Cybercrimes - Information for Victims

The Importance of Reporting Cybercrime

Cybercrime is becoming an epidemic. In a recent survey conducted by Norton on behalf of Symantec Corporation, it was found that 65% of the 7000 internet users surveyed had been victims of some kind of cybercrime, including viruses and malware attacks, online scams, phishing attacks, hacking of social-networking profiles, credit card fraud and sexual predation. Staggeringly, the survey found that less than half of these victims (44%) have reported the crime to a law enforcement agency. According to the popular attitude the wide prevalence of cybercrimes and the risk and costs of becoming a victim of cybercrimes are an unavoidable consequence of using the internet, and 28% of internet users actually expect to be defrauded or scammed online.

Cybercrime is considered by many to be a ‘faceless fear’ and most internet users (79%) do not expect cyber criminals ever to be brought to justice. Victims of cybercrimes react similarly to victims of burglary – they feel violated, powerless and frustrated, and sometimes even blame themselves for becoming a victim in the first place. Most victims of cybercrimes see little benefit in reporting the crime to an appropriate authority. Many believe that the crime is not serious enough, or that the harm inflicted is not significant enough to warrant taking up the time of law enforcement agencies, while others feel that the benefit of reporting is far outweighed by the hassle. On a larger scale, big businesses that are victims of cybercrime are reluctant to report incidents due to concerns of the confidentiality of information involved or the potential harm to their reputation, while small businesses may simply not have the resources or time to assist in an investigation. Additionally, a significant amount of victims, both individuals and businesses, are often unaware of the fact that they are victims, as they are unfamiliar with the signs of online criminal attacks.

Consequently, this prevailing tendency of non-reporting makes cybercrime increasingly invisible, and allows criminals to operate on more larger scales. Contrary to the popular belief, cybercriminals are rarely ‘faceless’, with the Symantec survey claiming that up to 90% of online crime is perpetrated by large organized criminal networks. It is therefore essential that victims of cybercrime report the incident, so that the appropriate authorities can respond forcefully, and improve strategies and systems which will effectively weaken and eradicate the cybercrime epidemic.