Last Updated on February 26, 2020 by SCARS Editorial Team

SCARSSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS.™ Insight: CybercrimeCybercrime Cybercrime is a crime related to technology, computers, and the Internet. Typical cybercrime are performed by a computer against a computer, or by a hacker using software to attack computers or networks. Is Big Business! A Continuing Series – Part 1

Source: DataQuest

What Drives The Business Of Cybercrime?

Easy access to consumer data, numerous avenues to attack, technology-driven sophisticated tools, and of course the prospect of making easy money continues to fuel the growth of cybercrime

Every day, you get a spam email or message urging you to click a link to update your bank details or run the risk of the account getting closed. Every day, you get messages promising you a fortune left behind by someone who has no inheritor. Every other day, you also get advice from your bank not to fall for such messages, as currently, these are some of the common forms of cybercrime designed to rob you of your hard-earned money and personal details.

Why Such A Spurt In Malicious Cybercrime Activities?

The reason behind a prolific rise in cyber crimes is not hard to guess. Cybercriminals engage in malicious activity for financial gain—at the expense of businesses and consumers. As much as it may appear hard to believe, it is every bit true that cybercriminals make ‘business profits’ now (2019) worth $3.5 trillion a year. According to one study, if cybercriminals were to be a country, it would in the top 30 GDP in the world.

The Drivers Of Cybercrime:

In this digital age, when humans are practically living their lives online, they are also the most vulnerable to digital exploitation. Some of the key drivers of cybercrime include:

• Easy access to data:
  As more and more people shop online and engage in numerous online services—music, games, movies, social media, and so on—they are sharing personal details while signing up, logging in or making payments. As a result, there is so much personal data strewn all over the internet that it has become a child’s play to collate all of this data and exploit it at whim. That is why there is a spurt in the incidents of data breaches, as cybercriminals can supplement their databases of verified customer details and use all of the data for identity fraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim. and many other crimes.
• Ability to make money quickly:
  While some cybercriminals engage in criminalCriminal A criminal is any person who through a decision or act engages in a crime. This can be complicated, as many people break laws unknowingly, however, in our context, it is a person who makes a decision to engage in unlawful acts or to place themselves with others who do this. A criminal always has the ability to decide not to break the law, or if they initially engage in crime to stop doing it, but instead continues. activities just to prove their might, more often than not the motive is financial gain. They can make easy money just by selling off the collated data on the dark webDark Web This is a sub-level of the internet that normal search engines and everyday browsers cannot access. It’s an encrypted network that contains websites – both legal and illegal – that remain hidden from plain sight. or anyone who may be interested—yes, even competing businesses. Digitization and online commerce have opened up a horizon of opportunities and avenues for monetary exploitation.