Crime has been omnipresent in our society. It all started with the Adam and Eve eating the forsaken apple and committing the first crime. We cannot eliminate crime. It is knitted with human psychology with a needle and thread.
There are different sorts of crime- be it petty thefts or big burglaries. With the advent of modern technologies the methods of committing crime has also developed to humongous extent. And the number of crime has also increased,.
Newer inventions, more methods to commit a crime, more number of people devising more wicked more treacherous plans.
The biggest gift that modern scientific development has gifted us is a computer. Think of a world without computers? Where will you online tickets? Where will you do online shopping? Will you prepare assignments?
But with computers the criminals got a whole new tool in their hands to exploit the unsuspecting victims. And this crime committed through the use of electronic media like computers, smart phones etc are called cyber crime. This is a very different sort of crime than the contemporary crimes committed.
And here the twist is the criminals are hard to catch! Even the government investigating department has to hire individuals to hack computers with authorization to catch such criminals.
There is a specific kind of people related with this cyber industry. These people are called “hackers”. Heard of them?. It is a person who breaks into computer systems opening all the databases and files using codes and devices through a computer just revealing all your personal data. Sometimes this work is done illegally and sometimes legally. When illegally done its considered as a cyber crime and vice-versa.
There are categories in this job too! Hackers are divided into following categories
- White hat– they are also known as ethical hackers. They are good guys of this rather infamous industry. They do hacking with permission, to crack a code or top remove a virus.
- Black hat– this is what the crooks are called. These people are the hackers we hear about everyday in news. Their practices are illegal. They break into bank accounts; steal money or credit card information.
- Grey hat– everything has a mediocre. Same with hacking industry. These guys are neither good neither bad, neither black nor white. No! They don’t steal money or information, though they deface a website or two, create viruses etc. and yes, they don’t help people.
Although maximum media attention is enjoyed by the black hats only. There are further subdivisions- red hat, green hat and blue hat.
Coming to the types of cyber crime committed by individuals we get to the following divisions:-
- Identity theft and invasion of privacy
- Internet fraud
- ATM fraud
- wire fraud
- File sharing and piracy
- Counterfeiting and forgery
- Denial of service attacks
- Child pornography
- Hacking
- Computer viruses
- Sabotage
- Spam, stenography,and e-mail hacking
How to avoid Cyber crime
- Always use and antivirus software– although some people may say it slows computer down but one click might wipe out all information from your computer to better protect it.
“Prevention is better than cure”
- If you are in doubt, then block- game request, Facebook friend request from unknown people, LinkedIn requests; if you are suspicious then never give in
- More than one email accounts- a hacker who has invaded your email accounts has a treasure trove of information opened to him. Passwords of other websites can be reset through e-mail account. Birthdates, bank information all at his access. Better to use different.
Accounts for different purposes. One for online shopping, one for banking, one for work. In that way if one is hacked you won’t lose it all.
- Ignore pop ups- pops ups download malware in the background. It tricks users to clicking some download link
- Macs are vulnerable as pc’s- don’t be under the impression that macs can’t be hacked although it true hackers go after large number of users- windows. But nowadays hackers are using this platform as well
- Shops only on secure sites-secure e-commerce retailer’s internet address will change from “http” to “https” once you log in to their portal. Avoid sites that change back to “http” after logging in.
- Don’t store your card details on unknown websites- it’s good to save your card details for future purposes. But why take the risk?. Save it in your phone but not online
- Different password for Facebook– people usually keep the same password for both Facebook and email accounts. Never do it. Facebook is the storehouse of your personal life. Once breeched you cannot retrieve the information lost for life.
Some recent cybercrimes has stirred the world and has created a good amount of up rise in media. To glance over a few are-
- ‘WannaCry’ ransome ware outbreak- this attack was made in May 2017 and it targeted computers running on Microsoft Windows operating system by encrypting data and demanding ransom payments in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The attack started on 12th may 2017 and within a day it was reported to infect and attack 230,000 computers over 150 countries.in India also its effect was felt. Online shopping sites, ATM’s were closed down. Panic struck the government sectors as it had spread to their servers as well, putting national information at stake.
- ‘Blue whale’ frenzy- it is an app committing crime much deadlier than the entire history of cyber crime.it provokes its users to suicide. Basically it’s a game that gives 50 tasks in a course of 50 days and the user has to perform them to reach the next level. As the game proceeds the task gets creepy to creepier. Towards the end it tells you to cut your arms and legs and finally to suicide.
Many people all over the world have fallen victim to this game. In India 6 teenagers were killed due to this deadly game.
Conclusion
Everything lies in our hand. Technology will run the way we use it. If we use it in a good way it will benefit us and vice-versa. Cyber crime is growing nowadays among youngsters. Stay away from it as far as possible. I guess you won’t like to see your dear ones becoming a victim of it one day right?
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