Introduction
1. We live in a world where terms like "Cyber
crime" no longer belong in the realm of science fiction.
Modern devices such as smart phones and tablets have brought the
internet not only to our fingertips but to our bedsides, our pockets
and to our children. And yet there is strong evidence that access
to such technology, with all its opportunities and benefits, can
put our businesses and our families at increasing risk of exploitation
and internet-based crime (E-crime).
2. Identity theft, industrial espionage, credit card
fraud, phishing, child exploitation - criminals use the internet
as a means to commit a wide range of crimes. Perpetrators range
from lone hackers, activist groups, Nation States sponsoring industrial
espionage and organised criminal gangs. Victims include individuals
who fall prey to scams and password theft to multinational companies
such as, famously Sony. The financial details of 23,000 users
of Sony Online Entertainment were stolen when its networks were
breached by hackers in March 2011. The cost of the clean-up was
reportedly $172m and the events caused a 9 % share price drop.
3. The internet has also been used to great effect
by criminals to trade their cyber wares. Investigators have uncovered
sophisticated black market operations such as DarkMarket and ShadowCrew
who use the internet to trade cloned credit card data and bank
account details, hire botnets (infected networks of computers)
and deliver hacking tutorials. Although difficulties in establishing
precise figures about the rate and the cost of cyber crime are
acknowledged there is general agreement on its rapidly growing
scale. Norton have calculated its global cost to be $388bn dollars
a year in terms of financial losses and time lost. This is significantly
more than the combined annual value of $288bn of the global black
market trade in heroin, cocaine and marijuana.
4. UK governments have had a centralised approach
to cyber crime and wider cyber threats since the launch of the
UK's first Cyber Security Strategy in June 2009 and the corresponding
National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) launched in November
2011. In the course of this inquiry we have looked specifically
at the Home Office's remit under its much heralded Cyber Security
Strategy.
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