Norton: Cybercrime Has Become a $4.6B Industry in Australia
As humans assimilate gadgets into their daily lives, threats of online crimes rise, warns Internet security specialist Symantec, which estimates that cybercrime cost Australia a staggering $4.6 billion in 2010 alone.
That figure, which Symantec provided to The Sydney Morning Herald, represents entities' direct financial losses, which amounted to $1.8 billion, and efforts to resolve the crime, which the security firm said totalled to $2.8 billion.
In comparison, local police records showed estimates of $1.4 billion and $2.2 billion for assault and burglary costs respectively, indicating that efficient and modern operations of cyber criminals have managed to exceed the gains enjoyed by traditional felons.
Norton, the anti-virus arm of Symantec, also revealed that as many as 70 percent of adult Australians have been victimized by online crimes, with up to 8 percent of them preyed upon while conducting transactions through their mobile handsets.
Globally, the cybercrime phenomenon has seen the loss of more than $388 billion, according to a Norton study that reviewed reports of online crimes in 24 countries, making the emerging social menace more costly than the combined onslaughts of syndicates peddling illegal drugs.
"Ten per cent of us have already experienced mobile device-related cybercrime. That's cybercrime on our [mobile] phones, tablets and other devices we carry with us as we go about our business," Norton's Marian Merritt told SMH as she noted that many victims opted not to report, so actual losses are much higher.
And there is no way to go but up unless potent security measures are practised by people who are gradually conducting most of their business activities aided by their gadgets with direct online access.
"We are going to walk up to buy coffee and use our mobile device to make that financial transaction. We are going to check our bank balance and we are going to make purchases. ... This is what's coming in the future, and we need it to be safe. This is truly a phenomenon we need to take note of," Merritt said.
To prevent cybercrimes, the most common form of which are virus infection of PCs, credit card fraud and breach of social media accounts, Merritt advocates proactive security measures that would bolster users' online protection whether they use their wired computers or surf wirelessly in their smartphones and tablets.
For PC users, Norton suggests that anti-virus protection is a must; many can be purchased or downloaded free and are updated regularly.
As for smartphone owners, using hard-to-crack password on their gadgets raise their chance of securing their data in event of loss or theft, Merritt said, while some experts recommend remote data-erasing apps for maximum protection.
