Cybercriminal 🔴 Threat

A cybercriminal is an individual or group which uses technical and IT skills to carry out innovative illegal online activities. These actions may be aimed at individuals, companies or even governmentswith major economic and social consequences.

According to a study by Cybersecurity Venturesthe global cost of cybercrime will reach 10,500 billion a year by 2025against 3,000 billion in 2015. This explosion in cyber attacks shows just how pervasive the threat has become.

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🚨 The main activities of cybercriminals

Cyber attacks take many forms, each with its own specific objectives:

🛑 1. Theft of personal and financial data

🔹 Objective: Recovering sensitive information (bank card numbers, logins, passwords, medical records) to resell them on the dark web or impersonate victims.
🔹 Famous example :

• Visit 2017the American credit giant Equifax suffered a massive cyber attack exposing personal data of 147 million people.

💰 2. Extortion and ransomware

🔹 Objective: Block access to data or threaten to divulge sensitive information in exchange for a ransom.
🔹 Famous example :

• Attack by ransomware WannaCry in 2017 touched more than 300,000 computers in 150 countriesThis has brought hospitals, businesses and public services to a standstill.

🔨 3. Sabotage and destructive cyber attacks

🔹 Objective: Disrupt or destroy computer systemssometimes for the purposes of digital warfare.
🔹 Famous example :

• Visit 2010, THE malware Stuxnetattributed to the United States and Israel, sabotaged Iranian nuclear centrifuges, slowing down the country's nuclear programme.

🕵️ 4. Espionage and theft of industrial secrets

🔹 Objective: Obtaining confidential information on companies, governments or individuals for strategic or financial advantage.
🔹 Famous example :

• Visit 2020cyber spies linked to China have been accused of hacking into Moderna and other laboratories developing a vaccine against COVID-19.

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🏴‍☠️ Who are the cybercriminals?

There are several types of cybercriminalsdepending on their motivations and organisation:

1️⃣ Lone hackers

✅ Motivation : Curiosity, technical challenge, financial gains.
✅ Example:

• Kevin Mitnicka famous hacker in the 90s, infiltrated the computer networks of major companies (IBM, Nokia) for the the thrill of the challenge before being arrested in 1995.

2️⃣ The criminal groups organised

✅ Motivation : Large-scale financial profit.
✅ Example:

• REvila Russian ransomware group, attacked JBS (the world's largest meat producer) in 2021, demanding 11 million ransom.

3️⃣ Insiders (internal threats)

✅ Motivation : Revenge, financial gain.
✅ Example:

• In 2019, aAmazon Web Services stole data from 106 million Capital One customerscausing a huge scandal.

4️⃣ Hacktivists

✅ Motivation : Defending a political or social cause.
✅ Example:

• Anonymousa global collective, has carried out cyber attacks against governments and companies accused of abuse of power (e.g. attacks on PayPal after the blocking of WikiLeaks).

5️⃣ Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

✅ Motivation : Espionage, strategic sabotage.
✅ Example:

• APT29 (Cozy Bear)a group linked to Russian intelligence services, was involved in the hacking of the US Democratic Party in 2016.

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🛡 How can you protect yourself against cybercrime?

📌 1. Securing your accounts
🔹 Activate l'two-factor authentication (2FA) on all critical accounts.
🔹 Use a password manager to avoid weak passwords.

📌 2. Avoid phishing and scams
🔹 Never click on a suspicious link received by email.
🔹 Check the URL of sites before entering sensitive information.

📌 3. Protecting yourself against ransomware
🔹 Maintain regular back-ups on an external hard drive or in the cloud.
🔹 Never pay the ransom (it encourages cybercriminals).

📌 4. Updating your software
🔹 Security flaws are often corrected via regular updates.

📌 5. Raising awareness among companies and employees
🔹 Train teams in good cybersecurity practices.
🔹 Set up surveillance and intrusion detection systems.