Cyber Crime Should Have You Suspicious

Hacking made the news again yesterday. This time cell provider T-Mobile and credit institution Experian fell victim. High-profile data breaches are nothing new — I wrote about cyber security in February — but that doesn’t make the increasing risk associated with providing your personal information to institutions any less unsettling. It seems that at this time it is perfectly rational to be a suspicious, paranoid conspiracy theorist when it comes to life on the Internet.

Perpetrators in this most recent cybercrime obtained the data of approximately 15 million T-Mobile customers via a hack of Experian, which handles the cell company’s credit applications. Social Security Numbers, driver’s license numbers, and Passport information are among the encrypted data stolen by the hackers.

This raises an interesting question about fault. Agencies like Experian inherently assume a massive amount of risk when they operate with so much sensitive collateral. Obviously the cyber criminals hacked Experian, but T-Mobile found itself having to answer to concerned customers. Legally, should Experian assume responsibility for the data of consumers? Do they owe anything to the mobile provider? T-Mobile sustains some damage to its reputation simply by being associated with the breach either way.

In the wake of the hack, Experian secured its servers and notified customers and law enforcement. This part makes the waters of cybercrime especially murky. When someone steals a car or robs a bank, there are tangible measures that can be taken following the incident. You call the police, they get a license plate number, or verify that the bills were marked, or something. I’m not a police officer, but that’s the point. You know that as the victim, the problem is out of your hands and in the hands of the authorities, who are trained to deal with these sorts of instances.

Cybercrime is a different animal. Traditional police training doesn’t center on breaking firewalls or tracing proxy servers. Catching hackers typically involves a collaboration between law enforcement, government agencies, international partners, and private corporations. Tracking the criminals involved takes thousands of hours of research and cyber forensic analysis. It’s a process to say the least, and often the perpetrators are never caught.

If you haven’t fallen victim to a phishing scam or data breach it may be hard to empathize, but cybercrime is both prevalent and crippling. Statistics from a Norton Community article cite complaints of Internet crimes to the FBI and White Collar Crime Center in 2013 totaling $781,841,611 in loss. The agencies also estimate that only 10% of crimes get reported. Now, factor in the man hours associated with chasing down cyber criminals.

This is a huge problem, and like traditional police work, dealing with Internet crimes is a matter of prevention. I wanted to learn about how I could keep my information safe, so I Googled “cyber security user tips” and found the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team website.

In an instant, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. Then I got a sinking feeling inside. I shut the blinds and found my special aluminum hat. I couldn’t click on any of the website’s links, because wouldn’t that be the perfect setup for a phishing scheme? It all makes sense now. Stir up fear in Internet users with a series of high-profile hacks and then offer them solace and salvation. That’s when you strike.

Like I said, it’s a good time to be a conspiracy theorist.