Cyber-crimes: Awareness and prevention tactics

Today, world populace is exposed to myriads of crimes. Cyber-crime is one of the worst types that threatens human life.

 

Cybercrime is a multifaceted and ever changing phenomenon. Cybercrime is also called computer crimes, electronic crimes or e crimes. It is the electronic medium of computer network in which online communication occurs. Many scholars defined “Cybercrime as computer-mediated activities which are either illegal or considered illicit by certain parties and which can be conducted through global electronic networks. Cybercrimes delineate criminal activity in which the computer or network is a necessary part of the crime”.

 

A crime such as spamming, passing on computer viruses, harassment, cyber stalking, and others have become are common today. Many professionals consider that cybercrime is heinous crime for the development of any state. It has a serious impact on every aspect of the progression of a country. Government entities, non-profit organizations, private companies and citizens are all potential targets of the cyber-criminal organisation.

 

Computer security is highly important as most of the people today are dependent on internet and perform various activities online to save time and money. Computer security can provide the opportunity for the users to protect their sensitive information present on the network and also in the system. It can be said that cyber security is vital to shield the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer systems, resources, and data.

 

Types of Cyber Crime:

 

There are many types of cybercrimes:

 

- Telecommunications Piracy

 

- Electronic Money Laundering: electronic funds transfers have assisted in concealing and moving the proceeds of crime. Developing technologies make it easier to hide the origin and destination of funds transfer.

 

- Electronic Vandalism and Terrorism

 

- Sales and Investment Fraud: Due to popularity of electronic commerce, the application of digital technology to fraudulent crime will become that much greater.

 

- Illegal Interception of Information: Developments in telecommunications as well as data transfer over the net have resulted in greater speed and capacity but also greater susceptibility. It is now easier for unauthorized people to gain access to sensitive information.

 

- Cyber Pornography: Spread of Child pornography and sexually implicit material.

 

- Information Piracy and Forgery: Digital technology allows perfect reproduction of the original documents, Such as birth certificates, passport, false identity, counterfeiting of currency, negotiable instruments.

 

- Hacking: Information theft from computers hard disk, removal storage etc. Data theft, data destroy, stealing and altering information.

 

- Altering Websites: The hacker deletes some pages of a website, uploads new pages with the similar name and controls the messages conveyed by the web site.

 

 

Prevention of cybercrime:

 

The prevention of cyber-criminal activities is dire aspect to fight against cybercrime. Users must be aware while information sharing. A proper security position is the best defence against cybercrime. Every single user of technology must be aware of the risks of exposure to cyber threats, and should be educated about the best practices to embrace in order to reduce their “attack surface” and alleviate the risks.

 

Another thing is that education and training are indispensable to create a culture of security that assumes a fundamental role in the workplace. Every member of an organization must be involved in the definition and deployment of a security policy and must be informed on the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) belonging to the cybercriminal ecosystem.

 

There are some practical tactics that users can adopt to protect against and prevent cybercrime such as:

 

I. being on the lookout for email scams,

II. Securing computer from cybercrime attacks,

III. Staying safe on social media,

IV. Exercising caution when shopping online,

V. keeping personal information protected, and

VI. Adopting strategies to prevent exposure to inappropriate online content.

 

Users must take precautions to prevent such dangerous crime while operating on net.

 

-Users must install Firewalls: These are programs, which protect a user from unauthorized access attacks while on a network. They provide access to only known users, or people who the user permits.

-Users must change password frequently.

 

-Users must do safe surfing: Safe surfing involves keeping ones e-mail address private, not chatting on open systems, which do not have adequate protection methods, visiting secure sites.

 

-Users must frequently check virus.

 

- Email filters must be used: These are programs, which monitor the inflow of mails to the inbox and delete automatically any suspicious or useless mails thus reducing the chances of being bombed or spoofed.

 

-It is recommended to internet users that they must always avoid sending any photograph online particularly to strangers and chat friends as there have been incidents of misuse of the photographs.

 

- It is advised not to send credit card number to any site that is not secured, to guard against frauds.

 

- It is better to use a security programme that gives control over the cookies and send information back to the site as leaving the cookies unguarded might prove disastrous.

 

- Disable file sharing on computers.

 

It is well recognized that cybercrime incidents are accelerating at great pace, and its threat is affecting both Government organizations, Individuals and businesses. Therefore users must be alert, and take preventive measures to curb these crimes.

 

Gist of this article is that technological innovation in terms of internet is dominant tool and effective way of communication but it is susceptible. Numerous cyber offenders play tricks to cheat users and hack sensitive information. To defend against Cybercrimes, intrusion detection techniques should be designed, implemented, and administrated