Unit 2: Cybercrime Overview

Unit 2: Cybercrime

• Cybercrime is criminal activity targeting or using computers, networks, or devices.
• Most cybercrimes are committed for financial gain.
• Some cybercriminals are organized and highly skilled, while others are novice hackers.
• Cybercrime can damage computers for reasons other than profit, such as political or personal motivations.

Types of Cybercrime

• Email and internet fraud: Stealing personal information.
• Identity fraud: Stealing and using personal information.
• Theft of financial or card payment data: Stealing financial information.
• Theft and sale of corporate data: Stealing and selling company data.
• Cyberextortion: Demanding money to prevent a threatened attack.
• Ransomware attacks: Holding data hostage to obtain a ransom.
• Cryptojacking: Using computer resources to mine cryptocurrencies.
• Cyber espionage: Hackers gaining access to government or company data.

Malware Attacks

• Malware attacks involve infecting computer systems or networks with viruses or other malware.
• Compromised computers can be used for various criminal purposes, including stealing data, conducting other criminal activities, or causing damage.
• The WannaCry ransomware attack was a globally significant malware attack in May 2017, impacting 230,000 computers across 150 countries and causing estimated $4 billion in losses.

Denial-of-Service Attacks

• A denial-of-service attack (DoS) stops users from accessing a machine or network, or prevents a business from providing services to its customers.
• A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a DoS attack using compromised computers.

Phishing

• Phishing is a cybercrime tactic using email, telephone, or text messages that tricks individuals into providing sensitive information.
• Phishing campaigns aim to undermine security of the organizations individuals work for.
• Some sophisticated phishing schemes can bypass traditional security measures such as email gateways.

Main Attack Vectors

• Attack surface includes network devices (infrastructure, apps, endpoints, IoT).
• Attack vectors are the methods attackers use to exploit system vulnerabilities
• compromised credentials, malware, weak and stolen credentials, malicious insiders, mis-configurations, ransomware, and phishing.

Security Breaches

• Security breaches involve unauthorized access to sensitive data, impacting brand, customers, and assets
• DDoS, Bitcoin Mining are other examples of security breaches.
• Data breaches are the most common type of security breach.

SOC/CERT/CSIRT

• SOC (security operations center) manages and analyzes security incidents.
• CSIRT (computer security incident response team) is responsible for responding to incidents and deploying appropriate responses.
• Several companies outsource their SOC functions to security providers.

Classified Cyber threats and cybercrimes

• Websites and resources provide information about classifying cyber threats categories.