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War Of The Frenemy Hackers Now Hitting Aussie Organisations

War Of The Frenemy Hackers Now Hitting Aussie Organisations

Australian companies are being ripped off more than ever by customers, suppliers and cyber-hackers who are using the Dark Web, backed by organised crime. A global economic crime survey by the PriceWaterhouse Coopers group has revealed that customer fraud is now the number one economic crime in Australia, with 45 percent of companies surveyed by PwS having been attacked during the past two years.

External sources including hackers, organised crime and customers now account for closer to two-thirds of fraud activity (64 percent external, versus 36 per- cent internal), PwC said.

The company warns Australian businesses that organised crime syndicates using the Dark Web are becoming more sophisticated and now use new technologies to fake documents and IDs to infiltrate and rob organisations.

PwC’s cyber markets leader Steve Ingram told the ABC’s AM program that 60 percent of economic crimes in Australia are being committed by a “frenemy” who comes in the guise of employee, customer or supplier.

“Technology has been an agent for us in improving the efficiency of our economy. It’s also a great tool for organised crime,” Ingram said. “They use technology to penetrate organisations, to create false information and false identities. They use technology to steal legitimate identities and apply that in a fraudulent manner.”

Ingram said that not only are fraud and hacking becoming easier, they have also become cheaper. “On the Dark Web, tools to exploit fraud are cheaper than they were 10 years ago,” he said. “You can find people supplying tools to penetrate an organisation.

“They actually have star ratings on their services and the effectiveness of their tools so it’s not dissimilar to what we see in the normal world.”

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission estimates more than $340 million was reported lost by Australian victims of fraud schemes last year, while the KPMG fraud barometer puts it at $480 million.



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