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W: Good afternoon, everybody. Among the mistakes journalists sometimes make when covering cyber-security stories is calling an attack "sophisticated" when it’s anything but that. And it tends to irritate security professionals. There’s no real definition of what a sophisticated attack is, but a more elaborate hacking incident might involve gathering intelligence on a specific, complex network before it could be successfully and subtly exploited.  Today, we invite Mr.  Smith, the head of Europol to join us.
    M: Thank you, hostess. Attacks like what you have mentioned do happen. But more often than not, the hackers and cyber-criminals hitting the headlines aren’t doing anything magical. In fact, they’re often just wily opportunists—like all criminals.
    W: Oh? This is often how journalists and stock photos depict hackers, but it’s not the truth, is it?
    M: We can say that the growth of cybercrime is "relentless. " My agency has identified a range of increasingly common methods used by the 21st century offenders—and these are not sophisticated. These include digital payment attacks, ransomware, selling illicit material on the dark web and stealing people’s personal data to commit fraud or identity theft.
    W: What is their usual way to attack?
    M: Much of the time, established criminals seek to enlist the services of unethical hackers and younger " script kiddies," who use programs developed by others to infiltrate computer systems.
    W: I noticed that in one interview that you said "many young criminals nowadays don’t have the technical capability themselves, they’re switching from drug trafficking and all the rest of it to cybercrime because basically there’s a much better return on it. "
    M: Yes. That is a new trend these days. The ways in which young people become involved in this sort of activity were recently detailed in a report by the UK’s National Crime Agency. The average age of those arrested for malicious hacking activities was just 17; the offences included vandalizing websites, stealing data and breaking into private computers.
    W: It seems this problem is getting worse and worse, doesn’t it?
    M: Because our world is so much more connected than ever before, and those connections are often woefully insecure, it’s relatively easy to find ways of exploiting computer systems illegally. And ransomware, in general, is increasingly successful. In 2016, criminals made an average of $1,077 with every attack. For the BBC’s Cyber-hacks series, Click’s Spencer Kelly discovered how cyber-criminals can acquire off-the-shelf ransomware using only a search engine.
    W: Sounds pretty easy to commit a cybercrime.
    M: Yes. The easiest thing to do is "just cast it out there"—whether it’s ransomware, spyware or spam—and see what comes back. Many people are often surprised by the amount of spam they receive, especially because so many of the spams are so obviously illegitimate. But the reason you still get emails from a Nigerian prince offering cash out of the blue is because people continue to fall for such stories. Not huge numbers, but a few. And that’s all it takes to make a profit.
    W: So are there frighteningly powerful hackers out there?
    M: I’m sure there are a few—and they most likely work for governments. As for criminals, the goal is always the same. That same lure—a quick buck—is what pulls them in online, just like it used to in the offline world. Criminals are lazy as well as clever. That’s why they don’t walk into banks with shotguns anymore. It’s easier to go and steal stuff online.
    W: Thank you for sharing your view with us.
    1. What does the man say about cybercrime?
    2. According to this interview, why do many young criminals switch to cyberspace to commit crime?
    3. Why is cyberspace crime getting worse and worse?
    4. How much did cyberspace criminals make with each attack on average in 2016?
    5. Why do cyberspace criminals commit crime online?