![\"Digital](\"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/cybercrime-iot-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nForget everything you thought you knew about crime. In the next 10-20 years, crime as we know it today will have been largely replaced by cyber crime. According to recent statistics provided by Intel, we\u2019re moving from 15 billion connected devices today to a whopping 200 billion by the year 2020. That’s an insane number of devices that can be hacked, making us increasingly vulnerable. In fact, our modern world is like a digital house of cards that could come crashing down if we don\u2019t take precautions. We\u2019re facing security threats that were completely unimaginable 10 years ago, posing an existential threat to society.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d be surprised at how few people are aware of the fact that each and every connected device we use is hackable. Your kids\u2019 gaming console may seem like a harmless device, but consoles have already been hacked for spying purposes. DVRs and fridges have been sabotaged to enable Bitcoin mining, relaying spam and even participating in DDoS attacks \u2013 all via malware. Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting specific devices and they use the power of the Internet of Things to facilitate these criminal acts<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ransom is a very effective extortion tool that\u2019s as old as time. With all aspects of our lives connected to online platforms and accounts at home as well as at work, whether social or financial, we are more vulnerable to extortion now than we\u2019ve ever been before. Extortion is no longer only about creepy phone calls with demands for ransom payments. Anybody who has the ability to gain access to your accounts has the opportunity to extort us and demand ransom payments. These attacks are also called \u2018ransomware\u2019 and are already taking place in the US and Europe. The virus used for these attacks is called the \u2018cryptolocker\u2019 virus. While these may not be very common yet, within the next 10-15 years they will be as widespread as the spam you find in your email box. Because prevention isn\u2019t always 100% effective, organisations need to understand the importance of implementing a powerful response capability in order to detect and respond to incidents of cyber extortion.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve all heard about stolen credit card details, account takeovers and bank fraud. But those aren\u2019t the only things you have to be concerned about. Imagine what would happen if your bank accounts were completely erased? This is what happens with the so-called \u2018brick attacks\u2019. Instead of \u2018just\u2019 trying to steal money, hackers simply destroy all the information by using malware to infect the computers that store your information, rendering them completely useless. They can disable your firewall and block your antivirus programs by altering settings. In 2012, the world\u2019s largest oil company Saudi Aramco, was hit by a brick attack, destroying no less than 3,000 computers. A few similar incidents have already taken place. Now picture hackers targeting major banks and client account details…<\/p>\n
Not only are all things hackable \u2013 humans are becoming easy targets for cyber attacks as well. If you imagine hundreds of thousands of medical devices hooked up to the IoT, such as diabetic insulin pumps, cochlear implants, cardioverter-defibrillators and pacemakers, it\u2019s not hard to understand that if your doctor can access your heart online, your next-door neighbour can do it as well. Hackers could take control of these devices and compromise the patient\u2019s medical privacy, their bodily integrity, and indeed, their safety. In the future, chronic disease will mainly be controlled by implanted devices measuring vital statistics which are reported back to the doctors. As the use of wireless technology for medical devices is becoming more widespread, any medical system or implant could easily be hijacked. Research by the University of Liverpool has indicated that it\u2019s possible to spread computer viruses via Wi-Fi routers. This poses a serious risk, particularly for patients with medical implants. A compromised Wi-Fi network could therefore also be used to spread medical viruses to patients. While the potential risk of human cyber attacks might not be very high at this point, we need to implement robust security systems into the IoT in order to protect our safety.<\/p>\n