An effective cyber attack does not require an army; it takes just one individual. However, there is a severe shortage of skills and expertise to fight this type of crime; not only at Interpol, but in law enforcement everywhere.
These were the words of Interpol secretary-general, Ronald Noble at the 79th Interpol general assembly in Doha, Qatar, this week, who said the law enforcement will continue to be outsmarted and out-resourced by cyber criminals if no action is taken.
In the past 10 years, he said, the world has undergone a technological revolution that has made work so much easier in some ways, but, infinitely, more difficult in others, especially those in the law enforcement.
According to Noble, last year, there were an estimated 247 billion e-mails sent every day - or 36 messages for every person on the planet; 2.8 million e-mails every second. He said 80% of that global message traffic consisted of spam and viruses.
“This means the majority of stuff that hits our inbox carries potential risk of corrupting the security of our data ... of hurting our economic well-being ... of endangering our personal safety and that of our children ... of threatening our national security,” he pointed out.
He said data theft and breaches from cyber crime rob businesses of as much as $1 trillion globally in lost intellectual property income and repair costs, while worldwide, three-quarters of Internet users report having been victims of online crime at least once.
“It is no longer a case of the enemy being at the gate; he is already in our homes. He is lurking on our computers, in our e-mail accounts and, increasingly, on our mobile phones and other electronic devices,” he warned.
Cyber criminals can operate almost anywhere, he pointed out. They can steal credit-card numbers in one country and sell them on the cyber black market to the highest bidder anywhere in the world, he advised.
“It sometimes feels like we are destined to play catch-up. Terrorists and other transnational criminals have proven themselves to be extremely adaptable ... quick-thinking ... resourceful,” he said.
Noble noted that the world has to work in harmony to fight this crime, which is proving to be growing at an alarming rate. He said the most promising way to fight cyber crime is to share information with the international police organisation as well as among countries around the world.
He said the only tool that can help fight cyber crime is the Internet itself. “With its penetration, cooperation has never been stronger.”
“Today you need look no further than our Web site, where you will find amazing stories of operations resulting in hundreds of arrests. You will find out about successful operations targeting fugitives and organised crime networks spanning continents. This type of cooperation would have not been possible just a few years ago,” he also pointed out.
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