FX.co ★ Real cells for cybercriminals

Every year cybercriminals add significantly to the world economy's losses. Last year they made up a whopping figure of $27 billion dollars. Statistics show that the losses grew by 1.5 times compared with the year of 2011 when they clocked in at $12.5 million. Experts say it is only a beginning; and the sums are going to increase. The majority admitted that current cyber security measures are too elementary and cannot prevent such incidents. Russian hackers hustled illegal operations for $2.5 million; among the most desirable aims are the public and financial sectors where the malefactors are into industrial espionage and embezzlement. According to the data of Group-IB company, in 2013 eight cybercriminal groups stood out; the groups were focused on the thefts from legal entities by taking an advantage of the gaps in the system of online banking. Three groups ceased to exist: two of them switched to foreign banks; and one broke up after the leader's arrest. Besides, thefts from the accounts of individuals that often use mobile banking applications have swelled. In 2013, in total, the criminals made $426 million on swindling in the internet banking system of Russia and the CIS, on cashing in monetary assets and on e-money manipulations. Experts' forecasts are distressing, attacks on banks and financial organizations are going only to multiply. Special threat to individuals is posed by infected POS terminals and mobile devices. Phishing activity on users' PC, on the contrary, is going to decrease due to the small efficiency of the system used by the swindlers.