March 14, 2024 at 11:06AM
The Cybercrime Atlas, a collaborative initiative involving law enforcement, private sector, and academia, aims to disrupt cybercriminals by mapping out their relationships and infrastructure. With members like Microsoft and PayPal, the initiative is focused on intelligence gathering and taking action to make cybercrime less lucrative. The project is seen as a unique and much-needed effort, given the increasing global risk of cyber insecurity.
The Cybercrime Atlas, a project aiming to disrupt cybercriminals through mapping out relationships between criminal groups, has entered its operational phase in 2024. It was launched in [YEAR] at the World Economic Forum with founding members Banco Santander, Fortinet, Microsoft, and Paypal, and now includes 20-plus law enforcement agencies, private-sector security companies, and incident responders, among others. The initiative’s investigations group, with over 20 members, meets weekly to analyze intelligence packages and profile threat actors.
The work involves open source intelligence, correlation, identifying choke points, and working on disrupting criminal infrastructure. The ultimate goal is to make it more difficult and cost-prohibitive for cybercriminals to operate, thereby lowering the ROI on cybercrime. Sean Doyle, the Cybercrime Atlas initiative lead, emphasized that the project aims to make life more difficult for cyber criminals in a collaborative manner.
Recent incidents such as the ransomware attack on America’s healthcare system and the British Library highlight the continued threat of cybercrime. This has brought cyberthreats to the forefront of discussions among CEOs and boards of directors, prompting the World Economic Forum to take on this initiative. The Global Risks Report 2024 by WEF highlights cybersecurity as a significant global risk and emphasizes the need to combat digital crime and address the cyber skills gap.
The WEF has increasingly focused on cybercrime and cybersecurity, evident from its efforts to help organizations improve their cybersecurity posture and resilience. The WEF stresses the importance of tackling cybercrime collaboratively, stating that it is a challenge that requires joint efforts from companies, governments, and international organizations.