Chapter 3 - Crime Areas
3.1 Crime-as-a-Service - Future threats and developments
The use of the Internet to facilitate traditional organised crime is already a common phenomenon. The Internet provides secure communications, is a tool for research and a platform to buy and sell goods. However, as traditional criminals become more confident and comfortable with cyberspace we can expect to see the recruitment of specialists to carry out increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks to complement their established criminal activity.
In June 2013, police in Belgium and the Netherlands dismantled a Netherlands-based drug smuggling ring. The gang had hired hackers to infiltrate the systems controlling the movement and location of shipping containers at the Belgian port of Antwerp. This allowed the gang to manipulate the data to allow their own drivers to remove drug-laden shipping containers before the legitimate haulier could collect them.
The volume of illicit services finding their way onto the Darknet will only increase over time as criminals involved in traditional crime become more familiar with the technology. Cybercriminals will also increase their presence within the Darknet as anonymisation technologies continue to develop.
The cybercrime community can be divided into two distinct populations. The larger demographic consists of inexperienced individuals with little technical skill who dabble with cybercrime, buying the skills and tools they lack. This group remains a high volume but low impact threat, content to carry out relatively minor offences such as small frauds, defacements, etc. Only a few of these individuals will graduate to the smaller demographic of highly skilled individuals who not only carry out the most damaging cyber attacks but sell their services to the larger, less capable population. This cycle both perpetuates and proliferates cybercrime. As cybercrime tools and services become more available and easy to access, the former group will grow which in turn leads to the development of more highly skilled individuals.
