Cyber threat to fire funds
CHARITIES have been forced to bring in cyber security experts to deal with fraud as “’bots” target the sector in the wake of the bushfires.
Smaller under-resourced charities and Instagram popup fundraisers are particularly vulnerable, and experts warn the entire sector needs to arm itself in the battle with bots.
“If you’re not fighting bot attacks with similarly sophisticated methods, you’re bringing a knife to a gunfight,” F5 Networks executive vice-president Kara Sprague said.
It comes as a new report from the Australian Government’s Cybercrime in Australia reveals a cybercrime is reported every 10 minutes, with an average of $6000 lost each time, more than $890,000 in reported losses each day and $328 million each year. Identity theft and online fraud are the two most commonly reported cybercrime categories, making up over 40 per cent of reports received by the Australian Cyber Security Centre over the quarter.
Cyber criminals would continue to target Australian charities after this year’s bushfire appeals, security experts warned, and most will have no option but to spend public donations on fraud protection and prevention.
Noel Clement of the Australian Red Cross said the global charity had been forced to bring in fraud experts to ensure money was getting to the right people.
“We are making sure we are smart about fraud and having experts in because we don’t want to hold up the process for everyone else,” he said.
Mr Clements said they had a number of people trying to defraud the charity — from bots flooding the system early on and, in other cases, identity fraud.
Red Cross confirmed all funds received for the bushfires had been allocated and were being distributed for the bushfire response.
The Salvation Army’s Craig Tucker said they had also upgraded IT security systems.
Dr Gary Johns from the
Australian Charities and Notfor-Profits Commission said smaller charities or social media fundraisers, even those with the best intentions, could face extra challenges.
Australian influencer Sarah Stevenson, who has a YouTube channel “Sarah’s Day”, with 1.38 million subscribers and one million followers on Instagram, was forced to prove she donated the nearly $400,000 she raised.