Computer systems have become a way of life in 2018; we cannot escape them. Gone are the days of your Grandma telling you “I don’t do technology”; with the proportion of adults aged 65 years and over who shop online trebling from 16% in 2008, to 48% in 2018. And with an increased use in technology comes an increased risk of cybercrime. In the next three years, global cybercrime damages are predicted to total £4.6 trillion.
You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that cybercrime is a fairly new concept, but despite computers being used significantly less, technology-based crime was still rife in the 70s, 80s and 90s. In today’s blog, we look back over the last 50 years to see just how cybercrime has evolved.
The late 60s and early 70s saw the birth of the computer. Being very large and very expensive, only a small number of households owned one. However, this didn’t stop the cyber criminals; instead opting to attack phone systems. Self-claimed “phone phreaks” would infiltrate telephone systems, with their main motives being curiosity and a desire to infiltrate and defeat security. Exploring the telephone system was not illegal, however some phreaks mastered the art of controlling it and installed, what they called, a “little blue box”. This box would emit tones which, at the right time, would give the “phreak” access to the phone system so they can make free calls which was illegal.
The 1980s saw the computer enter the lives of most upper income families, with computer ownership increasing from 1 million to 14 million households by the end of the decade. Hackers began to gain a reputation in the 80s, with politics and pranks both being key motivators.
However, some cybercrimes were orchestrated for pure profit; with the first ransomware attack recorded in 1989 targeting the healthcare industry. In this case, evolutionary biologist Joseph Popp distributed 20,000 floppy disks across 90 counties, claiming the disk contained software that could be used to calculate an individuals risk of contracting a life-threatening virus. However, the disc contained malware (malicious software), locking the users data and holding it ransom until an amount was paid to Popp.
The 90s brought the web browser and emails to the mainstream, which provided a perfect platform for cyber criminals to exploit unknowledgeable victims. Before the 90s, cyber criminals needed some form of physical interaction to infiltrate computer systems, but the sudden advancement in technology meant that criminals could send their virus codes over the internet with devastating results.
In 1999, 15-year-old Jonathan James managed to hack the US Department of Defence and installed a “backdoor” to its servers. In doing this, James had access to thousands of internal emails from US government organisations as well as usernames and passwords to military computers. Using this stolen information, James was able to steal a piece of NASA software worth $1.7 million that controlled the temperature and living space of the International Space Centre.
Just last year, we were witness to the biggest ransomware attack in history when he NHS along with 300,000 other computers in 150 countries were attacked by cyber gang Shadow Brokers, by sending the WannaCry ransomware. Sent via emails which tricked the recipient in to opening attachments, this phishing scam locked access to NHS files and demanded payments of £200 - £500 in cryptocurrency Bitcoin per file, to release them. GP surgeries reverted to paper notes, appointments had to be cancelled and patients turned away. Amazingly, a 25-year-old Brit managed to find the “off” switch for WannaCry by complete accident and stopped the spread in its tracks.
Have you been affected by Cybercrime? How do you see cyber criminals evolving in the future?