimes that might not otherwise be possible. Cyber crime is so popular (and potentially profitable) that well-organized networks of cyber criminals work in collaboration to pull off massive heists over the internet.