New research from Dell SecureWorks finds that cyber espionage firms, often originating in China, are targeting critical infrastructure organizations, such as oil companies, in many different countries.
Imagine for a moment that you have a briefcase containing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash belonging to your organization. How would you treat this briefcase? Would you leave it unattended in an unlocked area for significant periods of time? Maybe on the front seat of your vehicle while you went shopping, or perhaps on the table at the cafeteria while you go for a drink refill? Sounds absurd, right? Unfortunately, this is exactly what people continue to do every day with their organization’s critical data and information, whether it’s stored on mobile electronic devices or other portable media.
Unlike most other crimes, employee fraud involves both deception and an abuse of the trust that has been placed in the perpetrators as part of their professional roles. Most fraudsters also undertake specific efforts to conceal their crimes. This combination of factors makes fraud schemes particularly difficult to detect – which, in turn, allows the frauds to continue uninterrupted and the losses to multiply.