What's going on at the FBI?

cypac1
May 23
3 min read

Happy Friday

It's that time of year again, when the FBI publishes their annual Internet Crime Report.

What's that you ask? It's a really valuable document published by the FBI's Internet Crime and Complaint Center (IC3). Over the past year, the FBI has received complaints crossing the spectrum of cyber incident activity, ransomware, intrusions, extortions, International money laundering, investment fraud, etc. They compile the data from the year prior and release a summary of their findings in an annual report. This is a really important report because it serves as a good indicator for us cyber guys of new trends and shifts in the cybercriminal space.

It was published at the end of April and you can download it here. But, if you don't feel like reading all 47 pages, here are some interesting findings you might find as fascinating as I did:

In 2024 the FBI received over 859,000 reports
Those reports added up to over $16.6 billion in losses (but as we all know, a lot of cybercrime goes unreported, so the true number is likely much higher)
That big number is 33% higher than what was tallied the year before (2023)
And it's over 4x higher than what was reported in 2020 (only $4 billion). The past 5 years have been very profitable for cybercriminals.
But, less complaints were submitted to the FBI in 2024 compared to 2023, so the number of complaints went down but the dollar amount of money stolen per incident went up.
The average money lost per incident was around $19,300 (and some companies had repeat incidents...)

The Takeaway

Now comes the good part - what statistics and findings are the most important for your personal safety?

Those over the age of 60 were the most highly targeted group, accounting for over 160,000 cases and over $4 billion in losses.
About 83% of all cases were cyber-enabled fraud, such as call center scams, toll scams and emergency scams
But the biggest category of scams and fraud by far: Cryptocurrency fraud, accounting for $9.3 billion in losses (out of the $16.6 billion total) 🤯

Over the past few years crypto scams have skyrocketed, presumably because this new financial technology has quickly gained wider adoption. For example, in 2020, the FBI reported less than $500 million in losses from crypto scams and by 2023 it had risen to $5.5 billion. At $9.3 billion for 2024, that means it almost doubled in just one year.

The FBI has a great resource detailing the step-by-step process of cryptocurrency investment fraud as well as guidance on what to do if you or someone you know is being victimized.

Check yourself for cyberhygiene violations, use your head and let me tell you the truth right here, right now:

You're not going to be the next Bitcoin Billionaire no matter what these scammers tell you!

Sorry 😐

Stay safe out there.

-Attila Seress

PS. The PBS Insights interview from last night is now available! Man, that show was hot - a lot of people called in with questions. We really tried to get to as many as possible.

I was there with other Cybersecurity experts and network defenders to talk about the latest threats facing our community and what to do about them. Click here to watch.

New - the Positivity Box

Tired of hearing about negative, fearful and disturbing cybersecurity news? Me too. You may be surprised to learn that good things happen in IT security. Let's celebrate them!

Ah, North Korea. If they're not getting ready to send AI powered suicide drones around the globe, they're grooming their smartest citizens for corporate espionage.

A new report from DTEX exposes N. Korea's cyber syndicate and hidden workforce. It's a pretty long document, but if you want the short version, some key points are available on Cyberscoop as well as some interesting info about Research Center 227 😬.

In short, go to page 48 of that report for a checklist detailing what to do pre-employment and post-employment to make sure that you don't accidentally hire a DPRK spy. Good job putting this guide together DTEX!

New Friday Funnies!