Cybercrime is the use of electronic communication for criminal activities.[1] The concept of cybercrime depends upon the purpose of the term. Cybercrime almost always encompasses acts against the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer data or systems. More broadly, the term refers to computer/content-related acts for personal or financial gain or harm.[2]

2021 Cybercrime Reports

Current trends in cybercrime revolve around how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped everyday work/home life and highlighted the importance of cyber networks in maintaining critical infrastructure.

  • INTERPOL’s ASEAN Desk identified the top cyber threats as:[3]
  1. Business Email Compromise, as a high-return investment with low cost and risk;
  2. Phishing, using COVID-19 jargon and misinformation to deceive unsuspecting victims;
  3. Ransomware, to target medical centers and public institutions, expecting a better success rate due to the pandemic;
  4. E-commerce Data Interception, undermining trust in online payment systems.
  5. Malware-as-a-Service, are reaching non-technical threat actors and requiring minimal investment;
  6. Cyberscams, because of the pandemic, more people are conducting transactions and working from home online; and
  7. Cryptojacking, as the value of cryptocurrencies increases.
  • Mandiant's M-Trends 2021 Report[4]
  1. 59% of the security incidents investigated by Mandiant last year were initially detected internally by the organizations themselves (12% better than in 2019).
  2. Ransomware has evolved and now employs various extortion tactics.
  3. FIN11, a financially motivated threat group, was responsible for widespread phishing campaigns and extortion operations.
  4. The median dwell time dropped as threat actors capitalized on pandemic-related shifts in work/home life.
  5. UNC2452, an uncategorized state-sponsored group, engaged in a broad espionage campaign after injecting a backdoor dynamic-link library (DLL) into the SolarWinds Orion process.
  6. 63% of attackers used techniques outlined in the MITRE ATT&CK framework, and 5% of intrusions used over 1/3 of MAF techniques.
  7. Threat actors exploited vulnerabilities in the infrastructure supporting work at home.

Organizations

FBI Focus Areas
Advance Fee Schemes
Business Email Compromise
Business Fraud
Charity and Disaster Fraud
Counterfeit Prescription Drugs
Credit Card Fraud
Elder Fraud
Election Crimes and Security
Fraudulent Cosmetics and “Anti-Aging” Products
Funeral and Cemetery Fraud
Health Care Fraud
Identity Theft
Illegal Sports Betting
Internet Auction Fraud
Internet Fraud
Investment Fraud
Letter of Credit Fraud
Market Manipulation (“Pump and Dump”) Fraud
Money Mules
Nigerian Letter or “419” Fraud
Online Vehicle Sale Fraud
Ponzi Schemes
Prime Bank Note Fraud
Pyramid Schemes
Ransomware
Redemption/Strawman/Bond Fraud
Reverse Mortgage Scams
Romance Scams
Sextortion

The following IGOs, NGOs, and U.S. government agencies are key opponents of global cybercrime.[5][6]

Organization Focus Areas
EC Action Against Cybercrime capacity buidling for compliance with Budapest Convention
INTERPOL transnational information sharing
ITU harmonization of technical standards
UNODC thematic reports on transnational crimes;
database of trans/national legislation and case law on cybercrime
APWG industry association combats phishing and Email Spoofing;
data standards and model response systems and protocols
Spamhaus provides real time, actionable threat intelligence to
network operators, corporations, and Cybersecurity vendors
eNASCO child safety online
INHOPE combating child pornography
IWF combating child sexual abuse
The Rand Corporation credible research
CCIPS prosecuting computer and IP crimes
ECTF investigating identify theft, network intrusions;
Business Email Compromise (BEC), and ransomware
C3 technical support for cross-border crime
IC3 cybercrime complaints




References

  1. Loader, Brian D., and Douglas Thomas, eds. Cybercrime: Security and surveillance in the information age. Routledge, 2013.
  2. Comprehensive Study on Cybercrime, UNODC, 2013
  3. INTERPOL ASEAN Desk
  4. Executive Summary, 2021 M-Trends Report
  5. International and Foreign Cyberspace Law Research Guide
  6. Common Online Scams, FBI