Cybercrime – “the greatest threat to every profession, every industry, every company in the world.”
Ginni Rometty, President & CEO – IBM
Internet users are growing day by day. Based on the latest statistics, it is estimated that 55.1% of the world population is using the internet currently. The question which arises is whether the users are aware of the risks involved in the usage of the internet? We have to understand the risks to safeguard and secure our personal or professional lives. But, what can be the risks of using the internet which we will be looking at later. Before that, it is essential to know about the evolution of cybercrimes.
History of cybercrime
It dates back to the early 1970s when computerized phones were starting to enter the market. Few Tech-savvy people started manipulating the devices to steal long distance phone calls. That was the time when people realized that computer technology was likely to be targeted for criminal activities. With the arrival of advanced yet complex systems, the vulnerability to attack also increased. Cybercrime has to be taken care effectively in the years to come. It is quintessential to know about various aspects of cybercrime like
• What is cybercrime
• Classification of cybercrime
• What are the reasons behind cybercrimes.
• Who are the victims
• What are the losses faced
which we are going to see in a minute.
What is cybercrime?
When a crime is likely to take place online through
• the internet or
• related technology, can be called as a cybercrime. These are specialized crimes committed by targeting any computer devices or connected networks.
Classification of cybercrime
Cybercrimes can be majorly classified into two categories
• A Direct attack on a Target device or a network
• Target a human using a device or a network as a tool
We can have a look at some of the most common cybercrime activities carried out like
Referred to as Denial of Service attack – The motive of the DDoS attack is to bombard and take down a network. DDoS attacks are carried out by specialized malware, which is spread to many vulnerable computers through
• websites
• email attachments
• through an organizations network.
When legitimate users are tricked to install malware contents, this malware converts the user’s computers as bots. The attacker begins to communicate with these bots and form a botnet(a network of bots). These botnets are controlled by the attacker and instructed to attack a target and bring the network down.
What is required to create a Botnet?
Conducting a large scale DDoS attack is not a difficult task as it sounds. There are various pay-for-hire DDoS services available which can cost from $5 to $200 per hour. By using those services, anyone can launch a powerful DDoS attack. An average DDoS attack duration is about 24 hours.
Why are DDoS attacks done?
The motivations behind the DDoS attack is financially driven.
It can be done to
• Cripple a business competitor
• Political Rivalry
• Or Even for fun
The impact created by such attacks can be substantially high like
• Reputation damages
• Financial losses
• Customer Agitation
• Legal consequences
If you want to protect your business from such DDoS attacks, specialized companies such as e-Orchids can help you out in consulting and suggesting various security measures.
Contact Us to know more about our services.
Identity Theft
An attacker will gather a person’s personal information through
• Phishing emails
• Social media
• Hacking
The phishing email is a technique where hackers trick the users with an email by claiming the need to change their password or update their billing information. Sometimes they also send malicious email attachments or URLs to users and gain control access to personal accounts or computer. After gaining access to a persons account they can
• Steal the financial funds & properties of the person
• Gain confidential information for threatening
• Participate in tax frauds
• Claim government benefits
• Plan a criminal activity using the person’s identity
The repercussions of the attack may be huge if the attacker is doing a criminal activity using the person name.
Cyberstalking
The cyberstalk attacker usually may personally know the victim, unlike the previous cases. Cyberstalkers have a motive of instilling fear and subdue a person through excessive.
• Online messages
• Emails
They use the below as a medium.
• Websites
• Social media
• Search engines
Impact of cybercrime
Cybercrime has posed a significant threat to everyone using the internet. Millions of users’ information are stolen within the past few years. It has also made a major dent in many nations’ economies. Cyber attacks have put a vast number of individuals, companies or government agencies to be a victim of cybercrime. The current scenario of raising cybercrimes indicates that data breaches have become a new norm.
• Various malicious intent activities result in 48% of data security breaches
• A single breach may amount to a $4 million loss to a company.
• By 2021, the cost incurred by cybercrime may top over to $6 trillion
Handling the security of private data by the world’s top businesses have become a top-most priority. As per a statistics,
• Cybersecurity Ventures expects ransomware costs to rise to $11.5 billion in 2019.
• In 2019, ransomware costs are supposed to be around $11.5 billion.
Based on the above data we can conclude that companies are investing a tremendous amount of money in cybersecurity.
Security Measures
It is essential for all the internet users to be aware and informed regarding the susceptibility to cybercrime. Educating oneself and others to put security measures in place and safeguard yourself is the utmost priority. Some of the measures to ensure cyber security are
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