The cyber crime ecosystem: Challenges and solutions for smart technology

Abstract

The rising of smart technology increases the appearing of new vulnerabilities, consequently turning smart devices into a soft target by cybercriminals. While rapid proliferation has brought efficiency, smart technology has also introduced significant vulnerabilities to cybercrime. This paper will review the vulnerabilities and challenges of cybercrime within the ecosystem of smart technologies from two dimensions: analytical and user-related. The scope of this paper is to highlight main risks within smart technologies while pointing solutions for making such technologies secure and resilient, because the cybercrime groups take advantage of vulnerabilities of IoT devices. As solutions, states need a secure network infrastructure and data encryption, and a real-time threat monitoring system. The current paper fills in the gaps in previous foundational works on cybersecurity ecosystems and extends the ideas into the evolving landscape of smart technologies. A comprehensive understanding of the cyber-crime ecosystem is pieced together in the paper, using mixed-methods approach: a systematic review of existing literature and examples of how cybercriminals can target smart technologies. In this paper will be presented examples of the adaptation strategies of cybercriminals who, by exploiting gaps, have managed to develop elaborate attack vectors. Proposed solutions include creating a culture of cybersecurity awareness among citizens. Results provide a foundation for researchers who might want to extend the areas where the contexts of cybercrime and emergent technologies meet. The contribution in this paper is original, framing cybercrime within an interconnected and fast-evolving smart technology landscape. This study has underlined the requirement of realizing that such challenges need to be secure in the future of smart technology and its users worldwide.