Microsoft's Cybercrime Satellite Center Singapore is up and running

Cybercrime is rising. As the fast as the world is moving into the digital age, there's simply not enough resources or manpower to keep up with the rising demands of enhanced cybersecurity. Loopholes and exploits are constantly being generated and exploited and nobody knows that better than Microsoft. Not only has its Windows OS been the source of much hacking, even its Xbox Live service came under fire just last year. Lizard Squad and Anonymous are practically what everybody envisions nowadays when the word hacker is used. Despite that, hackers aren't the only type of cybercriminals. Like normal criminals, cybercriminals come in all varieties, from child predators to arms dealers and many of them with ties to organized crime.. Yes, you heard that right. Organized crime is surprisingly deep into software crimes (piracy for example) and rapidly spreading to other areas.

You'd think that a major issue like cybercrime would be the domain of governments (and it is) but Microsoft's also taking a proactive role, utilizing its considerable resources in setting up security centers all over the world. They've just opened the latest (there's another one opening in Tokyo tomorrow) in Singapore. Like all the other satellite security centers, the one in Singapore will have a direct link to the headquarters in Redmond, which allows the sharing of resources otherwise unavailable.

The centers are all staffed by a specialist team of experts called the Digital Crimes Unit (DCU). Comprised of  lawyers, engineers, investigators, analysts and more, they've been instrumental in stamping out a significant number of cybercrimes over the years.

The center in Singapore will give its support to all the South East Asian countries, as well as Australia, India, Korea and New Zealand. Of course, no matter where the centers themselves are located, they're all linked to each other and have access to all the same resources, which means everybody has access to the same information and is never out of the loop.

Microsoft highlights the need to be extremely wary as Singapore is a prime target for cybercrime due to it being a financial hub. Interestingly, the company's security experts pegged that financial cybercrimes will see the most increase in activity over the next few years, especially in Asia. It's no wonder then that three of the five satellite centers are located in Asia. Singapore being a financial and technological hub (and no doubt because it'll be a massive target) is why Microsoft's decided to set up one of its centers here.

With 60% of the world's population, Asia is the largest and faster growing IT sector in the world, thanks to developing nations like India and China rapidly building up their digital infrastructure. This rise is perilous as masses of people will suddenly gain access to the Internet over a small period of time. Inadequate education of the dangers of the Internet is not only a very real threat, it directly correlates to how successful cybercrimes are.

The bottom line is the while Microsoft may not have the legal jurisdiction to move on their information, they'll pass on what they do get (obtained legally) to the people who can. The DCU works hand in hand with organizations like Interpol, the IGCI, CERTs and even ISPs in their quest to eliminate cybercrime.

Microsoft may not be at street level educating the masses but what they're doing ensures that cybercrimes at least get flagged and acted on. While the company itself isn't a charity, the work the DCU does is all shared with the relevant authorities and other organizations freely. After all, from Microsoft's point of view, a safer environment for its users is a safer environment for them to do business in. It's win win all around.

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