Cybercrime – The New Age Crime
The Internet is one of the best invention of 20th century and we might not be able to imagine our world without internet but as all things are grey & so is the internet.
It is not a safe place and it is growing at the same rapid rate as new people getting connected to the digital world.
So lets us understand What is Cybercrime?
What is Cybercrime?
Cybercrime is a crime committed on the internet, on smart devices or on local network. This will affect your digital devices like PC, Laptop, Smart phones, and Home electronics. The people who commit this crimes are often called as ‘Hackers’.
Types of Cybercrime
Here we’ll discuss some major types of cybercrime as everyday there will be a new way of doing it.
1. Unwanted Programs
Have you ever came across some applications on your smart phones or PCs which you never downloaded or never requested that application. This application are called potentially unwanted programs PUP, they always come bundled with other application you have installed. Mostly this application comes with the pirated software installed on your devices.
2. Identity Theft
This is the most common cybercrime and the worst case if you befall as the victim of this kind of cybercrime. As the name suggest they will use your identity like Driving License, Aadhar card, personal details like date of birth to steal money from bank, issue a sim card in your name where all the banks are linked to get OTP, misappropriate goods or use services in your name.
3. Phishing Attacks
After identity theft, phishing attacks are also one of the common type of cybercrime committed. They are performed by sending mails with malicious links, direct you to a website that will look like some banks website or ecommerce website which are not the real ones. Once you enter your login details or card details, they’ll get stored in their database. With these data they can use or credit card, login details and mail services.
4. Exploit Codes
Exploit codes are used to target vulnerabilities in software and websites in order to hack the websites and redirect them to some other malicious link where their data can be stolen from the devices.
5. Cyberstalking
Cyberstalking is kind of blackmailing someone when you have access to their personal devices and threaten them to expose the personal data like photos, important files, and organization data to the public. The communication is mostly anonymous through emails, messaging app, etc. to protect the true identity.
These are some of the most common ways systems and networks get attacked every day. Now let’s discuss some of the ways to prevent yourself from becoming a cybercrime victim.
How to prevent yourself from Cybercrime?
1. Use Anti-Virus
Always use antivirus software to keep your computer and devices safe from malicious files and malwares from the internet.
2. Use Strong Passwords
The most common password use in the world is password123, so if your password is this please stop reading and change your password right away. Strong passwords can be made by using upper case, lower case, special characters and numbers.
3. Use Two Factor Authentication
Turn on two factor authentication (2FA) on all your websites, banks and emails. Basically 2FA is after you input your login details they’ll send an OTP to your registered phone number and only then you can use the services.
4. Buy from Authentic Websites
We all shop online these days and everyday new ecommerce websites comes into picture but make sure you always buy from an authentic website. As you pay from your debit card, credit card or internet banking, the details are stored and can be used without your knowledge to steal money from your bank accounts.
5. Use a VPN
A VPN is a virtual private network which will hide your location and IP address so that your devices cannot be attacked using your IP address. There are plenty of VPN service providers in the market to choose from which will protect your devices.
6. Block Spam Calls
Even though we know that we should not share our OTP to anyone. We tend to believe calls which will look like a call from the bank. So don’t entertain the call even if you think you are smart and won’t share your details because not just OTP but card details are also as important.
So these are some of the ways you can prevent yourself from cybercrime but this will only reduce your chances of getting attacked by cyber criminals and as long as there’s internet, there will always be cybercrime, we can just prevent ourselves from becoming a victim of it. Despite being made aware of the risks of clicking a link, or opening an email, the figures show that attacks are ever increasing. With evolving technology comes evolving hackers; the world are not keeping up with the fight against cybercrime – and that’s scary!
To know more about this world of cyberspace, we have a Cyber Security Enthusiast Mr. Rajas Save, who is going to inform and speak about Cyber Security World on 15th December, 2019 at TEDxLakhotaLake 2019: The Big Picture.
Blog Author:
Heet Malde
Volunteer
TEDxLakhotaLake 2019
Blog Author