How to Prevent Cyber-Crimes

Erik Wennerström, the Director-General, National Council for Crime Prevention, Stockholm, Sweden participates in “Risk Roundup with Jayshree Pandya” to discuss “How to Prevent Cyber-Crime”. Erik heads the National Council for Crime Prevention, Stockholm, Sweden, a government agency serving as a Center for Research, Development and Statistics within the Judicial System. He is the former Chairman of Government Inquiry on Cyber Security and has a background with the Swedish Ministry for Justice, the European Commission and the Folke Bernadotte Academy of Sweden. He is an experienced lawyer, legal scholar, civil servant and former diplomat. He has served as a member of several international and national expert committees and investigations, within the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union. He holds board positions in several research, legal and criminological entities and is an author of several publications on the rule of law, political and legal risk assessments, cybercrime, and cyber security.   Introduction Cyber-crime has now surpassed illegal drug trafficking as a criminal profitable idea and innovation. With millions of cyber-attacks happening annually, cyber-crime is a real threat to anyone using computers, smartphones, tablets, internet of things and other gadgets on the internet. The growing number of attacks means that there are over thousands of cyber-attacks happening every day, hundreds of attacks every hour, and nearly few attacks every minute. Moreover, either somebody’s identity is stolen every few seconds, or someone’s confidential data is stolen, or someone falls prey to financial loss as a result of cybercrime. Individually and collectively, these growing cyber-crimes are becoming a cause of great concern. Each individual and entity across nations: its government, industries, organizations and academia (NGIOA) use the computer, internet and cyberspace every day. From accessing social media, to shop, bank, book travel, listen, watch or read news, most tasks are now being done in cyberspace using the internet. Thinking and believing that connected computers and cyberspace is safe and secure at this point, will be the existential threat to our lives and safety and security of our nations. As a result, cybercrime is a rapidly evolving threat to each individual and every entity across nations: its government, industries, organizations and academia (NGIOA). No longer is cyber-crime a dark phenomenon limited to just few opportunists from across nations. Cyber criminals are serious professionals and the “cybercrime industry” operates exactly as legitimate businesses on a global scale. From financial crime and corporate espionage to cyber bullying and cyber terrorism, the cyberspace has become a safe haven for all manner of criminal activity. What perhaps began as an intellectual exercise by some hackers, has now evolved into a criminal industry that includes not only elite coders but also business savvy front men, who has made this industry a very profitable one. While there are technically savvy bot herders, who control botnets there are also “cashing out” finance and business specialists, a support staff, and marketing and sales people. Cybercriminals have over the years become increasingly professional and operates their criminal organization just like any other successful business. Gone are the days when the old hacking ethical code mattered as the call for profit has taken over. The threat posed by cybercrime is getting bigger than ever, and it’s growing exponentially. When the most successful criminals are those that are able to hide behind the anonymity that the cyberspace offers, and individuals are far more likely to be victimized in cyberspace than in geospace, it is a cause of concern to each one of us across nations.