a server, therein giving the appearance that the traffic is coming out of that source rather than from
the user, might be used to improve privacy. By failing to take simple security actions, the user not
only becomes a vulnerable target but also allows criminals to coopt electronic devices to conduct
other malicious and criminal behavior, costs which are potentially both considerable and which are
passed on to society.32 However, while many countries encourage the use of appropriate protection,
only a few go so far as to sanction failure to use protection.33
Of greater concern than the role of the individual is the role of the private sector companies
involved or operating critical infrastructure. Companies—frequently driven almost-exclusively by
profit in the age of privatization—have proven themselves slow to invest the necessary resources in
many aspects but quite notably in the area of industrial controls and security.34 Indeed, Kaspersky
Labs found critical infrastructure companies still running 30-year-oId operating systems.35 In the
United States, attempts to legislate requiring companies to maintain better security practices were
stymied on the grounds that it would be too costly for businesses.36 Such infrastructural lacks have
been aggravated by user apathy, with many companies operating industrial control systems not
even changing the default passwords.37
C. Private Sector Cooperation
The ease and speed of information-sharing between cybercriminals, and the disparateness of
criminal activity, makes it difficult for either law enforcement or targets to keep up. As discussed
in the previous section in greater depth (see section 1 B, above), cybercrime cannot be effectively
combatted without cooperation between the public and private sectors.38 As cyberspace continues
to develop, different investigative tools will be required of law enforcement, as dramatically shown
in the FBI’s inability to independently unlock iPhone.39 Only partnerships with the private sector will
make such possible.
Box 1.2: WannaCry Ransomware Attack
In May 2017, a huge cyberattack—described by Europol chief as “unprecedented in its
scale”—affected more than 200,000 victims in over 150 countries.40 While the United
Kingdom and Russia were the worst affected, the attack was global in nature, with large
affected institutions including the UK’s National Health Service, Russia’s Interior Ministry,
Germany’s rail network Deutsche Bahn, France’s car manufacturer Renault, Spain’s
telecommunications operator Telefonica and US logistics giant FedEx.
The virus, a worm-application, was paired with ransomware that takes control of users’
files and demands payments of US$300 in Bitcoin in order to unlock files and return
control to users. What made this malware—having permutations on the name WannaCry
and WannaCrypt—particularly virulent was its ability to move around a network by itself,
Page 33 | Chapter 1 | § C. Challenges to Fighting Cybercrime
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