As a society, we have become all too familiar with the impact of fraud and cybercrime. Barely a week now passes without news of another tranche of consumer data being stolen, or fraud scams targeting unsuspecting consumers – more so since the start of the pandemic, as opportunistic fraudsters take advantage of the chaos. Personal data is now a valuable commodity and there are many bad actors out there eager to get their hands on it. The situation has become so critical, that in January this year, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) declared the global fraud epidemic as a ‘national security threat’.
No individual or organisation is safe from the unwanted attention of fraudsters – consumers, businesses, governments, the NHS, even the security services tasked with protecting us are all targeted by criminals keen to exploit every possible vulnerability for their nefarious gain. Meanwhile, the vast array of technology – phones, watches, tablets and others – that enhance our day-to-day lives with impressive levels of connectivity and convenience, also expose us to additional vulnerabilities, providing criminals with a rich landscape of potential access points through which they can seek out targets. Almost as diverse as our vulnerabilities, are the skills, technology and motivations of the criminals themselves. Remaining vigilant at all times, in all online transactions, has never been more important.
But there is a silver lining, and again, technology is the catalyst. Increasingly, organisations committed to protecting themselves and their customers against the threat of cybercrime and fraud attacks realise they must be armed with the latest data and analytics tools that leverage powerful linking technology to find patterns that can reveal the bad actors. In a tech-driven world, we must fight fire with fire, utilising the most accurate, current insights in order to target anti-fraud efforts most effectively.
Steve Elliot – Managing Director LexisNexis® Risk Solutions (UK & Ireland)
I have long been a fan of the LexisNexis® Risk Solutions Cybercrime Report, and this edition doesn’t disappoint! With the relentless pace of technology innovation, increasing digitalisation has been our reality for the past few years. Even so, in 2020 digitalisation took on a life of its own. Who knew that a global pandemic would come along to accelerate the trend by a number of years, in a matter of months? Our new normal is one where businesses have struggled to remain afloat, but have also shown an indomitable capacity to innovate in the face of adversity: from bricks and mortar shops switching to online ordering and delivery, to restaurants becoming digital takeaways, and everyone adjusting to the challenges of working from home, all in an unthinkably short space of time. And our behaviours changed too; by necessity rather than choice. Segments of the population traditionally averse to digital interactions, especially those requiring trust such as with financial services, contributed to this trend. This is evidenced by the increase in first-time users of various digital services, most notably in banking and retail.
Unsurprisingly, this environment has become even more conducive to cybercrime and fraud. I was certainly not surprised to see that globally, financial services and eCommerce transactions grew. I was also comforted in the fact that human and bot-initiated attacks on financial services institutions declined, suggesting that security maturity and use of technology to prevent fraud continues to improve overall, in that sector. As the report shows, the favoured attack vectors appear to be identity, device or IP spoofing.
From this, it becomes apparent that financial services regulatory pressures for better identity proofing and authentication have undoubtedly played their part in better protecting that sector. Meanwhile, just as businesses accelerated their digital transformation efforts, modernising infrastructures, increasing automation and cooperation, so did criminals. For a thorough analysis of the cybercrime landscape with clear details on high-risk touch points to help prevent against future attacks, read on!
Neira Jones – Ambassador, Emerging Payments Association
The forced consumer shift to digital channels drove rapid growth in trusted transactions, with an overall decline in attacks on businesses in the LexisNexis® Digital Identity Network®. Growth economies contributed the largest growth in attack volumes. The analysis below represents the full year summary of transaction and attack patterns.
Most prevalent attack vector
