As we are attaching with the internet, cybercrime is becoming a threat to us. Whenever we hear the word cybercrime, an image of a person, who is hiding his face in a hoodie and working in the darkroom comes into our mind. But it is not the reality with cybercrime. Cybercrime is a professional crime that needs some plans and sometimes teamwork. What do you understand by cybercrime? There are some examples of types of cybercrimes like buying illegal software, hacking and corrupting the system of a person who could cost thousands to the person or company. There are various types of cybercrime that are increasing in numbers as we are using the internet. As we are consuming the knowledge from the internet, cybercriminals are using cybercrimes to steal the data or to make any other frauds with the help of the internet.
As the internet is increasing day by day, hackers and cybercriminals are taking advantage of our little knowledge about cybercrime and the types of cybercrime. An e-mail can hack your mobile or computer device without your knowledge that you have been hacked.
In the article on cybercrime, we will know about what is cybercrime in cyber security and the types of cybercrimes.
What is cybercrime?
Cybercrime means a crime that involves the computer or any network device as a target or tool to make the online crime.
Cybercrime can be done with two methods. Cybercrime where criminal:
- Target the computer or any network device for fraud
To add malware or virus to another’s computer to hack his data or corrupt his computer. DDoS attacks are an example of targeting computers in cybercrime.
- Use the computer or network device to make the fraud
To use the computer and any other network device to send the fraud email or messages to another’s computer. For example- Phishing emails.
Cybercrime is a most dangerous crime because cybercriminals can commit cybercrime from anywhere.
Who is a cybercriminal?
Cybercriminal is a person who uses technology to make online crimes with the intention to steal personal data and gain some profit by the use of this information.
Cybercrime is not only done by a single person but it could be done by an organization with a team of people.
History of Cybercrime
The world’s first cybercrime was done by two thieves in 1834 who hacked the French telegraph System. After that, as technology is rising, cybercrime was also increasing. In early 2000, cybercrime started flying all over the world due to social media. People put their personal information on social media and give the rise to identity theft.
Three major categories of cybercrime:
There are mainly three categories of cybercrime:
Cybercrime against person
Cybercrime against people includes cyberstalking, distributing child pornography, child trafficking, credit card fraud, the online defamation.
Cybercrime against property
These cybercrimes are similar to real-life crimes. In this category of cybercrime, the cybercriminal uses the individual’s bank account or ATM card. The hacker steals the personal account information from the person by sending him fraud emails etc. and use these details to make fraud.
Cybercrime against Government
This is also known as cyberterrorism. This is not a common crime but it could be the most serious crime. Hacking official websites government and military comes under cyberterrorism. Mostly, the terrorists and government’s enemies have done such types of cybercrimes.
Types of Cybercrime
After knowing about the categories of cybercrime we should have the knowledge about the types of cybercrime so that we could do prevention of cybercrime.
DDoS attacks
DDoS attacks are used to make the online server down or unavailable. Cybercriminals use DDoS attacks to target government websites or high-profile organizations. Sometimes, cybercriminals do this just to threaten the government or company or for other means.
The DDoS is done by sending lots of unauthorized traffic to the website which is the main cause to crash the website or make the server down.
Botnets
A botnet is a set of computers that are already hacked by bots. These bots are part of malicious software and it gets orders from the main computer or by the hacker who has added this bot to the other computer.
Once this bot is run on the computer, it can take all the access of the computer. After adding this bot into the computer, a hacker can use anything in your computer including reading and sending personal files from the computer.
Zeus is the famous botnet. This botnet is capable to shut down or restarting the computer, deleting the system files etc.
Cyberstalking
Cyberstalking includes online harassment and stalking a person. Cyberstalking can be in the form of emails. Social media posts, text messages or any other online network.
We use to text our friends and classmates and follow them on every platform. But this is not cyberstalking because we stop ourselves on a certain limit. Sometimes, the stalker increases his level of cyberstalking that the person starts feeling afraid or concerned about their safety.
Suppose you are having coffee with your favourite person in a coffee shop which is far away from your home and you got an email from an unknown. The email is describing the exact location and name of the person with whom you are spending your time. Â This is an example of cyberstalking.
Identity theft
The cybercrime of identity theft happens when a cybercriminal gains access to your personal information. This information could be your bank details or any other confidential information related to your business which could give you billions of losses.
The reason behind identity theft is to:
- Steal your money from the bank
- To take your company ideas
- Open a bank account or internet account so that they can make fraud by using your identity.
The hackers can find your personal information by sending phishing emails or any other way. Sometimes, hackers steal personal information and use this information to blackmail the person and make money.
Social engineering
These types of cybercrimes are common and you must be aware of these crimes. In such types of cybercrime, the person made the call to a person to know about his ATM number or password so that they could use your information to withdraw the money from your bank. Usually, they react as a customer service agent and ask for personal information on a direct phone call or through email.
Phishing
These types of cybercrime are done by the cybercriminals by sending malicious email, URLs or attachments to the person. These things contain malicious software which gains access to the computer or mobile once you open these links or attachments. Â After the access, whenever you will type your password for online transactions, they will steal your password and other personal data inside the phone or laptop.
Cybercriminals are becoming advanced day by day. Our system makes fake emails spam. But, sometimes, these emails are not even flagged as spam.
Transfer of illegal content
This cybercrime includes the transfer of criminal information, child pornography etc.
Exploit kits
Exploit kits are bugs in software that are used by cybercriminals to gain access to computers. Hackers add some files to the core coding of the software. Whenever a person uses such software on a laptop, the code gives access to its owner. Therefore it is advised to never use pirated software.
What is Cyber Crime and its Types?
Online scam
The person who usually got the message or email includes the promise to give you a certain amount of money. These are usually sent by the cybercriminal to make the person greedy for the money which makes the person click on the link. After clicking on the link, the cybercriminal gets access to the computer and can do anything on the laptop.
PUPs cybercrime
PUP stands for Potentially Unwanted Program. These types of cybercrimes are not harmful. PUP is not much use, but they slow down the speed of laptops and will start showing advertisements on the computer. This software can be easily removed with the help of anti-virus.
The uses add install such software by clicking on “I AGREE” which comes under e-contracts.
Ransomware cybercrime
Ransomware is malware which blocks access to the data in your personal computer. It can block access to data or applications. It requires some money to open the data otherwise it will delete the data from the computer.
Whale Phishing attack
These types of crimes generally attack the person who is one a high position like the CFO and CEO of the company. The reason behind targeting such people is that they have unlimited access to the company and personal data of the company.
Insider threat
These types of cybercrimes are done by the person who has access to the same system. The person does insider threat cybercrime to sell the data or gain some profit by the use of this information. Or, the person adds malware to the system to make the system crash.
Facts about cybercrime
Cybercrime is a major threat to the person who is using the internet. It is the most dangerous crime and anyone who is using the internet or mobile can be the victim of this crime. Here are some shocking facts about cybercrime:
- There is a hacker attack in every 39 seconds
- 43% of cyber-attacks are targeted at small businesses
- During the covid-19, US FBI reported a 300% increase in the cybercrime reports
- 6 trillion dollars has been spent globally for cybersecurity by 2021
- 95% of Cybersecurity breaches occur due to the human error
- 54% of companies face one or more cyber-attack every 12 months
Conclusion
Cybercrime is a threat to our online life. Cybercriminals can use many types of cybercrimes to make fraud. The government should focus on the Privacy and Data Protection Laws to make these laws stricter so that our personal data can be safe. We can also take Preventive measures of cybercrime to save our data like making strong passwords and keeping eyes on our bank accounts. It will help us to protect the data and money.
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