Individual and Organisational Cybercrime Awareness – Don’t Be a Victim

Every 10 minutes, cybercriminals are preying on Australian businesses and individuals

Every 10 minutes, cybercriminals are preying on Australian businesses and individuals, leaving some people tens of thousands of dollars worse off. There have been more than 13,500 reports of cybercrime to the ACSC in the past three months with the most commonly reported cybercrimes involve romance and bank scams.  The actual figure is thought to be even larger, because the data is based on victims self-reporting with many romance scam victims being too embarrassed to report.

Romance scams involve a criminal building an online relationship with a person over several months before convincing them to transfer money for medical treatment or necessary goods. Bank scams in this case refer to when a person is sent a text or email that appears to be from their bank, requesting login details to fix a problem. If the person obliges, it allows the cybercriminal access to the account so they can steal money. Identity related offences were the second most common type of cybercrime reported: where a criminal opens a bank account in someone else's name. A recent survey by the ACSC found people lost $700 on average to cybercrime, and two thirds of those victims were aged between 25 and 34 years.

Emails being compromised is one of the top issues facing businesses online. This is when a criminal hacks into a corporate email account and pretends to be a legitimate employee and sends an email to another employee who might be in the finance department whose usual business is to make online transfers or online payments and trick them into making an online payment to the criminal.

Ransomware is also a large problem for many organisations. This is when criminals stop your business from being able to run by seizing up your computer system and making you pay a large sum of money to get your computer system running again. It is estimated that cyber security incidents cost Australian businesses up to $29 billion every year.

Some businesses simply have higher risk due to the nature of their work. Examples include construction businesses, entertainment venues, industries that deal with vulnerable persons and any other business that may attract adverse behaviour from those with opposing ideologies - such as RSL clubs, places of worship and sporting organisations.

Barringtons security risk management and assessment team has decades of experience working with clients of all shapes and sizes across a broad range of industries. Their arsenal of Risk Assessment Management Services includes Cyber Security Risk Assessments and Cyber Penetration Testing and they are able to provide a quick turnaround on any enquires and develop valuable solutions in addition to reporting on any weaknesses in an organisation.

To get in touch or find out more click here.

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-07/cyber-crime-how-to-help-protect-yourself/11577930