‘Cybercrime market worth $114bn’

Muhammed Rudman, Chief Executive of the Nigeria Internet Exchange Point has said that the cybercrime poses more worry to global economy, not only Nigeria , as its worth now stands at $114 billion.

He said it was now more dangerous than the global black market for illicit drugs.

Speaking at the just concluded 2012 edition of DigitalSENSE Africa forum on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D), Mr Rudman said: “the direct cash costs of cybercrime - money stolen by cyberthugs and spent on resolving cyberattacks - totalled $114bn. Cybercrime is bigger than the global black market in marijuana, cocaine and heroin combined ($288bn)” 

He said 10 per cent of all adults surveyed had experienced cybercrime on their mobile devices  Over the past year in 24 countries, 431 million adults experienced cybercrime. More than 1 million became victims every day, and 12 adults suffered from cybercrime every second.”

His observation came on the heel of the commencement of the pilot phase of the Central Bank of Nigeria ’s (CBN) cash-lite policy.

The new policy on cash-based transactions stipulates a ‘cash handling charge’ on daily cash withdrawals or cash deposits that exceed N150,000 for Individuals and N1,000,000 for corporate bodies.

The new policy on cash-based transactions (withdrawals & deposits) in banks is aimed at  reducing the amount of physical cash circulating in the economy, and encouraging more electronic-based transactions (payments for goods, services, transfers, etc.)

To avoid the frauds, he prescribed that people keep their password/PIN code safe and memorise them.

“Make sure you change them regularly (recommended every 3 months). Create unique passwords that are difficult to guess, e.g. use a combination of letters (Upper & lower case) and numbers.

 ”Passwords are like underwear: you don’t let people see it, you should change it very often, and you shouldn’t share it with strangers,” he added, quoting Chris Pirillo

He also counselled that people use secured website. “How do you know the website is secured? Look for https:// in the URL and not http:// when you login - Look at the status bar of the security icon (locked padlock) when you visit the bank site. Double click on the padlock and ensure that it has a valid digital certificate.

“Log out immediately after you have completed your Internet transaction. Then, clear the browser cache, cookies and history (refer to your bank’s website for online guidance). Ensure that you log out properly after every Internet banking session and not just close the browser.

“Never leave your computer unattended when you are conducting your Internet transactions.

“If you are unsure of the security of the computer, do not use it for Internet transactions. Do not use public (Internet Café) computers to login to your account, it is very very possible it has Keyloggers,” he explained.

(Excerpts from Tribune)
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