Question

Describe the impact that digital crimes are likely to have in the future. How is the hacker community changing with the spread of the Internet? What are the reasons why cyber victimization is likely to increase or decrease in the future?

Please use as much information as possible.

Answer 1

Impacts of Digital Crimes :

Potential Economic Impact :

The 2011 Norton Cyber crime disclosed that over 74 million people in the United States were victims of cyber crime in 2010. These criminal acts resulted in $32 billion in direct financial losses. Further analysis of this growing problem found that 69 percent of adults that are online have been victims of cyber crime resulting in 1 million cyber crime victims a day. Many people have the attitude that cyber crime is a fact of doing business online!

On the Online markets:

The disruption of international financial markets could be one of the big impacts and remains a serious concern. The modern economy spans multiple countries and time zones. Such interdependence of the world's economic system means that a disruption in one region of the world will have ripple effects in other regions. Hence any disruption of these systems would send shock waves outside of the market which is the source of the problem.

Productivity:

Productivity is also at risk. Attacks from worms, viruses, etc take productive time away from the user. Machines could perform more slowly; servers might be in accessible, networks might be jammed, and so on. Such instances of attacks affect the overall productivity of the user and the organization. It has customer service impacts as well, where the external customer sees it as a negative aspect of the organization .

Impact on Consumer trust :

Since cyber-attackers intrude into others‘ space and try and break the logic of the page, the end customer visiting the concerned page will be frustrated and discouraged to use the said site on a long term basis. The site in question is termed as the fraudulent, while the criminal masterminding the hidden attack is not recognized as the root cause. This makes the customer lose confidence in the said site and in the internet and its strengths.

National Security:

National Security Modern military of most of the countries depends heavily on advanced computers. Information Warfare, or IW, including network attack, exploitation, and defense, isn't a new national security challenge, but since 9/11 it has gained some additional importance. IW appeals because it can be low-cost, highly effective and provide deniability to the attacker. It can easily spread malware, causing networks to crash and spread misinformation. Since the emphasis is more on non-information warfare, information warfare is definitely ripe for exploration

Major targets of Hacking Community(Black Hats):

Scams. When it comes to cyber crime, among the most recognizable forms involve scams. These are crimes that depend more on tricking human common sense than using sophisticated hacking. More specifically, these are crimes that involve spam, fake websites and free downloads designed to get you to freely enter your sensitive passwords, social security number and other vital information that fraudsters can use to access your bank account and other sensitive records.

Stealing credit card information. Historically, stealing credit card information was one of the most lucrative forms of cyber crime. This was because, oftentimes, people never knew that their credit card was compromised. Worse, many people who did spot an unusual online purchase on their credit card statement (often of a modest amount) tended to ignore it, deciding instead that it wasn't worth the time and hassle of reporting the loss. It's only after said unusual purchases racked up that people sought help, but by then the damage was done.

Cyber ransom. With mass credit card theft becoming less and less profitable, cyber criminals are shifting their tactics. Instead of targeting millions of low net worth individuals, they are beginning to target influential or high net worth individuals. By hacking into their computers and personal online accounts, these hackers can steal incriminating, embarrassing, expensive or classified files that they can then sell back to their owner—a cyber ransom, if you will.

Zero-day exploits. Probably the most profitable form of cybercrime is the sale of ‘zero-day' vulnerabilities—these are software bugs that have yet to be discovered by the company that produced the software. You hear about these cases in the news from time to time whenever a bug is discovered that allows hackers to gain access to any Windows computer, spy on any iPhone, or steal data from any government agency.

Future of Cyber Crimes :

Cyber-Jacking:

This could range from exploiting the plane’s flight management system (as demonstrated by researcher Hugo TesoOpens a New Window. last year), to attacking ground-based systems that the plane relies on, spoofing or interfering with air traffic control transmissions or infecting the air traffic control system with fake “ghost” planes and making real planes disappear (as discovered by researcher Brad ‘Renderman’ Haines in 2012).

Human Malware:

There’s a good chance that at some point in the near future, humans will be infected with malware. How could this happen? If you rely on a WiFi-enabled medical implant (e.g., pacemaker, cardioverter-defibrillator, insulin pump, etc.), your body could be physically harmed by a cyber attack on that device. Researchers have already demonstrated that it’s possible for a determined hacker to break into your implant and hurt or kill you .

Cyber Assault :

As networked appliances, home automation systems and wearables become more widespread, hackers will have another way to invade your life - and physically harm you. Because all of these rely on basic operating systems or firmware to work properly and are connected to the Internet, they can be remotely controlled by hackers - as has been demonstrated already by numerous researchers, including a home appliance ‘botnet’ recently discovered by one security firm. These attacks could include things like raising or lowering the thermostat, shutting off or malfunctioning appliances (like turning off the refrigerator or bypassing the temperature restriction on the water heater), causing wearables to overheat or making augmented reality glasses flicker bright blinding lights in your eyes.

Cyber Extortion :

With so much of our personal lives, work and finances tied up in online accounts, anyone who’s able to take over those accounts is in a great position to demand a ransom payment.

Car Sploiting :

Viruses are likely to become a more serious problem for our cars in the near future. As cars become more computerized, their systems (which also include Windows, Android, iOS and BlackBerry operating systems) are more vulnerable to attacks, and automotive viruses and malware are likely to spread.

Brick Attacks. When it comes to bank fraud, account takeovers and stolen credit card numbers aren’t the only thing you’ll have to worry about. What if your account was completely erased from the bank’s records?

In the “brick attack," hackers don’t just try to steal money or information--they just destroys it. They do so by infecting the computers and servers that store this data with malware that renders them completely useless, unable to be turned on again (i.e., ‘bricks’).

Identity Theft Squared :

You think it’s bad now with identity theft? Well, just wait. Right now, biometric security (e.g., fingerprint scanners, retina scans, voice prints, etc.) is limited to a few consumer devices, but once it becomes a key way to authenticate your online accounts, biometric data will become an important commodity to the criminal underground. Genetic data theft is also an increasing risk as more consumers sign up for genetic testing and their data is stored on vulnerable networks.

Mini-Power Outages :

As more homes transition to ‘smart meters,’ they could also become vulnerable to new types of criminal tampering. Two key features of today’s smart meters that could be taken advantage of by hackers are their ability to wirelessly update the firmware and remotely disconnect users. This could allow attackers to corrupt the smart meters of individual homes, running up bogus charges or causing the electrical system to malfunction, shut down or surge (frying all of your outlets and anything connected to them). They could also allow attackers to disconnect homes at will.