e-Crime on the Rise

It used to be considered that e-crime was committed by only the well-educated and IT-literate. However, that landscape has drastically changed. Since computer crime is harder to detect, thus lowering the chances of getting caught - it's drawing the attention from criminals who are accustomed to lower barriers to entry. It is the land of new opportunity, so to speak.

It is now a very broad market covering everything from phishing and spam attacks to the sale of stolen goods on auction sites. The enormous and widespread growth of this crime trend has overwhelmed the police. This is why it is so important to protect yourself and not rely on the police to do it for you. 

Evaluate Your Risk 

Still, not enough people are taking this threat seriously enough and protecting themselves, security experts say. Businesses need to understand that they are vulnerable, just by being an attractive target. These attacks happen more frequently than they realize.  

They also need to realize that the crimefighter market is able to offer effective remedies and not all need to be expensive or even technically complicated.  

Ecommerce sites, for instance, can be affected not just by fraudulent crime by itself. The consequences of simply the fear of shopping online affect online purchases overall. Surveys have shown that  consumers overwhelmingly  prefer more well-known businesses when shopping online due to a well-designed site and the perception of security.   

Paradoxically, it is the small online business that is often more secure due to more hands-on awareness of what is going on with their site. So not only do these smaller businesses lose out on taking full advantage of global reach due to this widespread perception, but the consumers lose out as well. They may lose out in certain instances to better, more individualized service and perhaps, lower prices which a smaller business can offer.