Majority of Cybercrime Damage is Caused by a Few, Powerful, Covert Criminal Threat Groups

A small subset of professional criminal actors is responsible for the bulk of cybercrime-related damage, employing tools and techniques as sophisticated, targeted and insidious as most nation-state actors, says the State of Cybercrime Report 2018.

These sophisticated and capable criminal gangs operate largely outside of the dark web, although they may leverage low-level criminal tools occasionally when it serves their purposes.

At the same time, there has been no lull in the overall volume of threats, and low-level cybercriminal activity remains a robust market economy, often taking place in view of security researchers and law enforcement on the dark web, the report notes. While relatively simple in their approach, these activities can still deal widespread damage.

Where you're most likely to get cyber-scammed in the UK, revealed

Cyber criminals are targeting people who live in major cities, with London and Birmingham residents most at risk, says a new report.

According to Barclays’ Digital Safety Index survey, 23 per cent of people living in the capital and 23 per cent of people living in Birmingham have been affected by at least one scam (table below).

The report adds that 28 per cent of London residents and the same proportion of people who live in Bristol have experienced at least one type of online fraud, where the target’s details have been compromised and the perpetrator has completed the transaction (table below).

Liverpool shares top place with these cities for impersonation scams.