Cybercrime detection techniques need to improve: Bryan Sartin, Verizon

Cybercrime detection techniques need to improve globally, according to Bryan Sartin, Director, Investigative Response, Verizon. Speaking to Business Standard, Sartin informed that new categories of cybercrime including hacktivism and cyber espionage were on the rise. “Though finance-related cybercrime has not seen a sharp dip, other types like state sponsored cyber crimes are catching up,” he said.

A particular trend that he observed was the dramatic use of remote access utilities for initiating cyber crime. Also the ability to detect the crime needed to improve, he added.

Sartin gave several instances of companies which identified that their data security was breached only after 6-7 months of its occurrence. “Corporates often have this misconception that cyber crime is always complex and sophisticated. However, we have found that the same kinds of vulnerabilities in varied organsations were targeted by criminals,” he explained.

Speaking in the Indian context, Sartin said that India was rarely a source of cyber crime in the last five years. What he noticed in India was that insiders were involved in cyber data security breaches and other related crimes. Though at a nascent stage, he opined that cyber crime related intelligence sharing was being taken very seriously in India.

So, is enough being spent by corporates to deal with the issue? “The companies are spending much more than it is required. The problem is they are spending it in the wrong place. They should concentrate on the basic security infrastructure,” said Sartin.

Looking at the solutions to deal with the problem, one should ramp up the infrastructure and also have a team of at least five people to manage cyber security. Educating the staff about the issue and addressing the situation quickly was also crucial, according to him. “At the end, I can say that cyber crimes are very easy to identify. One should learn to identify it by its look and feel,” concluded Sartin.