People will lose a whopping total sum of $10.5 trillion to cybercriminals by the year 2025, the International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as INTERPOL has said.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports INTERPOL made this known as it announced a new cybercrime operations desk known as African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC).
According to the law enforcement agency, the AFJOC will help to boost the capacity of 49 African countries to fight cybercrime and shape a regional strategy to drive intelligence-led coordinated actions against cybercriminals and support joint operations.
TNG reports a 2017 assessment coordinated by INTERPOL with partners and member countries in Africa found that each act of Internet fraud targeting businesses enabled cybercriminals to steal an average of USD 2.7 million from companies and USD 422,000 from individuals.
“With more than 4.5 billion people online, more than half of humanity is at risk of falling victim to cybercrime at any time, requiring a unified and strong response,” said Jurgen Stock, INTERPOL Secretary General.
The creation of INTERPOL’s new cybercrime desk comes at a time when cybercriminals are attacking the computer networks and systems of individuals, businesses and global organizations when cyber defences might be more vulnerable due to the shift of focus to the pandemic crisis.
The project, supported by funding from the United Kingdom (UK), will provide opportunities to take regular pulse checks on cybercrime in Africa and to publish annual threat landscape assessments that will underpin operational activities.
With UK funding for the two-year initiative amounting to almost GBP 3 million, the Africa cybercrime initiative will be implemented by the Cybercrime Directorate at the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore.
Speaking at the CYBERUK conference in London, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “We are working with like-minded partners, to make sure that the international order that governs cyber activity is fit for purpose.
“Our aim should be to create a cyberspace that is free, open, peaceful and secure, which benefits all countries and all people.
“We want to see international law respected in cyberspace, just like anywhere else. And we need to show how the rules apply to these changes in technology, the changes in threats, and the systemic attempts to render the internet a lawless space”.
Meanwhile, explaining why the project is needed, an INTERPOL statement reads: “Cybercrimes affect all countries, but in Africa, weak networks and security make countries especially vulnerable, as well as a high number of malicious domains.
“Studies conducted by INTERPOL, partners and member countries in West Africa between 2015 and 2017 for example, showed the region had a growing underground market and high levels of social engineering/financially motivated threats against vulnerable people.
“A high level of Internet fraud targeting businesses, while only one-third of cybercrimes reported to law enforcement agencies each year resulted in arrests.
“Subsequently, and reflecting the global trend, member countries have anecdotally reported an elevated volume in incidents. This project will take another pulse check on the region and enable us to gather research and intelligence to underpin the operation activities”.