For the past decade or so, the internet has been the place to make enormous sums of money for the smallest of investments. It used to be through the setting up of internet firms which promised the stars, sending the stock market a frenzy with hyped up business models and IPOs. When the IT economy began to slow down, online entrepreneurs and innovators shifted from one idea to the other, from variations of retailing to advertising to outsourcing and even to networking, each time creating hefty profits. Though the “tech bubble” had burst, the internet still created money, Big Money, in fact. And where Big Money can be made, Big Crime can be too.
One of the ideas which was successfully made into a reality was the creation of online casinos, particularly those which specialize on sports betting. The latter became very popular as bettors felt it more secure (i.e. the website operators had less control) to bet on the outcome of actual sporting events, such as the winner of the Wimbledon or the World Cup, as opposed to betting on simulated roulette machines. Another reason for the popularity is that the prices are much larger due to the volume of bets being placed on actual sporting events which have a following. As a result, online sports betting firms attracted millions of bettors and their billions of dollars of bets. Indeed, some online sports betting firms gross $2 billion in revenues a year. Considering that these firms don’t have the staggering capital and maintenance costs involved in running actual casinos, the net profits can easily run into the hundreds of millions for the biggest outfits. This, in turn, attracted the attention of criminal minds who wanted a piece of the action. Thus the cyber-mob was born.
Just as bogus start-ups cropped up by the hundreds and gobbled the “investments” of unwary pensioners and brokers alike during the days before the tech bubble burst, as early as 1999 cyber-mobs and their affiliated hacking syndicates have begun to proliferate with the prospect of earning tons of pay-offs from shakedown activities conducted on e-commerce websites, most notably the aforesaid sports betting firms. In true Mafioso style, those who don’t pony up the “blood money” get “whacked”.
The latter is an example of the continuing evolution of cybercrime, which is itself an evolution of crime (as caused by the evolution of technology). It is imperative, therefore, for anti-cybercrime law and enforcement to have its own evolution, if not revolution, in order to keep up with the times, lest the cyber-mob gives a drive-by.
posted by stanley cabrera
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Read about a particular scheme some time ago, which was being perpetuated over the internet. Trojans are sent out over email, and in the event some unwitting recipient opens the message and activates the trojan, the trojan encrypts data stored on the hard drive of the victim's computer. The files and information are still there, but inaccessible to someone who doesn't have the required password. The trojan also 'phones home' to its sender, and said sender makes contact with the victim, advising the latter that the required password is available for sale. Essentially, the information on the victim's computer is made subject to a ransom demand.
Now, not all people who fall victim to this scheme will be willing to pony up the cash required to 'purchase' the password. However, with the ability to flood systems with a legion of trojan-carrying email messages, even a few consummated 'transactions' make the scheme worthwhile. Just remember when I read this how the scheme makes creative use of software (trojans, encryption software) to be able to create online versions of offline crimes (extortion), with the added 'advantage' of being able to hit multiple targets, at the same time, in a terribly convenient (for the criminal) manner.
Post a Comment