The global impact of cyber crimes is likely to skyrocket over the next several years, Sri Sridharan, a cyber security expert predicts.
Sridharan, managing director and chief executive officer of the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida, was the keynote speaker during the Cybersecurity Symposium at Pasco-Hernando State College, on Oct. 11.
Hacking, he said, continues to be a “serious problem” in the realm of cyber security.
“It’s a huge crime that’s taking place on a daily basis,” Sridharan said. “There’s lots of people wanting to steal your personal information, and steal intellectual property.”
The latest statistics related to cyber crime are staggering.
According to a recent study by Juniper Research, the global impact on cyber crimes was about $400 billion in 2015. By 2019, the market research organization projects the impact will be approximately $2.1 trillion.
“In my opinion, that number is going to be even higher,” Sridharan said. “Every second, at least 22 records are breached. That’s about 2 million (records) per day.”
Sri Sridharan, is the managing director and chief executive officer of the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida.
Sridharan said hackers often focus on high-value industries — healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services — to access and modify information.
“No longer is this a backdoor problem,” he said. “It’s moved to boardrooms of corporations. Boards of directors now have a fiscal responsibility to make sure the information they have is well protected. Otherwise, they can get sued.”
Yet, many organizations haven’t put safety measures in place to protect against such threats.
A 2016 global economic crime survey by the consulting firm PricewaterHouseCooper (PwC) found that 32 percent of organizations were affected by cyber crime last year. Moreover, the survey found only 37 percent of organizations have a cohesive plan in response to cyber incident, or breach.
“Organizations need to have a plan. That’s extremely important,” Sridaran said.
That starts with practicing what Sridharan refers to as “good cyber hygiene.”
For businesses, that encompasses several steps: use a secure ecommerce platform; deploy SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption; and utilize firewalls, multi-factor authentication and site backups.
“Don’t just have (employees) use a password to get into the system. Have them go through one or two more steps to make…it very difficult for the bad guys to penetrate your system,” Sridharan explained.
In addition to using lengthy, complex passwords, Sridharan recommends individuals stay away from “unfamiliar websites.”
“If it’s not a site that you know, don’t click on it,” he said. “If you’re not careful about the website that you go to, you stand a serious risk of getting breached, or your information stolen.”
The same theory applies to suspicious emails.
“If you don’t know who it’s from, don’t touch it.”
Sridharan noted ransomware — a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid — is currently one of the most pervasive problems in cyber security.
A 2016 report by Cisco Systems Inc. found that approximately 9,500 people pay ransoms to hackers each month.
“This is very prevalent these days. The average target pays $300,” said Sridharan.
“The most important thing you can do is have backups of your system at all times.”
Perhaps a silver lining to the influx of cyber threats is in the job market.
According to Sridharan, there’s a significant demand for cyber security professionals.
He estimates there will be approximately 2.5 million jobs in cyber security over the next two years.
“It’s a hot job market,” he said, “and it’s not going to go away for a long time.”
“There is no comprehensive cyber security solution on the horizon for the next ten years,” he added.
The symposium also featured a presentation on human trafficking online.
Pasco County Sheriff’s Corporal Alan Wilkett, who’s served more than 22 years as a public service official in Indiana, Ohio and Florida, said human trafficking transactions are becoming increasingly prevalent online.
Human trafficking encompasses forced labor, involuntary servitude, and commercial sex.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are approximately 20.9 million victims of human trafficking.
“Selling and auctions are all taking place online,” said Wilkett, a member of the Tampa Bay Regional Human Trafficking Task Force.
The transactions, Wilkett said, are taking place in what’s commonly referred as the dark web, which is only accessible through specific software, called Tor (The Onion Router).
“When you get on there, that’s where (traffickers) hold the online markets,” explained Wilkett. “It’s one of the most diabolical things I’ve ever seen.”
According to Wilkett, the average price for a human being is going for about $90.
“You go to India and you can buy three boys for less than the price of a cow,” he said. “Many of them are bought as child soldiers; some of them are smuggled into the United States and other countries.”
Published Oct. 19, 2016
