Research and Markets: A Focus on Cybercrime from North Africa

DUBLIN--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a58802/a_focus_on_cybercr) has
announced the addition of the "A Focus on Cybercrime from North Africa" report
to their offering.

North African pirates represent a growing threat for European banks. The hackers
in this area flourished over the last 5 years because of anti-cybercrime
deficiencies in their legal and political systems. Furthermore, the fast
development of Internet connectivity and the broad availability of hacking tools
drive more and more young fraudsters into this activity.

North Africa has experienced some profound changes in recent years, both in
Internet access for the general public and in the banking sector. The emergence
of new uses such as on-line banking and e-commerce entails serious risks for the
regions institutions and customers. At the same time, cybercrime networks have
specialized in means of payment fraud, and in particular theft of bank
information.

The hackers are not necessarily organized into professional teams. Their
technical abilities and the protection of their anonymity are still quite
limited compared with other hacker communities (Russian and Portuguese speakers,
etc.). On the other hand several high risk factors make this geographical area a
hotbed for computer abuse.

The constant arrival of new entrants to this market is particularly helped by
the on-line availability of the necessary components of these attacks, as well
as relative impunity from the legal point of view. The limited resources of the
local law enforcement agencies and legal provisions that have long been
inadequate have encouraged this state of affairs.

The likelihood of suffering an attack by hackers from North Africa is therefore
great, but the financial impact of actual fraud generally remains fairly low. On
the other hand, the brand damage resulting from a defacement or from a phishing
campaign is still a major risk and difficult to quantify.

The will of the North African authorities to increase their anti-cybercrime
effort (stronger laws, human forces, etc.) is growing, in particular with the
upgrading of the legal systems in these countries. The banking institutions must
continue to put direct pressure on the local authorities so that complaints
leading to arrests are made. At the same time, the banks must continue their
guerrilla warfare against local hackers making their attacks less profitable.

Key Topics Covered:

1. A changing banking landscape

1.1 The unequal development of electronic banking

1.2 The growth of e-commerce: catching up

1.3 Online banking: development to the detriment of security

1.4 Islamic finance: limited offer, but increasing demand

2. Internet and telecommunications in North Africa

2.1 Explosion of mobile telephony

2.2 A rapidly growing number of Internet users

3. Characteristics of cybercrime in North Africa

3.1 History of telecommunications backing

3.2 The decline of warez?

3.3 Relatively few 419 scams

3.4 Defacement, main computer abuse in the region

3.5 Theft of bank data

3.6 Other types of cyber crimes

3.7 Profile of the North African scene

3.8 Notorious Moroccan Cybercriminals

4. Risk analysis for financial institutions

4.1 Banking cybercrime: limited capacity for fraud

4.2 The dangers of banking development in North Africa

4.3 Legal and political issues

4.4 No evidence of attacks by terrorist groups

5. Recommendations

5.1 Encourage local subsidiaries and clients

5.2 Support the investigation of offences

5.3 Back the development of a network of local contacts

5.4 Make fraud ineffective or unprofitable

5.5 The advantage of waging guerrilla warfare against phishing

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a58802/a_focus_on_cybercr

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

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