It’s hard to find a stretch in the District completely devoid of Internet access, and even then smartphones, tablets and other gadgets make up for the absence. But a new study reveals a catch to being constantly connected: It opens the door for cybercrime.
The risk of falling victim to a cybercriminal in D.C. is the highest in the nation, according to a report from Sperling’s BestPlaces and Norton.
“Remember that old bank robber story where they asked him why do you rob banks?” said Adam Palmer, lead cybersecurity adviser for software developer Norton. “And he said because that’s where the money is. Well, this is where the money is.”
| Risk factors |
| How D.C. ranks in select cybersecurity risk categories: |
| > Hot spots per 100,000 people: 67.1 (fifth-most in nation) |
| > Average time on Internet per week, per person: 11.03 hours (second-highest nationally ) |
| Source: “Top 10 Riskiest Online Cities of 2012” by Norton and Sperling’s BestPlaces |
The report attributed much of the danger to the growing habit of accessing the Web via smartphone. The gadgets are quickly becoming the new magnet for cybercriminals, Palmer said. Most people have software to protect their computers, but the idea of protecting phones is relatively novel, and the hackers are taking advantage before it catches on.
They’re like the pickpockets of the subway, he said, targeting anyone unaware.
“In the past it’s been a typically younger age group [of victims], but it’s flattening out as more people are doing business online,” said John Everett, spokesman for the National White Crime Collar Center.
The study looked at the nation’s largest 50 cities. Of those, residents of D.C. spent more time on the Internet weekly than residents in every other city except Austin, Texas, and ranked at or near the top across the board for the rest of the study’s risk factors.
In addition, a recent report from the Internet Crime Complaint Center — a branch of the FBI — found that online fraud reports jumped 31 percent over the past five years.
“In big cities you have more possible victims exposing themselves and their system to cyberattacks by surfing online, downloading programs and clicking suspicious banners on the Web,” said David Maimon, an assistant criminology professor at the University of Maryland who researches cybercrime.
As a general rule, treat every connection like it might not be safe. What might appear as an innocent game of solitaire could be running software behind the scenes to rack up short message service, or SMS, charges. And Wi-Fi networks are notoriously easy for cybercriminals to tap into.
Said Maimon: “One of my favorite definition of the Internet is the Wild Wild Web.”
