Cyber Crime : A type of crime in which illegal activities are carried out online or using computers.
There are various forms and types of Cyber Crime all over the world. Cybercrimes are committed by hackers not only for profit but for personal gains and with aims to damage a person, institution or nation. Internationally, both governmental and non-state institutions engage in cybercrime. Cybercrime is known as cyber warfare as soon as it crosses international borders.
Most cybercrimes fall under two broad categories, namely, Criminal Activity that Targets and Criminal Activities that Uses.
Other categories of cybercrime include, cyberterrorism which is is terrorism committed through a network or a computer, Financial Fraud Crimes, Cyber extortion which is when individuals ask for money in return of stopping malicious attacks on a system, Cybersex Trafficking, Online Harassment, Drug Trafficking, etc. Phishing, Malware Attacks, Denial of services and distributed DoS attacks are few of the most common examples of cybercrime.
Online Harassment is something that is not considered as a form of cybercrime by most people, but it, in reality, is what happens in bulk. Under the category of online Harassment also falls the sub-category of cyber crimes against women, which is defined as ‘crimes targeted against women with a motive to intentionally harm them either physically or psychologically, using modern communication networks’.
Tracing a cybercrime delinquent isn’t the most straightforward task to do because of their use of virtual spaces and attacks from various parts. It has been recorded that in 2018 The Internet Crime Complaint Sector received 351,937 complaints alone.
Sine, everything you do on a computer or a network is recorded one way or the other, getting hold of the criminals isn’t impossible.
Since many developing countries like the Philippines have underdeveloped laws regarding cybercrime and cybersecurity, it becomes easy for cybercriminals to use the underdeveloped laws of the developing countries to remain undetectable and anonymous.
With the rise of the increase of technology, cybercrime has become a critical part of the society, and majors like that of Cyber Security have been established in many universities, hence, becoming an integral part of the academic system.
Since the age of computers and technology is rising every day, our lifestyles are becoming computer-dependent, and everything is stored on there. As the main aim of cybercriminals is the breach of privacy, things become simpler for them.
One major step towards prevention of cybercrime is the spread of Awareness. There are many individuals who aren’t comfortable using a computer, and hence they are more prone to cybercrimes. People don’t know how much and to what extent things can be done with the help of technology and computers; once, people are made aware of all these factors, a little wall of prevention can be created. Updated software and use of reliable anti-virus software are critical practices in preventing cybercrimes.
The phrase, ‘prevention is better than cure might be old but has been relevant since forever and is relevant in today’s technology-dependent world full of all sorts of crime.
