Cyberterrorism is a reality against which companies and governments around the world have been fighting for several years. The attacks are mainly focused on the financial, energy and telecommunications sectors. As usual, Russia occupies the first position, but other dangerous actors have gained prominence in recent times and we will see who and what are these countries that are classified as the greatest with cybercrime power.
Like we can talk and learn about styles of art such as impressionism, cubism, surrealism, etc. You can also identify some styles of your own in the malware of hacker schools from different geographic areas. These online fraud schools have developed their own way of attacking mainly as a result of the different security measures that have been implemented in the same geographical areas they attack.
This constant adaptation to the environment is one of the reasons that make them very dangerous, because, as we already know, they invest large amounts of time and money in discovering how to steal money from citizens and they do not give up their efforts until they do so by taking advantage of any technological weakness. or human.
Which one’s are the countries with the greatest power in Cybercrime
▸Russian hacker school
Of course the Russian hackers are the one’s with the greatest power of cibercrime, the best known thanks to the high-impact cyberattacks they usually carry out, several of them politically motivated more typical of cyberwar than cybercrime itself. One of the most famous Russian cybercriminal groups that has been profiled is the APT28, which has been implicated on numerous occasions related to cyberattacks as a weapon of war, and on which there is numerous literature.
The preferred victims of these cybercriminals are located mainly in Europe and the US, so they have had to adapt to their security measures. These measures are mainly made up of bank credentials and two-step authentication, either through SMS, coordinate cards, etc.
Undoubtedly, the fact that they have remained at the top of the list for years makes researchers wonder what the keys to this “success” may be. One of the most debated is related to the educational system of the country, which since the time of the Soviet Union promoted studies in science and mathematics and the concern for scientific knowledge. Currently, this same educational system arouses the curiosity of the youngest with subjects closely related to computing and programming.
▸China
Paradoxically, one of the elements that can be considered most striking is that a large part of Chinese cybercriminal infrastructures are outside the country. Possibly closely related to the harsh legislation of the country, where communications are intervened and intelligence services are very present.
We must not be fooled by the fact that at the beginning of the century their cyberattacks were unsophisticated and highly based on complete packages of malware, phishing, etc. that could be bought on the black market. The rapid technological adoption that the Chinese have carried out, has also affected their cybercrime, which year after year became more sophisticated until they were capable, for example, of robbing millions of dollars thanks to the development of magnificent engineering tactics. Social.
▸Brazil
The Brazilian hacking school is climbing global ranks in terms of the impact of their actions, making them an equally dangerous and relevant actor as Russian cybercriminals. Again, depending on the protection measures that are incorporated into organizations, the style of the school varies.
In this sense, banks in Latin America have developed protection systems focused, in addition to credentials, on verification systems for the identification of the device through which the user connects with their online banking. This protection philosophy forces cybercriminals to develop remote access control techniques, such as RATs to materialize the theft to the user. Something that the Brazilian hacker school has been developing with great success.
In general terms, Brazilian cybercriminals, who tend to be inspired by the Russians and turn to their black market in search of new trends and novelties to steal, are the masters of the rest of cybercriminals in Latin America. On the other hand, the digital leap in Latin America is relatively recent, but very fast; which forces organizations to develop strategic plans against cybercrime.
Other reads:
Where do the most cyberattacks come from?
Why cybercriminals made attacks on these sectors?
