Trend Micro: Cyber crime up 40 percent in Latin America, Caribbean in 2012

Cyber crime across Latin America hasn't been as well documented in the past, but security software provider Trend Micro is hoping to shine the spotlight on the region and drum up awareness with a new report.

Essentially, Trend Micro defined Latin America as the new hot target for cyber criminals -- especially when it comes to illegally tapping into government, finance or energy agencies.

The top two types of attacks were identified to be ones on industrial control systems followed by home-grown crimeware kits.

Financial rewards -- more so than hacktivism -- were cited as the top motivators for cyber crime across the region.

It's also important to define which nations were included in the report. For the purposes of this study, Trend Micro surveyed 20 of the 32 Organization of American States member states.

Between 2011 and 2012, cyber security incidents were up by nearly 40 percent. On a closer level, over a period of 28 days, 39 attacks from 14 different countries were recorded.

Of those 39 attacks, 12 were said to be unique and could be classified as “targeted,” but 13 were repeated by several of the same culprits over a period of several days.

However, researchers admitted it's difficult (if not impossible) to exactly pinpoint the extent of these attacks due to a "a lack of harmonised terminology across the region."