Know your enemy

Paraphrasing the key conclusions of Organised Crime in the Digital Age, a study into digital crimes by BAE Systems Detica and the John Grieve Centre for Policing and Community Safety:

• Digital crimes are superceding drug crimes.
• 80% of digital crime is conducted by organised groups rather than lone criminals.
• Group structures vary (clustered, hierarchical etc).
• Two thirds of organized digital criminals are over 25.
• The median size of groups is 6 members, while one quarter are 11+.  However, even small groups can inflict significant damage.
• A quarter of active groups are new (in operation less than 6 months).
• Traditional criminals are increasingly using digital tools/techniques 

There are implications for governments and the police, naturally, but also perhaps for the potential targets/victims of organised e-crimes and those whose services are being used by them - particularly social media and financial services.  However, it's far from obvious (from the summary report anyway) how to respond.

Regards,
Gary (Gary@isect.com)