The Alarming Rise of WiFi Crime

The Internet is fast becoming the biggest criminal enterprise in the world. With a 3.4 percent increase in reported crime between 2010 and 2011, Internet crime is definitely on the rise.

The top 10 countries with the greatest reported Internet crimes are, in order, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Puerto Rico, South Africa, France, Germany and Russia. Combined, they represent 94.56 percent of all cases of web criminality.

While there’s no sure fire way to avoid becoming a victim, diligence and preparation can go a long way. Ensuring your business is PCI compliant is a solid step. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards were engineered by major credit card companies looking to provide services to protect credit card information across the Internet. Today, businesses are required to be PCI compliant when accepting, storing and transmitting credit card data.

CALEA, or the Communication Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, has set up another set of security measures to fight Internet crime. Their guidelines require carriers of telecommunication and manufacturers of telecommunications equipment have built-in surveillance capabilities allowing the monitoring of telephone, Internet and VolP traffic.

Between 2004 and 2007, the impact these guidelines have had has been significant. The Federal Bureau of Investigation invested over $39 million on the DCSNet system. It collects, stores, analyzes and indexes communications data that can be used for investigative purposes later. There’s been a 62 percent increase in wiretap performance and we’ve seen a 3,000 percent increase in the interception of Internet data like email.

Despite all these external sources, the best bet for not becoming a statistic in the Internet crime numbers is to have a reliable and safe Wi-Fi network. Look for the best solutions and security measures available.

This infographic is presented by goWiFi.