Cybercrime 'mine island' US economy

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the cybercrime - which exists in various forms such as computer crime, identity theft and phishing island fire - has cost the economy. US 117.5 billion per year.

According to a report by the Congressional Research and Investigation Agency on July 23, cybercrime has become a threat to the US national economy and security interests.

The report was distributed through the office of Senator Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss), chairman of the Committee of the United States Department of Homeland Security, and James R. Langevin, chairman of the Subcommittee for Risks. emergency, cyber security, science and technology.

' This loss is statistically based on direct or indirect costs, including the actual amount stolen, the estimated cost of stolen intellectual property, and the cost of recovery or replacement. damaged networks and devices ', the report stated.

The damage has not been reported

America still has to "give up" to cybercrime.Photo: UScourts .

According to the report's author, David A. Powner - the director of GAO's management of IT problems, it is ironic that the damage caused by cybercrime is often far beyond the convention. count.

He replied to TechNewsWorld reporter: ' Even if the organizations have issued any reports, most have not reflected the reality because they were too frustrated with the reporting of losses '.

He stressed that reporting the right issue remains a major challenge in the fight against cybercrime. ' There are many companies that do not want to make reports for many reasons. One of them is because they do not want to give information that is detrimental to them, which can affect their stock price and the position of competitors '.

Control issues

Mr. Powner added: ' There are many types of cybercrime that have not been discovered. So you encounter one but two problems. Some companies are considering whether to make a report or conceal information about crime '.

Jeff Bedser, President and Chief Operating Officer of Internet Crimes Group - a cybercrime consulting and consulting company in Princeton, New Jersy state - said: ' When something bad happens with a job They want to control the situation on their own rather than let government inspectors check their assets . "

" Usually, companies just want to solve the problem internally and continue their business. If there is government involvement, the investigation time will be longer, and the consistency is too much. The communication between FBI and the company makes them reluctant to give up control . '

Training personnel

Mr. Bedser continues to explain that companies often think they have better staff than the government to solve cybercrime issues.

' The private sector has more specialized knowledge. Therefore, it will be easier for the company to set up a professional team to solve all these problems. They can delve into the situation, determine what happened, solve it and keep the company's business faster and more efficient than calling the criminal inspector asking them to investigate. problem ', he said.

GAO's report acknowledges that certain personnel policies in state laws may hinder the fight against cybercrime.

' The staff rotation policy at law enforcement agencies may hinder them from maintaining their analytical capacity and expertise to support their own law enforcement . '

The amount is insignificant

From a business point of view, Bedser argues that once security issues are resolved internally, reporting to government agencies is a confusing act.

He said that companies often think like this: 'If we have solved the problem, the business will continue to work well, but if we report to the government, we must stop working. and must undergo another investigation, this will disrupt the business. '

He asserted that this was common during the past decade and that that thought has not changed in this decade.

He added that some companies are willing to pay a fee for losses that cyber criminals charge as a business fee rather than an accident requiring external intervention. For example, some banks may suffer losses due to phishing scams of about $ 1 million a month, and that is just a small number compared to the amount of money they handle during that time.

Losing trust in customers

Ron O'Brien, Sophos' security expert in Burlington (Massachusetts), claims that cybercrime has reduced consumer confidence in e-commerce.

Speaking on TechNewsWorld, he said: ' Consumers increasingly demand high security for the Internet because it is considered as a method of online shopping, paying online, including contacting other people currently. must take risks '.

Mr. Thompson said: ' Talking about cyberspace, we have two groups that need to be protected: the public and the private sector. To lead the private sector, national security agencies need to control their networks . "

Mr. Langevin said: ' I encourage all companies from small to large to pay close attention to their network security. Although absolute security is impossible, there are many policies and procedures that companies can enforce to better protect their data . '

Nguyen Nam