The mobile sector is emerging as a “new frontier for fraud irresistible to criminals,” according to Cisco’s latest cybersecurity report.
Cisco claims that text message scams have escalated in frequency since the start of 2009, with at least two or three new campaigns surfacing each week and warn that with 4.1 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, “a criminal may cast an extraordinarily wide net and still walk away with a nice profit, even if the attack yields only a small fraction of victims.”
The Cisco® 2009 Midyear Security Report, also raises the alarm on disgruntled current or ex-employees affected by the global recession.
“Insider threats are an increasing concern for businesses in the months ahead. Insiders who commit fraud can be contractors or other third parties as well as current and former employees,” said Patrick Peterson, Cisco fellow and chief security researcher
Above all the Cisco report found that digital fraudsters had evolved into highly sophisticated cyber criminals.
“What is striking in our latest findings is how, in addition to using their technical skills to cast a wide net and avoid detection, these criminals are also demonstrating some strong business acumen. They are collaborating with each other, preying on individuals' greatest fears and interests, and increasingly making use of legitimate Internet tools like search engines and the software-as-a-service mode,” Peterson said .
He added that businesses need to adopt ever more advanced ways to fight cybercrime and remain vigilant across all attack vectors as cyber criminals become faster at identifying weaknesses both in online networks and in consumers' psyches.