• Online payment fraud is on the rise, having grown 14% from $17.5bn to over $20bn in 2021.
• Cybercrime has surged in recent years as more digital platforms create new opportunities for criminals.
• Web 2.0 was never designed to be secure, and failed to provide users with a safe way of verifying their identity online.

Growing Online Payment Fraud

In 2021, online payment fraud grew 14%, from $17.5bn to over $20bn. At the same time, 46% of organisations surveyed by PwC reported experiencing fraud, corruption, or economic crimes in the last 24 months, with 70% of those coming via an external attack or collusion.

Rise of Cybercrime

Cybercrime has surged over the last decade, as more and more platforms create new opportunities for digital thieves and hackers to scam and swindle at will. It’s estimated that around 40%, though likely more, of all global fraud is platform fraud involving social media platforms, streaming services and marketplaces.

What Did Web 2.0 Get Wrong?

The internet was never designed to be secure internally nor was the World Wide Web designed to be secure either; they just assumed that if you were on the network you could be trusted. When Web 2.0 came along it was focused on making money through data and advertising based on data but this created a verification problem – there needed to be a way of proving who people are without handing back control over their data to them. Unfortunately Web 2.0 never figured out how to make that happen safely or reliably enough for users’ protection .

Remote Working & Data Exposure

When you combine rising levels of cybercrime with increased remote working practices due to the pandemic and corporate information policies becoming less strict about data protection the result is that data appears more exposed than ever before; creating further risk for online payments being compromised by criminals looking for easy targets .

Conclusion

The unfortunate reality is that Web 2.0 can be likened to The Wild West when it comes to data privacy as it’s often difficult or impossible for users themselves alone protect themselves against cyber crime threats while using these platforms effectively . However , if companies developed better ways of authenticating identity verification securely then customers would have much greater peace of mind when using these services which could help reduce levels of platform-based fraud significantly .