Cybercrime Facts

Approximately 80% of all cyber crime is the result of insider attacks. Sometimes, the cyber attacker is a recently laid-off system administrator whose remote-account privileges still are active, or perhaps he created back doors to the network. Organized crime groups also can be behind security breaches.

Scarier still, some carriers' fraud and forensic-services providers report that organized crime and terrorist groups are recruiting telecommunications workers actively to use telephone networks to commit fraud, piracy and money laundering. These workers can control how information is routed over the network and access computer logs to erase transaction trails such as electronic fund transfers.

Network forensics, such as looking for anomalies in files and reviewing log entries, can be used to help carriers determine how a system was attacked. Wireless carriers also can reduce security breaches by testing software before releasing it for employee or customer use, by monitoring networks for threats and fixing problems when they are discovered, which includes being aware of manufacturers' software patches and updates.