Socio-economic factors in cybercrime: Statistical study of the relation between socio-economic factors and cybercrime

The expansion of the access to the Internet around the world has changed society as we know it. Having access to an unlimited source of information has changed the lives of individuals and communities. Even so, this new-found connectivity has created new risks. The Internet has enabled criminals to target data around the world and has put in reach critical infrastructure. Data breaches in companies affect millions threatening the privacy of people. Companies are exposed to big economic losses if they fail to protect their data. And in the military arena nations are preparing for cyberwar. From a defensive point of view is critical to predict and prepare systems against attacks. To help, this study analyses correlations between socio-economic factors and attacks. We want to confirm if there is a link that can help drawing patterns on attacks. To do that we will categorise cyber incidents and run a statistical correlation on them. Correlation does not imply causality but it helps further research on the causes of cybercrime.