Global coop can combat cyber crime

The internet has undoubtedly revolutionized the way we live and think. Most importantly, it has transformed the communication and information technologies, ease of doing business, education and advanced them to an unprecedented level of excellence and performance. Having said this, the very instrumental tool that has been the powerful driver of global economic growth is now being used by cybercriminals and hackers to undo the gains made so far.
It is a grim scenario in which forces of progress face racketeers and terrorists who manipulate the communication and information technologies to reverse the gains for their narrow interests. Unfortunately, the quick flow of information technology has become the Achilles heel of the internet as it gives rise to industrialisation of a type of cybercrime that the world has to grapple with.
The unprecedented scale of the problem threatens the ability of the authorities to respond – with (according to one estimate) more than 150,000 viruses and other types of malicious code in global circulation, and 148,000 computers compromised per day.
It is a real challenge out there. Tech savvy hackers can now steal personal and financial data to gain access to existing bank accounts and credit cards, or to fraudulently establish new lines of credit. This drives a range of criminal activities, including phishing, pharming, malware distribution and the hacking of corporate databases, and is supported by a fully-fledged infrastructure of malicious code writers, specialist web hosts and individuals able to lease networks of many thousands of compromised computers to carry out automated attacks.
While the value of the cybercriminal economy as a whole is not yet known, the most recent estimate of global corporate losses alone stands at approximately €750 billion annually.
In February, Bangladesh’s central bank fell victim to an $81 million heist. Hackers used the Swift network to access the bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and transfer funds to accounts in the Philippines, from which they vanished. Similar breaches have happened at banks in Vietnam and Ecuador, and possibly elsewhere.
The security problem rests with the banks, not with the messaging system they use. Cyber criminals exploit weaknesses in the systems used for swift connect.
To address these loopholes, real solution must come from banks. They should allocate resources to hire highly-qualified IT experts to protect them. The banks in developing nations, which are unable to defend themselves against such cyber-attacks, could seek some assistance from the developed world.
The issue is global in nature as the world is connected with the internet. So it is a global challenge to stop hackers and take the ware to their hideouts to disrupt the infrastructure of malicious code writers and specialist web hosts through the active identification of developer groups.
This could happen through concerted regional and international cooperation. Governments and the ICT industry should coordinate to dismantle so-called “bullet proof” hosting companies active in the cybercrime. Proceeds collected through cybercrime should be tracked down through collabouration with the financial sector top deny hackers benefiting from these illicit funds.
All institutions should continue to develop an insight into the behaviour of the contemporary cybercriminal by means of intelligence analysis, criminological research and profiling techniques, and based on the combined law enforcement, IT security industry and academic sources, in order to deploy existing resources more effectively.
This could be done through centralised coordination at regional and interregional levels, to streamline the fight against cybercrime. Further, the establishment of virtual taskforces to target hackers could be an effective tool to tighten grip on the cybercrime.
Not only do they create havoc in the banking system, hackers have successfully defaced websites and launched denial-of-service attacks, which disabled access to numerous networks and systems, and leaked sensitive and private information collected from targeted organizations. The war should be taken to illusive hideouts of these thugs who are dead set to ruin the banking system.