London, 12 May 2003 - More than sixty percent of the world's cybercrime
originates in the US, with hacking and fraud at the top of the offences, the
ICC's annual Cybercrime Review has found.
The review, produced by ICC's Cybercrime Unit provides detailed analysis of the
major cybercrime events from January 2002 through to March 2003.
Steven Matz, a senior analyst with the CCU said hacking continues to pose the
most significant security risk to both financial insitutions and individual
investors, with most of it originating in the USA.
"Our review found that 63% of last year's reported computer-related crime
originates in the United States, but our case studies from countries like Japan,
New Zealand, and Romania are further indication that cybercrime knows no
borders," he said.
"Reported acts of computer fraud continue to appear in a wide variety of forms.
These range from blatant extortion and "get rich quick" schemes, to attacks by
disgruntled employees."
CCU is the cybercrime prevention unit of ICC: the world business organization.
Hacking, fraud, identity theft and other security concerns are regularly
reported to the CCU's London-based global reporting centre for computer-related
crime. Reported activities are compiled, analyzed and then shared confidentially
with ICC members.
According to Matz, the high incidence of cybercrime in the US has much to do
with the fact that similar crimes often go unreported in other parts of the
world.
"It seems odd that a vastly populated area like the Far East only represents 10%
of the total reported events," he said. "Many areas are reluctant to report any
form of computer-related crime. We would like to see increased reporting from
regions other than the United States."
Surveying the policing of computer-related crime is another key component of the
CCU's recent study.
Analyzing the reported arrests of the past year the CCU found that at 34% the
'General Hacking' category had the highest percentage of arrests. In contrast,
the 'Current Employees Seeking Financial Gain' category only represented 3%.
Matz notes: "Fraud and theft by employees is often dealt with internally to
avoid public humiliation or loss of consumer confidence. That may explain the
lower arrest level, however we are still advising organizations to be diligent
in their monitoring of internal fraud."
A detailed analysis of the past year's significant events in computer-related
crime, the Cybercrime Review categorizes and quantifies a broad range of
reported criminal activity. For more information, or to order you copy please
contact Steven Matz at ICC Commercial Crime Services by calling + 44 (0)20 8 591
3000, or e-mailing ccs@icc-ccs.org.uk.
