PDF of this tutorialTelecommunications fraud is a multibillion-dollar business. Global estimates of direct damages resulting from fraud vary from $30 billion to more than $40 billion in 2000, or in other words, an annual loss of 3 percent to 8 percent to the average service provider. NGNs prove to be fertile ground for technological fraud and criminal activity. Recent scams of a highly sophisticated technological nature are believed to be associated with units of organized crime, cleverly employing self-educated fraud techniques and the assistance of hacking specialists. It has been said that telecommunications fraud is more attractive than the drug market. This is not to say that small-scale fraud is not practiced by millions of "everyday users" around the world. The availability of hacking information and the ease with which several illegal actions can be performed allows even amateurs to invade and abuse a network, resource, or customer account. These will more often than not result in severe loss of profit, network downtime, and/or service malfunction, subsequently creating an image of a nonsecure and inefficient network.
In NGNs, service provider losses could become considerably higher with the addition of multiple new services and increased numbers of business transactions carried out over an open, distributed network. The landscape of NGNs is a dynamic one, changing constantly to accommodate the entry of new players, mergers, and acquisitions; the introduction of fast evolving technologies; methods of access; and new billing schemes. Next-generation fraud techniques are more complex and diversified than those employed today, requiring new tools and methodologies for an effective solution. Modern day hackers and cyber criminals are often more technologically advanced than network personnel, possessing the knowledge required to circumvent existing security mechanisms far before network employees have received relevant training. Internet relay chat (IRC) enables them to exchange ideas, tips, and Web site locations of hacking tools over an open network connection, providing a wealth of dangerous information to external sources. Previous command line–based hacking has been replaced by friendly graphical user interfaces (GUIs), enabling an entire public of nonprofessionals to understand bypass procedures and commit fraudulent acts.
