Prevention is a key defense, says chief of UN Global Programme on Cybercrime

Cybercrime is everywhere. "Irrespective of what [policy-makers] wish to call it ... [digital crime] is still happening," said Neil Walsh, Chief of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Cybercrime Programme in an interview with TechRepublic's Dan Patterson.

The definition of cybercrime varies from country to country which is one of the biggest political challenges, Walsh said. He simplifies cybercrime by classifying it under two different categories: cyber-dependent crime, or cyber-enabled crime.

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Cybercriminals can vary from everything to a teenager with coding skills acting alone, to nation states with intelligence agencies. As the amount of money to be made by cybercrime grows, the number of cybercriminals will too.

Prevention is a key player in defending cybercrime, said Walsh.. Many organizations have heard that people are the biggest risks to their secure systems. However, if organizations do things the right way, people could also be the strongest factor in defending the system as well, he added.

Walsh said organizations can protect themselves by broadening the awareness of those who are using their systems within a workplace, and how their employees use their own devices as well.

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Companies need to be alert, online and off, said Walsh. "I think it's growing that awareness and making people think in the same critical way that they would think about a parcel turning up on their doorstep."