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Cybercrime Costs United Kingdom 27 Billion GBP Per Year

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Cybercrime has severe implications for individuals, businesses and governments. A recent report on cost of crime reveals that United Kingdom (U.K) incurs a cost of around 1,000 GBP per second and over 27 billion GBP annually on cybercrime. Perpetrators of cybercrime include individual offenders, organized crime syndicates and state players. Monetary gains are one of the major motivating factors behind cybercrime activities. The study on cost of cybercrime was conducted by Detica and the office of cyber security and information assurance in the cabinet office. The report covered cybercrime areas such as identity theft and other Internet-based crime committed against individuals, intellectual property (IP) theft, corporate espionage and extortion suffered by business organizations and fiscal fraud against the government.

The report indicates that the actual cost may be far above the figures revealed as many cybercrime cases still remain unreported. The financial implications of cybercrime on business organizations are considerable and stand at 21 billion GBP per year. The major share of economic cost of cybercrime on businesses is shared by IP theft (around 9.2 billion GBP p.a) and industrial espionage (around 7.6 billion GBP p.a) and followed by extortion, online theft and breach of customer data. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies face the major risk of IP theft followed by electronic and electrical equipment manufacturers. Businesses face the risk of loss of proprietary information, ideas, designs and copyrights by cybercriminals and corporate spies. Financial services and mining face the major risk of corporate espionage.

The increasing instances of cybercrime have made it inevitable for organizations to increase spending on cyber security. Organizations are investing on latest intrusion detection systems and network segregation. Network segregation is crucial to prevent unauthorized access to privileged business information. Lack of cyber security awareness among employees also results in lapses, which may lead to intrusions and unauthorized access to data. Organizations need to invest in improving cyber security awareness among employees through e-learning, online computer training programs and IT workshops. Regular security evaluation of IT infrastructure is crucial to mitigate the vulnerabilities before their exploitation by attackers.

Government suffers an economic cost of around 2.2 billion GBP annually due to cybercrime. Tax and benefits fraud, National Health Service (NHS) fraud and pension fraud are some of the cybercrime perpetrated against the government. Cybercriminals target individuals through online scams, identity theft and fake anti-virus software. The financial burden of cybercrime on citizens of U.K is around 3.1 billion GBP per year.

The growing challenges posed by cybercrime has resulted in increased demand for cyber security specialists such as system administrators, network administrators, ethical hacker certified personnel, programmers, penetration testers and security auditors among others. Government must initiate cyber security programs to enlighten the citizens on the prevalent threats in the cyber space. Strengthening the IT infrastructure is crucial to reduce intrusions by cyber-attackers. IT employees working in the public sector companies may be encouraged to undertake IT security certification programs to upgrade their technical skills to deal with the challenges posed by cybercrime.

Individuals may safeguard their computer systems by installation and regular updating of anti-virus software, installation of firewalls and timely application of security patches released by software companies. Adherence to cyber security tips and guidelines may help individuals in preventing intrusions, unauthorized access and data breaches.

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The Biggest China Electronic City–Shenzhen

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Shenzhen is a city of sub-provincial administrative status in southern China’s Guangdong province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. Owing to China’s economic liberalization under the policies of reformist leader Deng Xiaoping, the area became China’s first-and arguably one of the most successful-Special Economic Zones.

Shenzhen’s novel and modern cityscape is the result of the vibrant economy made possible by rapid foreign investment since the late 1970s, when it was a small fishing village. Since then, foreign nationals have invested more than US$30 billion for building factories and forming joint ventures. It is now reputedly one of the fastest growing cities in the world.Being southern China’s major financial centre, Shenzhen is home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of numerous high-tech companies. Shenzhen is also the third busiest container port in China, ranking only after Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Shenzhen Industrial

Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industrial Park (SHIP) was founded in September 1996. It covers an area of 11.5 sq km. Industries encouraged in the zone include Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals, Building/Construction Materials, Chemicals Production and Processing, Computer Software,Electronics Assembly & Manufacturing, Instruments & Industrial Equipment Production, Medical Equipment and Supplies, Research and Development, Telecommunications Equipment.

Shenzhen Software Park is integrated with Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industry Park, an important vehicle established by Shenzhen Municipal Government to support the development of software industry. The Park was approved to be the base of software production of the National Plan in 2001. The distance between the 010 National Highway and the zone is 20.8 km. The zone is situated 22 km from the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport.

Huaqiangbei—Shenzhen Electronic street

Huaqiangbei is an area in Shenzhen. It runs from Shennan Boulevard at SEG Plaza near Huaqianglu Station on the Shenzhen Metro for one kilometer north to the Pavilion Hotel. It is the spine of a concentrated shopping and restaurant area, with cross streets Zhen Zhong Lu, Zhen Hua Lu and Zhen Xing Lu. Hua Fa Lu is immediately parallel to the east with Yan Nan Lu further away.

The area is characterized by tree-lined streets with wide (5-20 meter) footpaths. Huaqiangbei itself is lined by large buildings each specializing in commercial electronics, consumer electronics or women’s clothing. The latter range from top Hong Kong and international designer label shops to locally produced good quality clothing, shoes and bags. Fake goods are largely absent from this area, unlike the other major shopping areas of Dongmen and Luohu Commercial City.

The surrounding streets are lined by clothing shops, hotels, restaurants from all provinces of China with prices ranging from 10RMB to 100RMB per person, western fast food outlets, massage parlours (only for massage), discotheques, various small stores and several international supermarkets.

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