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Hacked
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Hacked

The Secrets Behind Cyber Attacks

Jessica Barker
Kogan Page, 2024
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8

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  • Eye Opening
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Cybercrime has grown up: It’s no longer the work of lone hackers but a complex world of scammers, thieves, and organized criminal gangs. Their attacks — including phishing, identity fraud, ransomware, romance scams, and crypto “pig butchering” — cost billions and threaten corporations, small businesses, and individuals alike. In this sharp, timely guide, cybersecurity expert Jessica Barker draws on vivid case studies and expert insights to expose cyber criminals’ tricks of the trade, while showing how skepticism, security hygiene, and awareness can help you stay safe.

Summary

Cybercrime has become big business, and it takes many forms.

Cybercrime has exploded over the past two decades, costing billions of dollars annually and threatening businesses and livelihoods. It’s driven largely by organized gangs who see criminal activity in the online world as faster, cheaper, and more rewarding than in-person opportunities. Modern hackers work in a vast and evolving ecosystem with low barriers to entry that enables them to operate globally.

Cybercrime takes many forms. It includes, for example, the “Formula 1 spygate” case, where Ferrari’s chief mechanic, disgruntled over being passed over for a promotion, stole the blueprints for the company’s 2007 F1 car and passed them to a competitor. It also encompasses the case of Alex Wood, who, along with an accomplice, defrauded countless businesses to the tune of some £50 million [$67.5 million] by impersonating a bank fraud adviser. And it includes “Evil Corp,” a sophisticated cybercrime ring that receives support from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and has attacked hundreds of companies around the world.

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About the Author

Jessica Barker is an expert in cybersecurity, specializing in its human side. She has appeared on BBC and Sky News and in Wired magazine, and is the author of Confident Cyber Security. She was awarded an MBE for services to cybersecurity by King Charles III.

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