Cyber-crime becomes more lucrative than drug-trafficking

Cyber-crime becomes more lucrative than drug-trafficking

The year 2004 saw a record $105 billion change hands in worldwide cyber-crime dealings outstripping even drug trafficking, said Valerie McNiven, cyber-crime advisor to the U.S. Treasury.

Speaking in Riyadh, where she'd gone to attend a meeting on information security in the banking sector, McNiven was of the opinon that as the use of technology proliferated, particularly in developing countries, the menace of cyber-crimes like corporate espionage, child pornography, stock manipulation, extortion, selling contraband, and piracy would only get worse.

No part of the world had remained unaffected by this scourge and as it was spreading so rapidly, law enforcement agencies had a lot of catching up to do, said McNiven.

Citing “phishing” (fraudulently acquiring sensitive information such as passwords and credit card details) as an example, she said, the web sites used by swindlers stayed online for a couple of days at the most.

That there existed a nexus between the financing of terrorism and cyber-crime could not be denied, said McNiven, adding, “But what's more important is our refusal or failure to create secure systems, we can do it but it's an issue of costs."

As third-world countries neither had systems and infrastruture in place nor regulations and controls, they made soft targets for cyber-criminals – most of whom were unemployed youngsters looking to make a fast buck, opined McNiven.

Stealing a person's identity, disrupting operations with malevolent programs and sensitive data being compromised assumed greater significance for developing countries as “... their systems start getting compromised from the get-go,” said McNiven.

Human trafficking and pornography too get a fillip from rampant cyber-crime stemming from untenable technological expansion, McNiven felt.