Investigation into cybercrime trends
Koivula, Elias Matinpoika (2021)
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021092718083
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021092718083
Tiivistelmä
This thesis investigates current developments in cybercrime in regard to several key areas. As the entire field of cybercrime is vast, this thesis focuses its analysis on the current development in ransomware, cybercrime services and Internet of Things devices. Each area poses several interesting questions and possible future paths. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the current situation and based on what we see now - speculate a possible trajectory for things to come.
As the world is getting more and more digitized every year, the awareness regarding cyber security issues are becoming ever more important. The importance of secure devices and networks is crucial, as the data being handled is private and possibly personally identifiable. The knowledge of current trends in cybercrime helps the everyday consumer be more aware of any ongoing issues and developments, and hopefully will lead them to take preventive action.
Analyzing the current trends will also help cyber security professionals to speculate on some possible future trajectories. This is important, as a lot of the possible future situations are ones that in order to be solved – they already have to be tackled today – such as the issue regarding Internet of Things devices. This thesis speculates that without some solid, regulatory, global enforcement on the safety of released IoT devices, the issue will grow and become more severe in the future.
The key areas to be investigated in this thesis are all connected somehow, which is why after inspecting each area individually, conclusions about possible large-scale future trends can be drawn. For example, the popularity of cybercrime services and large-scale ransomware attacks cannot single-handedly be attributed to the rise of cryptocurrencies. However, the data does indicate that rise of cryptocurrencies has made things easier and more profitable from the attackers’ point of view.
As the world is getting more and more digitized every year, the awareness regarding cyber security issues are becoming ever more important. The importance of secure devices and networks is crucial, as the data being handled is private and possibly personally identifiable. The knowledge of current trends in cybercrime helps the everyday consumer be more aware of any ongoing issues and developments, and hopefully will lead them to take preventive action.
Analyzing the current trends will also help cyber security professionals to speculate on some possible future trajectories. This is important, as a lot of the possible future situations are ones that in order to be solved – they already have to be tackled today – such as the issue regarding Internet of Things devices. This thesis speculates that without some solid, regulatory, global enforcement on the safety of released IoT devices, the issue will grow and become more severe in the future.
The key areas to be investigated in this thesis are all connected somehow, which is why after inspecting each area individually, conclusions about possible large-scale future trends can be drawn. For example, the popularity of cybercrime services and large-scale ransomware attacks cannot single-handedly be attributed to the rise of cryptocurrencies. However, the data does indicate that rise of cryptocurrencies has made things easier and more profitable from the attackers’ point of view.