Cybercrime
Cybersecurity Europe Insights Intelligence

Thales Report Reveals Risks of Organised Cybercrime

For the 2020 edition of Les Assises de la Sécurité, Thales has unveiled its analysis and conclusions when it comes to cybercrime and organised cybercrime, a super-powerful network with a large number of hackers groups. Interactions and permanent movements unite organised cybercrime and bring it to life.

By interacting as a network of cybercrime groups, cybercriminals are able to function increasingly effectively with more significant damage and one same goal: the constant quest to improve their reputation and grow their financial and technical resources. Each group specialises in a particular area, and the different groups collaborate to benefit from each other’s expertise. It is this specialisation that makes cybercriminals more effective, allowing them to concentrate on a given type of attack, while drawing on know-how from within the network to enhance performance and maximise impact. These specificities also make it very difficult to deeply understand cybercrime and develop appropriate tools; which is the reason why Thales’ experts intend to bring light to this fast-evolving phenomenon.

Various groups of the most technically adept cyber attackers, with highly sophisticated compromise strategies and substantial financial resources, head this well-established organisation. These are the “Big Game Hunters”, whose tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) and technical infrastructure are similar to certain state-sponsored hacking groups. They attack specific targets, such as political institutions and major companies, using ransomware to demand large sums.

With revenues estimated up to $1.5 trillion a year – meaning 1.5 times more income (as an annual average) than counterfeiting, and 2.8 times more than the illegal drugs trade – cybersecurity expert alert on cybercrime, stating it is one the most dangerous threats today for companies, organisations and institutions. Surprisingly, 60% of these huge revenues come from illegal online markets, 30% from theft of intellectual property and trade secrets and only 0.07% from ransomware which however do the most damage.

To achieve their objectives, cybercriminals use a combination of technical expertise and the panic that they sow in companies and institutions. Panic can have a devastating impact in terms of the consequences of an attack. It is vital not to give in to threats or blackmail. Organisations and companies which are the target or victim of an attack should contact the competent authorities immediately, rather than pay a ransom straight away, file a complaint, put the servers on “hibernate” mode, leave the systems not-yet started off and block the use of any device or hardware.

Author

  • Polly is a journalist, content creator and general opinion holder from North Wales. She has written for a number of publications, usually hovering around the topics of fintech, tech, lifestyle and body positivity.

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