BEC Attacks Far More Lucrative than Ransomware over Past 3 Years

July 20, 2017  By Dawn Kawamoto
 
BEC fraud netted cyberthieves five times more profit than ransomware over a three-year period, according to Cisco's midyear report released today.
 Despite all the recent attention paid to ransomware, cybercriminals walked away with $5.3 billion from business email compromise (BEC) attacks compared with $1 billion for ransomware over a three-year stretch, according to Cisco's 2017 Midyear Cybersecurity Report released today. 
 
Cybercriminals are increasingly taking a practical approach to their pilfering, going for the fastest method that they can steal a buck, or in this case, billions, says Steve Martino, Cisco's chief information security officer. "What we are looking at is the continual commercialization of cyberattacks," Martino says, pointing out that is a major theme in the report.
 
Ransomware exploits take time to develop before any financial gain is realized for cyberthieves, compared to crafting a phishing attack or blasting out spam of which 8% is found to be malicious, notes Martino. BEC attacks are less time-consuming to wage.
 
http://img.deusm.com/darkreading/2017/07/1329414/Cisco--Exploit-Kit-Chart.jpg [Source: Cisco 2017 Midyear Cybersecurity Report]
 
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