Cybercrime Computer Crime, Privacy
Cybercrime Computer Crime, Privacy
Cybercrime Computer Crime, Privacy
TOPIC
Computer, cyber crimes and privacy
(KANSIIME YOWERI)
What is Cybercrime?
Cybercrime can be defined as “The illegal usage of any communication device to
commit or facilitate in committing any illegal act”.
A cybercrime is explained as a type of crime that targets or uses a computer or a
group of computers under one network for the purpose of harm.
The security holes can be a form of using weak authentication methods and
passwords, it can also happen for the lack of strict security models and policies and
misconfigurations.
Cybercrimes can have different laws and regulations from one country to another,
mentioning also that covering tracks is much easier when committing a cybercrime
rather than real crimes.
Availability of various open-source hacking tools online have given an advantage for
many people to get involved in cybercrime easily. These can even allow copy and
paste programming.
Insider Threats
Individuals who have access to critical information or systems can easily choose to
misuse that access to the detriment of their organization. These threats can come
from internal employees, vendors, a contractor or a partner and are viewed as some
of the greatest cyber security threats to organizations.
Political motivation
It has become clear in recent years that cybercrime is increasingly being used as a
tool to achieve some or the other political goal. This can take the form of
manipulating elections or distributing ransomware.
Cyberwar
Cyberwar is becoming increasingly common. It refers to the use of digital attacks by
one country such as computer viruses and hacking to obstruct or destroy the critical
systems of another country with the goal of creating damage, death and destruction.
State Actors
State-sponsored actors receive funding and assistance from a nation-state. They are
specifically engaged in cyber crime to further their nation’s own interests.
Corporate Espionage
This is a form of cyber attack used to gain an advantage over a competing
organization.
Financial reasons
The primary motivation of a hacker is money, and getting it can be done with a
variety of methods. They could directly gain entry to a bank or investment account;
steal a password to your financial sites and then transfer the assets over to one of
their own; swindle an employee into completing a money transfer through a
complicated spear phishing technique, or conduct a ransomware attack on your
entire organization.
The thought of learning new techniques, curiosity to seek knowledge and others
want to perfect their skills.
Seeking revenge.
This can also be in form of a technical challenge to some one who earlier harmed
you or your organization.
Testing system security and
resilience
Technical primacy is one of the most
important answers to the question
“what do hackers
hack for?” The common sense
knowledge about the attacks is that
hackers identify aws in sys-
tems or software,
ARUHO ISAAC)
Classifications of Cybercrimes
Cybercrimes in general can be classified into four categories:
Organisation Cyber Crimes: The main target here is organizations. Usually, this type
of crime is done by teams of criminals including malware attacks and denial of
service attacks.
Property Cybercrimes: This type targets property like credit cards or even intellectual
property rights.
Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when a cybercriminal uses another person’s personal data like
credit card numbers or personal pictures without their permission to commit a fraud
or a crime.
Ransomware Attack
Ransomware attacks are a very common type of cybercrime. It is a type of malware
that has the capability to prevent users from accessing all of their personal data on
the system by encrypting them and then asking for a ransom in order to give access
to the encrypted data.
Hacking
This term refers to the crime of unauthorized access to private computers or
networks and misuse of it either by shutting it down or tampering with the data stored
or other illegal approaches.
Internet Fraud
Internet fraud is a type of cybercrimes that makes use of the internet and it can be
considered a general term that groups all of the crimes that happen over the internet
like spam, banking frauds, theft of service, etc.
Cyber Bullying
It is also known as online or internet bullying. It includes sending or sharing harmful
and humiliating content about someone else which causes embarrassment and can
be a reason for the occurrence of psychological problems. It became very common
lately, especially among teenagers.
Cyber Stalking
Cyberstalking can be defined as unwanted persistent content from someone
targeting other individuals online with the aim of controlling and intimidating like
unwanted continued calls and messages.
Software Piracy
Software piracy is the illegal use or copy of paid software with violation of copyrights
or license restrictions.
Not only software can be pirated but also music, movies, or pictures.
Social Media Frauds
The use of social media fake accounts to perform any kind of harmful activities like
impersonating other users or sending intimidating or threatening messages. And one
of the easiest and most common social media frauds is Email spam.
Online Drug Trafficking
With the big rise of cryptocurrency technology, it became easy to transfer money in a
secured private way and complete drug deals without drawing the attention of law
enforcement. This led to a rise in drug marketing on the internet.
Illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, or marijuana are commonly sold and traded
online, especially on what is known as the "Dark Web".
Electronic Money Laundering
Also known as transaction laundering. It is based on unknown companies or online
business that makes approvable payment methods and credit card transactions but
with incomplete or inconsistent payment information for buying unknown products.
It is by far one of the most common and easy money laundering methods.
Cyber Extortion
Cyber extortion is the demand for money by cybercriminals to give back some
important data they've stolen or stop doing malicious activities such as denial of
service attacks.
Intellectual-property Infringements
It is the violation or breach of any protected intellectual-property rights such as
copyrights and industrial design.
Online Recruitment Fraud
One of the less common cybercrimes that are also growing to become more popular
is the fake job opportunities released by fake companies for the purpose of obtaining
a financial benefit from applicants or even making use of their personal data.
( MUHOOZI OWEN)
Given its prevalence, you may be wondering how to stop cybercrime? Here are
some sensible tips to protect your computer and your personal data from cybercrime:
Keeping your software and operating system up to date ensures that you benefit
from the latest security patches to protect your computer.
Be sure to use strong passwords that people will not guess and do not record them
anywhere. Or use a reputable password manager to generate strong passwords
randomly to make this easier.
Never open attachments in spam emails
A classic way that computers get infected by malware attacks and other forms of
cybercrime is via email attachments in spam emails. Never open an attachment from
a sender you do not know.
Never give out personal data over the phone or via email unless you are completely
sure the line or email is secure. Make certain that you are speaking to the person
you think you are.
If you are asked for personal information or data from a company who has called
you, hang up. Call them back using the number on their official website to ensure
you are speaking to them and not a cybercriminal. Ideally, use a different phone
because cybercriminals can hold the line open. When you think you’ve re-dailed,
they can pretend to be from the bank or other organization that you think you are
speaking to.
Educate your children about the risks of internet usage and keep monitoring their
activities.
Privacy
Privacy is the ability for individuals to keep certain information, activities, and
communications away from public view or unauthorized access. It involves control
over personal information, freedom from surveillance and intrusion, and the ability to
make personal decisions and choices free from outside influence or manipulation.
• Solitude – individual separated form the group and freed form the observation of
other persons
• Anonymity – individual in public but still seeks and finds freedom from identification
and surveillance
Attributes of privacy.
Autonomy: humans need to feel they are in control of their destiny. The less
personal information people have on someone the more autonomous that individual
can be especially in decision making.
Forms of privacy violation
When you are online, you are spied by a number of trackers for various
purposes. Trackers keep a record of your search history and track all your online
activities through various means. This provides them a clear picture of who you are
and your interests, which is a breach of online privacy policy and makes you a public
property. Most of the time, this tracking is for advertisement purposes only and it
allows advertisers to show ads according to your taste and interests. But sometimes
this information is used by cybercriminals to carry out unauthorized and illegal
activities risking your online existence.
Information Mishandling
There are various sites on the internet that need your personal information to get
access to their services. These sites often store cookies and save your personal
information and later use it for various purposes. Most of the time this information is
not encrypted and can be accessed by anyone. This mishandling of personal
information may lead to serious consequences. The modern trend of e-banking and
e-business portals have multiplied the risks associated with online privacy. By
sharing your bank details and crucial files on the internet, you are paving ways for
burglars and making yourself vulnerable to cybercriminals.
Interferences with an individual’s privacy can result in many different types of harm
for an individual such as:
Reputational damage
Embarrassment or humiliation
Emotional damage
References