Types of Digital Crimes
Introduction
Over recent years, many countries in the world have made significant milestones in terms of technological advancements. Communication has been made easier due to technological devices such as smartphones, computers, and other devices. Additionally, the world wide web has also facilitated connectivity and communication amongst people from countries worldwide. Such technological developments have significantly influenced the organizational structures of many governments, businesses, and other organizations. However, these technological developments have brought with them an increased concern for digital safety and cybercrime. Studies have shown that the number of cybercrimes has been steadily rising over the last five years. Therefore, it is crucial to effectively understand the various types of cybercrimes to establish strategies to combat such crimes in the future. This paper will discuss the various forms and types of cybercrimes and various victims. The paper will also analyze the effect of cybercrimes on the world community and how much crime can be prevented.
As mentioned earlier, cybercrime has been rising gradually over the years. Cyber attackers have been targeting individuals and institutions worldwide. Institutions such as schools, banks, and hospitals all use technology in their systems. Such technology is used to record people’s personal information and other essential data. Cyber attackers from various parts of the world develop various techniques to take advantage of systems and other users on various digital platforms. Cybercrime has been the cause of serious information theft and has cost the world close to five trillion dollars as of 2019. Due to these reasons, many countries have opted to develop strategies to help combat cybercrime to protect their citizens and economies. Understanding the various types of cybercrime and how they affect the world community is the first step towards combatting cybercrime. Below are some of the most common types of cybercrime that are evident in the world today.
Phishing
Phishing schemes are probably the most common techniques used by cyber attackers to take advantage of unsecured systems and unknowing users online. Such schemes come in the form of random emails used to bait users to give out personal information. The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a statement showing that phishing schemes have cost users in the United States close to fifty-seven million dollars in just one year. Such staggering numbers have raised concerns for the safety of user’s information online and user behaviors that will help them quickly identify such phishing schemes. Phishing schemes or scams are often distributed to online users through emails. These emails are designed to resemble trusted brands or websites to lure users to scams and malware embedded or attached to the emails. A user might find themselves tricked into giving out personal information to hack the user’s accounts such as bank and email accounts and steal more information or even money from the users.
Studies have shown that cyber attackers send out millions of phishing emails out to users worldwide daily. Therefore, it is crucial to understand phishing schemes’ effects to effectively identify such scams and establish strategies to combat such scams. Phishing scam does affect not only individual users online but also affects various businesses, institutions, and organizations in the world. Since many of these scams use popular brand names to lure users, these businesses’ brand reputation is often affected negatively, meaning that these organizations could suffer low customer retention resulting in decreased sales and profitability. Phishing scams have cost business and other organizations millions of dollars’ worth of losses, and such losses have can lead to business closure. Apart from destroying brand reputation, Phishing schemes also results in the theft or loss of business or organizational intellectual property. Such loss of information can be devastating for organizations in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and technological industries.
Due to phishing scams’ adverse effects on individual users and organizations worldwide, governments establish strategies to help curb phishing scams in their countries. Strategies to curb phishing scams have most involved creating awareness on phishing scams and their effects on both users and other organizations. With the high rise in such cyber crimes, institutions, organizations, and businesses have been forced to protect their users from online or cyber attackers. Institutions, organizations, and businesses protect their users by ensuring that their systems are well protected through encryptions and that their systems are protected from malwares and online viruses. Another way phishing scams have been combatted is by ensuring that online users can quickly identify such scams and stay clear of any adverse effects that might follow. Training programs in institutions and organizations have been elemental in creating such awareness.
By following such strategies, phishing scams all worldwide can be overcome. Additionally, such strategies facilitate quick response to phishing scams that individuals and organizations report, thus minimizing this type of cybercrime’s adverse effects. Online policing bodies in countries worldwide have employed various tactics to identify and arrest perpetrators of phishing scams. Recently the Federal Bureau of Investigation was able to track down and arrest an online scammer named Hushpuppy, who used phishing schemes to steal and launder money from users and organizations n various parts f the world. The FBI was able to capture this cyber attacker by carefully tracking his online activity. Once enough evidence was gathered, the cyber attacker was arrested and is being charged with ……………. ensuring that such cyber attackers are identified and captured is the best way to ensure that such phishing scams are penalized to ensure that they are minimized if not completely dealt with.
Identity theft
Another type of cybercrime that is common in countries worldwide is identity theft. With technology bringing about the rise in social, medical platforms and technology, close to ………………. people in the world are subscribed to at least one social media platform. These platforms enable users to share information concerning their lives openly without much discretion. Cyber attackers often use such information to take advantage of users and sometimes even whole organizations. Cyber-attacks might steal peoples’ identity for various reasons. Nonetheless, all types of identity theft can have significant effects on individuals’ lives and livelihoods. Therefore, it is crucial to understand identity theft and the various types of identity theft in order for practical evaluation and establishments of preventive measures. Over the years, identify theft scams and schemes have cost people in countries in the world close to four billion dollars every year.
The first kind of identity theft is account takeover theft, which is common in many countries today. Cyber attackers will mainly use phishing scams to get user information to access personalized accounts such as a bank, medical and social accounts. Additionally, the cyber attacker might use personal information gathered from other malicious activities online to access personal debit and credit card information and carry out various fraudulent activities. Through access to personal information, Cyber attackers might easily target users online and take over their driving licenses, mails, and even social security numbers and use them to benefit themselves. It is crucial to ensure that personal information online or on any social platform is well safeguarded to minimize the chances of identity and information theft.
There have been numerous cases of identity theft in countries in the world today. For instance, social security numbers are among the most crucial information used by the United States government to offer its citizens social services. Since the social security number was invented, the number has increased its functionality and has become one of the United States citizens’ most crucial personal information. However, the Social security number’s primary purpose is to track and monitor the United States workforce’s individual earning. Developments in technology have made it easy for cyber attackers to gain access to unique social security numbers, increasing the chances for identity theft only in America and other parts of the world.
An example of social security number theft happened between 2014 and 2016. Cyber attackers used computers to access personal information that users had submitted to websites on social and other privatized online platforms. Such information was used by the attackers to access social security information that gives access to many of the user’s accounts. The users then use social security numbers to accumulate debt for the users by taking massive loans and making financial decisions on behalf of the users. Such financial decisions on behalf of the users have resulted in excellent debt accumulation on users’ credit cards, thus negatively impacting many people’s lives in the country and the world. Therefore, it is crucial for people using technology to ensure that their information and especially social security number and the likes, have been keenly safeguarded. Such safety measures might include avoiding personal sharing information unnecessarily on online platforms, creating awareness of identity theft, and avoiding being a victim of this cybercrime.
The perpetrators of identity theft have been identified and captured several over the years. For instance, federal policing organizations have been educating the public on the various ways to avoid identity theft and report immediately for a timely response. Such federal institutions have developed technologies that can help track down when stolen identification documents are used fraudulently. Such tracking and monitoring of stolen identity strategies have been able to help identify individuals with suspicious behaviors that might be taking art in fraudulent identity theft. It is crucial to ensure that offenders of such cyber-crimes are punished accordingly to ensure that such crimes are not entertained and discourage any individual from taking part in such malicious activities and digital crimes. An ideal punishment would be to serve would be a prison sentence and a large bail proper order since such punishment works effectively in trying to avoid such cybercrimes.
Harassment
Online bullying has become an issue that has characterized the twenty-first century. Currently, there are close to four billion people are on social media. The Internet and the various social media platforms have been transformational in connecting people from all parts of the world and making the world an interconnected community. Communication between people from different areas has been simplified immensely by the internet and social media platforms. Additionally, it is easier for people worldwide to access information; thus, the twenty-first century has been dubbed the information era. Such ease of information has revolutionized various industry from entertainment to education and even the manufacturing industry. However, despite the significant milestone that technology has been able to achieve, there remain significant concerns regarding how the Internet and social media have played a significant role in the continued rise in online bullying and harassment.
Online bullying can affect anyone, from young children to grownups, and are sometimes driven by political or even social agendas. An online survey was conducted on the impact of online harassment on people from various parts of the world. The survey shows that online harassment has been a critical contributor to the rise in suicide in various parts f the world. The figures are staggering, and world governments have declared online harassment as a capital cybercrime. Big technology companies have employed various strategies to help curb online harassment globally, but there remains much to be done. Online harassment occurs in various forms, and it is crucial to ensure that crimes are identified and responded to effectively. The most common types of online harassment are trolling, spamming, cyberbullying, hacking, and cyber-mob attacks. Such crimes have devastated people, and it is crucial to understand their impact on the world population.
For example, the current coronavirus pandemic has claimed many people’s lives and distressed global economies for the better parts of this year. During the pandemic, there are several instances of online harassment that have been recorded. Many conspiracies we recreated regarding the coronavirus, and such conspiracies greatly affected how countries in the world went about containing the virus. There was a great divide between the people in the United States, especially regarding the coronavirus and the various recommended measures proven by scientists to contain the virus. The division between the people can also be evidenced on online platforms whereby any users are getting harassed based on them believes concerning the coronavirus. Such online harassment has led to an increased spread of fake news, which causes much social unrest and destroys many lives.
As earlier mentioned, the world government has been establishing strategies to combat online harassment and the spread of fake news. Big technology companies have been developing software that will help them identify and captures perpetrators of online harassment. Such strategies include round-the-clock monitoring of online activities to effectively respond to online harassment cases to avoid its adverse effects. In previous cyberbullying and harassment cases, perpetrators have been charged and sentenced to jail time or even fines depending on the country. However, such laws should be more elaborate and provide more severe punishments for online harassment to minimize such practices online and spread false information.
Privacy Invasion
Another common cybercrime is the invasion of privacy. The devices that many people possess often contain most, if not all, of their personal information. Cyber attackers usually target individuals’ information to use it for personal gain. Many countries in the world have keen laws that protect the privacy of its citizens. However, due to more complex cybercrime tactics. Cyber attackers might hack peoples’ devices to collect information that would otherwise be private or personal. The attackers then use this information to either blackmail or embarrass their targets. Cyber attackers might also hack device cameras and record ongoings in their targets live. Such spyware systems are used to invade the privacy of unknowing users in various parts of the world.
There have been numerous reports of peoples’ personal information and data from their devices leaked online in recent years. With the continued developments in technology, countries like the United States have developed laws meant to govern whether the crime of privacy invasion does not occur. The psychological impact that invasion of privacy can have on people might be very devastating, and therefore such laws of privacy invasion must be taken seriously. People who commit such privacy invasion crimes are usually charged and sentenced to a maximum of six months of jail time if guilty. However, such lenient punishment does not necessarily send a strong message, and therefore, invasion of privacy is a significant problem today.
Cyber Terrorism
This type of cybercrime is perhaps one of the most discussed among various people in society. It has been noticed that social media and other technological platforms have been used by cyber attackers to instigate civil wars and other forms of terrorism attacks on target countries in the world. Some countries in Asia have entre population linked to social media, and in these platforms, false information is used to make significant social changes and even instigate civil wars. Such use of the Internet to destabilize economies and promote terroristic agendas is a concerning topic that has been having devastating effects on some countries in parts of the world.
The information that people are exposed t on the Internet can be challenging to monitor. Studies have shown that many terrorist organizations have been using social media to recruit members to their organizations actively. It comes as no surprise that these organizations have been receiving recruits faster than ever before in history. Such crimes of cyber terrorism have had their implications in real life. Over recent years, there has been a significant increase in mass shootings and growth in unconstitutional militia groups responsible for many attacks that happen to the public. World governments do not take cyber terrorism lightly because they are aware of their risks to their countries. It is due to these reasons that, over the years, federal policing agencies have established ways to identify and capture perpetrators of such cybercrimes. Penalties for cyber-terrorism have significantly steeper than any other form of cybercrime, with the lowest sentence being ten years.
Conclusion
Technology continues to become an integral part of human society. Many industrial and manufacturing processes now highly rely on technology systems for more efficiency and output. Additionally, technology has facilitated communication between people from all parts of the world, thus significantly boosting global economies. However, many people look to take advantage of technology users by exploiting them and taking their information. Such crimes have a significant impact on the psychology and emotional well-being of any individual. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the various forms of cybercrimes to evaluate the current state of cybercrime properly. It enables the formulation of strategies that will help people remain safe online as technology continues to shape the course of history.