Spotting a Cybercriminal

When someone says “cybercriminal” the first image that pops into your mind is probably a teen / young adult male who is a wizard on the computer, but struggles to have a healthy social life.

BUT, this is just a typical stereotype! Our digital forensic experts from TCG Digital Forensics have provided some facts and stats about the average cybercriminal and how to spot them…

       ·         Over half of the world’s internet users have been the victim of cybercrime at least once.

       ·         Every single day more than 105 million people are victims to cybercrime.

Who are these cybercriminals?

Age:

43% – 35+ years old
29% – Under 25 years old
11% – 50+ years old
8% – 14 to 18 years old

Gender:

76% – MALE

Work in Groups:

25% of active cybercriminal groups have been operating for 6 months or less
50% cybercriminals have 6 or more members

Location:

North & South America – 19% of global attack traffic

Europe – 28% of global attack traffic

APAC – More than 49% of global attack traffic

Indonesia – Highest in APAC with 14%

Organised Crime:

       ·         Cybercrime has morphed into fully-fledged businesses with executives, managers and workers

       ·         Underground chat rooms, market places, hired hackers, other illegal information, etc. – all these support the cybercrime businesses

       ·         Invitation-only, help wanted portals specifically for cyber criminals, most originating from Russia.

We can’t stop cyber criminals from attempting their crimes, but we can stop them from getting our identities and precious information online! If you have the feeling that you may be the victim of a cybercrime, do not hesitate to contact us at the TCG Forensic Division on 079 691 0138 or email craig@tcgforensics.co.za

Russian Hacker Sentenced to 27 years Behind Bars!

Next time you think about learning how to hack illegally, think about this man! The 32 year old son of Russian parliament member, Valery Seleznev, was recently sentenced to spend 27 years behind bars for his cybercrimes.

The hacker’s crimes were: stealing millions of payment card details from businesses by infecting malware into their point-of-sale systems.

27 years is a long time, in fact, it is the longest ever given out in the US for hacking or computer crimes!

The son of Seleznev, Roman Seleznev, was sentenced last Friday in Washington after being found guilty of a range of crimes including; wire fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer, obtaining information from a protected computer, possession of unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft.

In the dark world of cybercrime Roman Seleznev was known for trading stolen payment card data. He would use a few aliases – Track2, 2pac or nCuX – and he succeeded in selling millions of private credit card details to criminals all over the web.

Authorities in the US say that for about four years Seleznev infected malware into more than 500 businesses, where he would then capture all their card data and transfer it to servers under his control.

When he was arrested a few years ago, the laptop that he owned had more than 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers on it!

To try and get mercy Seleznev sent a letter to the judge earlier this month. He explained how his rough childhood including his life of poverty and his parents’ divorce had affected him deeply. His mother’s death when he was just 17 sent his world spiralling out of control; he had to drop out of college and try to pay the bills.

During this tough time is when he discovered the trading of credit card data and that he could use his computer skills to hack into businesses.

After Seleznev’s strict sentencing, he made a statement of a different tone, claiming he was a political prisoner that was kidnapped by the US government.

A hacker can target anyone - even you! It can happen to anyone, so if you feel your computer or private data has been hacked do not hesitate to contact our TCG Forensic Division. Our digital forensic experts will assist you in any way you need! Call 087 001 0511/2 or email info@cellularforensics.co.za