2017 - a record-setting year in the fight against cybercrime, study reveals

The report confirmed a 100% increase in volume of attacks over the last two years. The good news is that record numbers of these attacks are thwarted by organizations investing in digital-first strategies to protect consumers facing downstream attacks from large-scale data breaches.

The report data also revealed bot activity levels which account for up to 90% of traffic on several retail sites. Even consumers who aren’t directly affected suffer, as they experience a tedious identity verification process by many businesses attempting to separate legitimate activity from fraud.

Trends in consumer behaviour have shaped cybercriminals’ increasingly complex attack patterns. Account takeovers attacks increased 170%, now taking place once every 10 seconds. Also 83 million fraudulent new accounts were attempted between 2015 and 2017. Fraudsters create complete identities and open new accounts by quilting together identity data, harvested from breaches and the dark web.

Fraudulent payments increased 100% over the last two years. Fraudsters use a stolen credit card, or hack into a victim’s bank account, to transfer money to a new beneficiary. Emerging industries - particularly ridesharing and gift card trading sites - are particularly susceptible to fraud, as cybercriminals exploit new platforms for doing business. 

Cybercrime Report 2017: A Year in Review is based upon actual cybercrime attacks, detected and blocked during analysis and interdiction of fraudulent online payments, logins and new account applications on the ThreatMetrix Digital Identity Network between January and December 2017.