The Era of Cyber Borderless Robberies The scene that disappeared behind the screen 1990s-2010s

The Era of Cyber Borderless Robberies The scene that disappeared behind the screen 1990s-2010s

While bank robberies in the physical world had a clear crime scene and a single line of jurisdiction and evidence, online robberies are vague in terms of both borders and crime scene. The perpetrator is behind a remote line and transfers funds without leaving any fingerprints. In the early nineties, banks went online via telephone and early connections, and identification relied on knowledge of calling numbers and secret questions. Fragmented information gathered by name calling and call center guidance broke through, and accounts were quietly opened. The Levin case in 1994 symbolized robbery through the screen, dispersing funds from corporate accounts to multiple countries, making cash transfers and dye bombs irrelevant. The seam of jurisdiction over who was investigating in which country stalled the process and shook the fundamentals of conventional investigations.

Eventually, the attacks entangled human and machine holes. Spoofed phone calls to exploit weaknesses in identity verification, spoofing of outgoing numbers, briefcase hijacking using vulnerabilities in mobile network control signals, and evasion of two-factor authentication through number hijacking. Siphoning off credentials via e-mail and fake screens, and then finely distributing the payout after the intrusion. The spread of infection by browsing alone and remote-controlled fraudulent money transfers, with ordinary browsers who are used as stepping stones becoming part of the chain without being aware of it. Behind the scenes, the development of malware and account brokerage become industrialized, leading to a small mouth of name-lending and automated money laundering.

Defenders will also evolve. Multilayer authentication using behavioral history and terminal fingerprints, combinations of authenticators and biometrics, anomaly detection during money transfer, behavior analysis through machine learning, and the introduction of transaction suspension and confirmation will be introduced. However, economic gravity will always be at work, as any loss of convenience will lead to an increase in withdrawals. Internationally, mutual aid agreements and cybercrime treaties are in place, but tracking funds crossing borders at the speed of light remains difficult. As the massive disappearance of funds outside of the regulatory network in the 2004 exchange spill demonstrates, there are still areas where compensation and recovery mechanisms cannot keep up. In the space of 20 years, the scene has moved from the cash truck to the other side of the screen, and the seams between people, machines, and institutions have become the new crime scene.