This study by Europol provides a specific evolving threat assessment and key developments in the area of cybercrime focused on law enforcement. Previous IOCTA versions have highlighted that the persistence of different modus operandi has led to changes in cybercrime threats that are more rare than those commonly perceived. Last year, IOCTA reflected the situation by looking at how cybercrime is an evolution rather than a revolution.
This year’s reportcontinues to show the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The accelerated digitalisation linked to the pandemic has significantly influenced the evolution of a number of cyber threats, including:
- Ransomware-related programmes allow a larger group of criminals to attack large corporations and public institutions, threatening them with multi-level extortion techniques such as DDoS attacks.
- The development of mobile malware consists of criminals trying to circumvent other security measures, such as two-factor authentication.
- Online shopping has led to a sharp increase in online fraud.
- Self-produced materials are increasingly worrying and are also distributed for profit.
- Criminals continue to abuse legal services such as VPN, encrypted communications services and cryptocurrencies.