E-Business

Global Enterprises Loss Over $315Bn to Organized Crime Annually

Published

12 years ago

March 18, 2014

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Enterprises worldwide are expected to spend nearly $500 billion in 2014 to deal with issues caused by malware deliberately loaded onto pirated software — $127 billion dealing with security issues.

Middle East and Africa will account for $8 billion of the costs and $364 billion dealing with data breaches, according to a new joint study conducted by IDC and the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Global consumers, on the other hand, are expected to spend $25 billion, including Middle East and African consumers who will pay $2 billion, on security threats and costly computer fixes stemming from malware on pirated software.

This will also amount to 1.2 billion hours of wasted time in 2014.

The study, titled “The Link Between Pirated Software and Cybersecurity Breaches,” also revealed that 60 percent of consumers surveyed say their greatest fear from infected software is the loss of data, files or personal information, followed by unauthorized Internet transactions (51 percent) and hijacking of email, social networking and bank accounts (50 percent).

However, 43 percent of those same respondents do not install security updates, leaving their computers open to attack by cybercriminals.

“There is now a firm link between the detected malware on illicit software and criminal organizations, for which malware in pirated software can be a lucrative vector for cyberattacks. With many of these criminal organisations also behind the distribution of infected software, it means that an increase in software piracy translates to an increased vulnerability to cyberattacks,” said Daniel Kamau, anti-piracy lead for sub-Saharan Africa. “In the sub-Saharan region, the internet population is fast growing, meaning a large and unsuspecting base of targets to cybercriminals. Combine this with the lack of strong cybercrime laws and high piracy rate on the continent and its clear why we’re seeing more and more people fall victim to attacks.”

Government officials expressed concern about the potential impact of cybersecurity threats to their nations. According to the survey, governments are most worried about the loss of business trade secrets or competitive information (59 percent), unauthorized access to confidential government information (55 percent), and the impact of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure (55 percent).

It is estimated that governments could lose more than $50 billion to deal with the costs associated with malware on pirated software.

The African continent accounts for only 2 percent of global GDP, yet it accounts for 10 percent of global cybercrime incidents.

Across the continent, governments are increasingly partnering with local associations and vendors to combat the scourge of piracy and the associated risk of cybercrime.

In Nigeria, Microsoft has already partnered with the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to combat piracy, which according to the 2011 BSA Global Software Piracy Study, currently sits at 83% across the East and Southern Africa region.

On this occasion of “The Microsoft Play it Safe Day”, The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) would like to remind all Nigerians that:

a) “Supplying pirated software material is a criminal offence under The Copyright Act, which can earn the supplier, a fine of up to a 1000 Naira for each offending item and or a custodial sentence of up to 5 years in prison. Furthermore, anyone who buys pirated software material may find themselves being charged as an accessory to a criminal offence.

“b) Apart from the criminal charge; supplying pirated software material, is also a civil infringement of the copyright owners’ rights; which apart from the criminal sentence, can also simultaneously attract heavy monetary damages against the offending supplier.

“c) Using pirated software, leaves the computer or other implicated system of such user exposed to malware, cybercrime/cyber insecurity, which can put sensitive personal and or business information at risk, “ Afam Ezekude, executive director, Nigerian Copyright Commission.

The Nigerian Copyright Commission, encourages all Nigerians to “Play It Safe”; stay out of prison; keep you from punitive civil liability; protect your computers and digital systems from malware and cybercrime, do not supply or patronize pirated software.

“Cybercriminals are profiting from any security lapse they can find, with financially devastating results for everyone,” said David Finn, executive director and associate general counsel, Microsoft Cybercrime Center.

“Motivated by money, they’ve found new ways to break into computer networks so they can grab whatever they want: your identity, your passwords and your money. That’s why at the Microsoft Cybercrime Center, we’re focused on putting an end to these malicious acts to keep personal and financial data safe and secure, while reducing the financial incentive for criminals.”

The study was released yesterday as part of Microsoft’s “Play It Safe” campaign, a global initiative to create greater awareness of the connection between malware and piracy.

Additional highlights from the survey include that nearly two-thirds of enterprise losses ($315 billion) will be at the hands of organized criminals.

Also nearly 20 percent of the pirated software in enterprises is installed by employees.

And twenty-eight percent of enterprise respondents reported security breaches causing network, computer or website outages occurring every few months or more; 65 percent of those outages involved malware on end-user computers.

“Using pirated software is like walking through a field of landmines: You don’t know when you’ll come upon something nasty, but if you do it can be very destructive,” said John Gantz, chief researcher at IDC. “The financial hazards are considerable, and the potential losses could leave once-profitable businesses on shaky ground. Buying legitimate software is less expensive in the long run — at least you know that you won’t get anything ‘extra’ in the form of malware.”

The NUS forensics analysis of 203 new PCs loaded with pirated software found that a staggering 61 percent of the PCs were pre-infected with unsafe malware, including Trojans, worms, viruses, hacktools, rootkits and adware.

These PCs, purchased through resellers and PC shops in 11 markets, included more than 100 discrete threats.

“It is hugely concerning that brand new PCs are coming pre-infected with dangerous malware due to pirated software, making the users and companies readily vulnerable to security breaches,” said Professor Biplab Sikdar, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore.

“The university’s forensic tests clearly indicate how cybercriminals are increasingly leveraging the unsecure supply chain of piracy to spread malware and compromise PC security in a serious way. We would only recommend usage of genuine software for online safety and cybersecurity.”

The global study surveyed 1,700 consumers, IT workers, chief information officers, and government officials in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and analyzed 203 computers acquired in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States.

This year’s research is an extension of IDC’s 2013 study, “The Dangerous World of Counterfeit and Pirated Software,” differentiated by the attitude of government officials as well as the analysis of new markets, making the economic connection to cybercrime.

Whether an individual user, a small business, enterprise or even a government institution, all are encouraged to buy new computers from reputable sources to ensure they receive genuine software.

Microsoft said it is committed to protecting its unsuspecting consumers from downloading or purchasing no genuine software that exposes victims to malware that can lead to identity theft, loss of data and system failures.

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E-Business

Firm Detected a Scam Exploiting OpenAI’s Teamwork Features

Published

19 hours ago

January 22, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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Kaspersky has detected a scam tactic leveraging the OpenAI platform. Attackers are abusing OpenAI’s organisation creation and team invitation features to send spam emails from legitimate OpenAI addresses, potentially tricking users into clicking scam links or calling fraudulent phone numbers.

The spam campaign begins with attackers registering an account on the OpenAI platform. During registration, users are prompted to enter an organisation name, which can consist of any combination of symbols. Scammers exploit this by embedding deceptive text and fraudulent links or phone numbers directly into the field for organisation name itself.

Once the “organisation” is created, OpenAI provides an option to “invite your team,” allowing the input of target email addresses of victims. When invitations are sent, they originate from OpenAI’s address, making them appear fully legitimate from a technical standpoint.

Kaspersky detected several types of messages containing email threats sent in such a way. These are scam emails that promote fraudulent offers, such as adult services. Another attack angle is vishing – false notifications claiming a subscription has been renewed for a large sum: attackers instruct recipients to call a provided phone number to “cancel” the charge or take other actions that lead to further compromise. There may also be other email threats spreading via OpenAI platform.

The text that the attackers want the victims to read (highlighted in bold in the email template) is structurally inconsistent with the rest of the email template – which was originally designed to invite project collaborators. But the attackers bet on the fact that the victims would not pay attention.

“This case highlights a vulnerability in how platform features can be weaponised for social engineering email attacks. By embedding deceptive elements in seemingly innocuous fields like organisation names, scammers attempt to bypass traditional email filters and exploit user trust in reputable services.

“We urge all users to verify invitations carefully and avoid clicking embedded links without scrutiny. We also recommend brands to consider whether their online services or platforms could be abused by attackers,” comments Anna Lazaricheva, senior spam analyst at Kaspersky.

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E-Business

What the Retail and E-commerce Sector Should Expect in 2026 in Era of AI-driven Shopping and Privacy

Published

2 days ago

January 21, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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In 2025, the retail and e-commerce sector continued to face intense pressure from cybercriminals. According to Kaspersky data, 14,41%* of users in the global retail sector encountered web-based threats, while 22,20% were affected by on-device attacks.

Ransomware remains a serious concern for the industry. Last year, 8,25% of retail and e-commerce companies experienced ransomware incidents, and the number of unique B2B users in the sector affected by ransomware detections rose by 152% compared to 2023, signalling a sharp escalation in targeted attacks.

Phishing also continues to be a major threat vector. Kaspersky identified 6.7 million phishing attacks targeting users of online stores, delivery services, and payment systems in 2025. More than half of these attacks (50,58%) were aimed specifically at online stores, underscoring cybercriminals’ focus on e-commerce platforms as high-value targets for fraud and data theft.

A look at 2025 cybersecurity for retail & e-commerce: Trends and what happened

A stealer with a taste for pizza delivery. Shopping and food ordering via mobile apps are routine user behaviours. However, 2025 demonstrated that even downloading a seemingly legitimate app from an official app store does not guarantee safety, nor does it ensure that user data and financial credentials will not be compromised.

Ransomware detections in the B2B sector increased due to a single dominant actor. The number of unique users in the Retail & E-commerce sector who encountered ransomware detections increased by 152% in 2025 compared to 2023 (Nov 2024 – Oct 2025 vs. Nov 2022 – Oct 2023).

The most significant growth occurred during the 2024-2025 period and is largely attributable to the rapid spread of the Trojan-Ransom.Win32. Dcryptor family, which became highly prevalent across the retail and e-commerce sector in some of the analysed markets. This malware is a trojanised ransomware variant that leverages the legitimate DiskCryptor utility to encrypt disk partitions on victim systems.

Phishing activity in the online retail segment stood out. Despite being a long-established attack technique, phishing remains highly prevalent in the context of online purchasing.

From November 2024 through to October 2025, Kaspersky products blocked 6,651,955 attempts to access phishing links targeting users of online stores, payment systems, and delivery services. Of these attempts, 50.58% targeted online shoppers, 27.3% impersonated payment systems, and 22.12% targeted users of delivery companies.

Sales seasons continue to do the work for attackers. Seasonal peaks in online shopping consistently provide attackers with predictable opportunities to scale user-focused attacks.

Periods of heightened promotional activity lower user vigilance and allow familiar phishing and spam scenarios to blend into legitimate marketing traffic, increasing their overall effectiveness.

Predictions: What retail & e-commerce cybersecurity might face in 2026

Chatbots are likely to become a common product discovery tool across online marketplaces. Unlike traditional search, conversational interfaces encourage users to share more detailed, natural-language requests, revealing preferences, constraints, and contextual information.

This shift expands the privacy attack surface, as platforms accumulate richer user profiles through chat interactions. As a result, chatbot logs may become as sensitive as transactional data, increasing the risks of over-collection, misuse, or exposure of personal information.

“Search itself is changing, including how people look for products online. In 2025, there was a gradual shift from simple keyword queries to more conversational and visual ways of finding what to buy. As these models rely on broader user input, careful handling of the data involved will remain an important consideration for maintaining user trust,” comments Anna Larkina, Web data and privacy analysis expert at Kaspersky.

Changes in taxes and trade rules might be exploited in online fraud. Modifications in taxes, import duties, and cross-border trade rules are likely to be used as lures in phishing campaigns and fraudulent online stores, promoting unrealistically cheap offers or claims of avoided fees.

As pricing and fee rules continue to evolve across markets, it may lower vigilance, increasing the effectiveness of such schemes, particularly against small and mid-sized retailers.

AI-powered shopping assistants are expected to increasingly operate outside retail platforms, embedding themselves into browsers, mobile apps, and third-party services. While designed to simplify navigation and price discovery, these tools shift data collection beyond the retailer’s perimeter, creating new and less visible privacy risks.

To function effectively, external AI shopping agents require continuous access to user behaviour, including browsing activity, search intent, location context and product interactions across multiple sites.

This enables the aggregation of detailed behavioural profiles outside the direct control of both users and retail platforms, increasing the risks of over-collection, opaque data usage, and unintended exposure.

Image-based product search might become a new challenge in privacy risks. Previously, the main privacy concern around user images in e-commerce was limited to photos voluntarily shared in product reviews.

However, image-based product search is expected to make photo uploads a routine part of the shopping experience across major retail platforms. While this feature improves product discovery, it also increases the risk of unintended exposure of personal data.

User-submitted images may contain faces, home environments, or sensitive details, such as names, phone numbers, or addresses visible on shipping labels or packaging, making secure processing, data minimisation, and limited retention critical requirements for retailers.

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E-Business

Elon Musk Seeks $134Bn from OpenAI, Microsoft for ‘Wrongful Gains’

Published

4 days ago

January 19, 2026

Ebere Melum-Nwogbo

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Elon Musk, billionaire Tesla owner, has asked a United States (US) federal court to award him up to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, stating that the companies earned “wrongful gains” from his early support of the artificial intelligence startup.

Elon Musk,

This is according to a court filing, reported by Reuters.

In filings ahead of a trial expected to start in April in Oakland, California, Musk stated that OpenAI benefited between $65.5 billion and $109.4 billion from his contributions when he helped co-found the organisation in 2015, and Microsoft gained between $13.3 billion and $25.1 billion through its involvement.

He has asked a United States (US) federal court to award him up to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, stating that the companies earned “wrongful gains” from his early support of the artificial intelligence startup.

This is according to a court filing, reported by Reuters.

Musk’s legal team argues that his early financial and strategic contributions, including approximately $38 million in seed funding, the recruitment of key personnel, and assistance in connecting founders with contacts, laid the foundation for the later success of OpenAI and Microsoft’s commercial AI efforts.

“Without Elon Musk, there’d be no OpenAI. He provided the bulk of the seed funding, lent his reputation, and taught them all he knew about scaling a business. A pre-eminent expert quantified the value of that,” Musk’s lead trial lawyer Steven Molo told Reuters.

“Just as an early investor in a startup company may realise gains many orders of magnitude greater than the investor’s initial investment, the wrongful gains that OpenAI and Microsoft have earned—and which Mr Musk is now entitled to disgorge—are much larger than Mr Musk’s initial contributions,” the filing said.

Musk, who left OpenAI’s board in 2018 and now leads AI company xAI, alleges that OpenAI violated its founding non-profit mission when it restructured to include a for-profit arm tied to Microsoft’s investment and commercial strategy.

Meanwhile, OpenAI has labelled the lawsuit “baseless” and part of a “harassment campaign” by Musk, and Microsoft’s legal team has said there is no evidence the company “aided and abetted” OpenAI in any wrongdoing.

Both companies have asked the judge to limit what Musk’s expert witness may present at trial, arguing that the damages calculations are unreliable and could mislead a jury.

According to Reuters, Musk’s filing says he may pursue punitive damages and other penalties, including a possible injunction, if the jury finds the companies liable, though it did not specify what form any injunction would take.

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