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The digital landscape has become both a playground for innovation and a battleground for cybercriminals. Cybercrime has become one of the most pressing threats to businesses, governments, and individuals. From ransomware attacks crippling hospitals to sophisticated phishing scams draining bank accounts, these criminals are evolving at an alarming rate.
Expert in digital forensics and cyber fraud, Cade Zvavanjanja’s “How To Get Away With Cyber Fraud” presentation, was not a guide for criminals, rather, it was a stark revelation of the tactics they use and how to stop them, educating institutions on the art of thinking like criminal to catch a criminal.
By Gamuchirai Mapako
Combating these threats requires a blend of cutting-edge technology, psychological insight, and relentless investigative work.
“Cyber fraud isn’t just about technology, it’s about psychology, strategy, and resilience. The question isn’t if you’ll be targeted, but when,” said Mr Zvavanjanja
Cybercrime is a booming industry, with damages expected to exceed $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. The anonymity of the internet, coupled with the ease of deploying attacks, has emboldened criminals.
“Fraudsters innovate faster than regulations adapt,” stated Mr Zvavanjanja.
The presentation pointed out the adoption of emerging technology by fraudsters to infiltrate the internet like anti-forensic techniques a method of covering digital footprints to make the fraud nearly undetectable.
Financial institutions face a series of cyber threats, in some cases unauthorised transactions, each meticulously erased from logs. The perpetrators use file-wiping tools, encryption scramblers, and timestamp forgery to deceive investigators.
As a countermeasure institutions are advised to use digital forensic toolkits capable of recovering metadata even from “deleted” files. By analysing residual data in the system’s memory, they can trace the attack to its point of origin.
Mr Zvavanjanja described a supply chain attack where hackers infiltrated a software vendor’s update server, injecting malware into legitimate patches. Companies that installed the “updated” software unknowingly gave attackers backdoor access.
“The weakest link isn’t always the firewall,” Mr Zvavanjanja emphasised. “It’s the human element.” Social engineering, phishing, and insider threats are just as dangerous as sophisticated malware.
Holding cybercriminals accountable across jurisdictions becomes the challenge, especially in countries like Zimbabwe.
Mr Zvavanjanja stated, “Digital evidence must meet courtroom standards,” suggesting a blockchain-based chain-of-custody logs to prove data integrity, ensuring forensic findings were admissible in court.
To combat cybercrime, he advocated for proactive threat hunting using AI-driven anomaly detection to spot irregularities before breaches escalated.
Law enforcement agencies worldwide are racing to keep up, employing a mix of forensic techniques, artificial intelligence (AI), and international collaboration to dismantle cybercriminal networks.
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