He said that US banks reportedly lost $900 million (690 million euros) to conventional robbers last year but $12 billion (9.2 billion euros) to cyber criminals. He also warned of the dangers to global security of cyber attacks, saying that Interpol itself had been hit by the hacker collective Anonymous.
Interpol president Khoo Boon Hui
Interpol president Khoo Boon Hui said on Tuesday that organised international gangs are behind most internet scams and that cyber crime’s estimated cost is more than that of cocaine, heroin and marijuana trafficking put together.
Speaking to delegates at the opening of the France-based international police agency’s European Regional Conference in Tel Aviv, Khoo quoted a study by London’s Metropolitan University indicating that “80 percent of crime committed online is now connected to organised gangs operating across borders.”
“Criminal gangs now find that transnational and cyber crime are far more rewarding and profitable than other, riskier forms of making money,” he said.
“Experts have warned that the cost of cyber crime is larger than the combined costs of cocaine, marijuana and heroin trafficking. In Europe, the cost of cybercrime has apparently reached 750 billion euros ($979 billion) a year,” he said.
Khoo cited illegal gambling and credit card and banking fraud as examples.
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