AMANDA-JANE TURNER Cybercrime is big business, thanks to technical advancement and interconnectivity creating more opportunities. This regular column will explore various aspects of cybercrime in an easy-to-understand manner to help everyone become more cyber safe.
C O L U M N
All cybercrime victims are equal, but… Equity refers to being impartial and fair, treating all people the same regardless of any real or imagined differences. How do we apply this concept of equity to victims of cybercrime? Have you ever read about the victim of a getrich-quick fraud and thought “serves them right for being greedy”? How many times have you heard about the victim of a romance scam and thought, “serves them right for being gullible, or desperate”? How about when a large agency is impacted by ransomware or online fraud? How many
to mitigate the risk of cyber threats as much as
of us have read about companies blaming the person
practicable. We also need to react to cybercrime
who unknowingly let the malware in or fell victim to a
effectively. That being said, the blame for cybercrime
business email compromise fraud? What about when
should be laid solely at the feet of the criminals.
an elderly person is scammed by a cybercriminal? Do we feel empathy for the victim that would be lacking if
I say this at conferences. I said it in a keynote last
a younger person had been scammed?
year. I say it in lectures, and I say it frequently in everyday conversations: anyone can become a victim
A very insightful peer-reviewed article by Dr
of cybercrime, none of us is immune. Knowing that
Cassandra Cross, Associate Professor in the School
to be true, we need to ensure we treat victims of
of Justice at QUT, No laughing matter, blaming the
cybercrime impartially and fairly. The exponential
victim of online fraud (2015), found that, despite an
growth of cybercrime means it is only a matter of
increase in awareness of cybercrime, there is still
time before we, someone we know or somewhere we
an “overwhelming sense of blame and responsibility
work will be impacted.
levelled at [the victims.” Unconscious bias can make us feel that a victim Take a moment to think about this. In reality, the
of cybercrime somehow brought it on themselves.
only person, or persons, to blame for cybercrime
Instead, let’s have a New Year with new, healthier
are the criminals. Regardless of what bait was used
thought patterns. Let us all model treating all victims
to successfully trick a victim, whatever unpatched
of cybercrime equally.
exploit a criminal wormed their way through to impact a network, the blame for cybercrime should fall solely on the criminal. Yes, everyone needs to ensure they operate with cybersecurity in mind whether they be a large organisation or an individual, and we need
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M A R C H • A P R I L 2023