Essay #3

Running head: CYBERCRIME ANALYSIS 1

CYBERCRIME ANALYSIS 2

Cybercrime Analysis

Josh Sedlmeyer

Baker College

Cybercrime Analysis

Cybercrimes are criminal offenses committed over the internet using computers and other electronic gadgets. Another name for cyber-crime is computer crime. Individuals who commit computer crimes are referred to as cyber criminals or hackers. With the various forms of smartphone and computer technology in the world today, cybercrime has taken different forms in different types of technologies. With the development of the internet and the advancement of technology, computer crimes also have evolved from simple attacks to more complex and lethal attacks. Computers criminals use computers to perpetrate these unlawful acts on their target. These unlawful activities usually include, gaining of unauthorized access in to private and government electronic databases and information, fraud or manipulating unsuspecting internet users and spread of malicious software programs such as ransom ware, viruses of worms. Cybercrime offenses committed by hackers also range from theft of people’s information and personal details to corporate espionage and cyber terrorism.

According to Broadhurst Roderic, Grabosky Peter, Alazab Mamoun & Chon Steve, (2014), computer crimes has become an issue of major concern in the world today due to the devastating effects of some attacks. This problem usually faces the internet community and that involves any individual who uses the internet for services such as email services, electronic commerce, and for social purposes such as Facebook. These attacks have also been on the rise due to advancement in computer technology and lack of proper action being taken to solve the problem. This statement by the author is accurate since as new technologies emerge the cases of computer crime increase. Computer hackers usually have the skills to break people’s passwords or to use their social engineering skills to manipulate people to give up their details such as login details to their private accounts. The attackers could then impersonate the individuals and carryout any kind of activity they would want. This is referred to as identity theft whereby an individual uses information about another person to impersonate him or her over the internet without the victims concern. Computer crime was not taken seriously in the past but with the growing patterns of more advanced attacks, people should take the issue more seriously and take measures to improve cyber security thus resolving the problem. From the above information provided by the authors of the article, it is clear that computer crime is not taken with the seriousness it deserves in the society. The authors attribute their argument to the rise in criminal activities and proper strategies not being implemented to curb the vice.

The history of cybercrime dates back to 1950 when certain individuals began using telecommunication systems to their own advantage and without authorization of telecommunication companies. The most common criminal activity back then was phone phreaking. Phone phreaks were individuals who liked to explore phone and telecommunication systems to understand how the systems worked. This led them to discovering flaws in the systems. Phone phreaks exploited the flaws and were able to make free telephone calls both nationally and internationally, which was illegal. With the advancement of technology and the dawn of computers, phone phreaks have evolved to become computer criminals with advanced and complicated skill in computer hacking and cracking. The authors through this information show how computer crimes have evolved over the past and people’s reactions towards it. People do not take the activities seriously and this leads to rise and more harm being caused to both people and corporations due to activities such as industrial espionage.

According to Clough. (2010), cyber crimes are divisible into three broad categories. One of them is cybercrimes perpetrated against a person. Some of these misbehaviors include identity theft, hacking and stealing of personal information such as credit card information, violation of people’s privacy or cyber stalking, social engineering and using this information to threaten and harass people. Hackers steal people’s identities by gaining unauthorized access to people information such as social security numbers in the United States. They also use techniques such as social engineering skills to get people to give up their personal information and details to them. They can then use the information to impersonate the victim or sell the information online to other computer criminals. When the information is sold, other hackers to perform illegal activities online using the victims personal details. For instance, computer criminals known as carders use peoples credit card information to impersonate the legitimate owners of the credit cards and to buy products on electronic commerce sites such as amazon. Martin et al. (2004) states that technological advancement allows people to conduct business and pay their bills over the internet. This provides a platform for lawbreakers to steal people’s information and use it to their benefit. Another common form of computer offenses committed against a person is cyber stalking or violation of people’s privacy, which is illegal. According to Stonec (2011), computer hackers use their skills to hack and gain access to people’s social sites such as Facebook. They use their unauthorized access to cause harm to the victim by either harassing them or threatening them with the aim of exploiting them financially or to gain other form of favors.

The second category of cybercrimes classification is cyber-crimes committed against property. One significant example of this wrongdoing manifests in spread of malicious software or virus programs and ransom ware. These software temporarily disable or cause permanent damage to computers and other computing devices. They also delete or destroy personal information and data while giving the attackers access to the victim’s computer. This software include viruses, worms, key loggers, and Trojans, bots and ransom wares. Going by Yar (2013), Ransom ware is a software that disables people’s computers rendering them unusable. Their developers program them in a way that when they are launched in the victim’s computer, they disable the computer and demand their victims to pay a certain amount to the developers in order for their computers to function. Key loggers are malicious soft wares used by computer criminals to record keystrokes in the victim’s computers and to send the information back to the attackers over the internet. The information collected by the key loggers may include personal information such as passwords of even government secrets. This information when sent back to the attackers is then sold for money or used against the victims. Spread of malicious softwares to other peoples computers without their consent for any purpose is illegal and perpetrators are punishable by the law.

The third category of cybercrimes are misconducts committed against the Government. Hackers commit these crimes by breaking into, hacking and cracking military and government websites without authorization. Such activities portray cyber espionage, which is illegal. They also lead to cyber terrorism, which causes information warfare and disruption of government and military networks therefore disrupting their activities.

It is therefore evident that drastic measures should be taken to solve cybercrime issues and to punish perpetrators and computer criminals. Several approaches can be used to solve the insecurity and attacks carried out over the internet. One of the approaches is to implement more secure internet protocols that are not prone to hacking and that offer more security. Computer developers and professional programmers should design, develop and implement a more secure internet framework that is secure and that lacks the loopholes in the internet platform today. This could resolve the cyber-crime problem or at least reduce the problem to manageable levels.

The other approach to the computer crime problem is that all countries in the world should come up with a convention on how to handle cybercrime situations globally. This is because; there are computer attackers who perpetrate these criminal activities in foreign countries. These are illegal acts whose repercussions should be stipulated by the law. By coming up with international laws against cybercrime and related activities, the activities would therefore be reduced by the initiative. Governments in different countries should also come up with ways of analyzing the internet traffic that goes in and out of their countries. This would enable them to watch over the internet activities in their countries and in the cases of computer attacks, they would be able to handle them effectively. In the effort to curb computer crimes, governments should also develop and implement strategies on how to contain the situations in cases of cyber terrorism and attacks.

Another solution to the whole problem would be through educating and sensitization of the public on how to protect themselves from internet attacks and other cybercriminal activities. This would be a very effective approach to solving the problem since the attackers would not have victims to exploit. By educating people on the different types of attacks, how to identify them and how to protect themselves, people would also be able to identify and report the criminals to law enforcement agencies.

Moreover, governments in different countries should create law enforcement agencies to specifically deal with cases on computer fraud and criminal activities. The agencies should have the personnel with the ability to trace and identify the attacker’s locations and their criminal activities. This would be a significant step to countering computer crimes since cyber criminals would cease to perpetrate their criminal activities.

However, these solutions to cyber-criminal activities also have some limitations. One of the limitations is that the cybercriminal activities are always evolving. This would limit the effectiveness of the application of these remedies. Another problem is that due to the nature of the internet, it would be virtually impossible to catch these attackers due to impersonation techniques and use of stolen data to carry out their criminal activities.

According to the writer, this article is aimed at young people and the youth who spend most of their time on the internet either researching on useful projects or chatting on social media sites such as Facebook. The targeted audience also includes the internet community at large or rather people who use the internet to carryout activities such as business transactions or electronic commerce. Through his article, the writer aims to educate these people on the dangers that the internet poses to their own security and fraud. The article appeared in the New York Times magazine. Therefore, the audience for this article was presumably the public. The article was also probable directed towards people who utilize the internet on a day-to-day basis in their lives.

Going by the author’s article, the characters in his article are individuals with no compassion and people who exploit other people in order to gain from them. The spirit that prevails in the culture of the writer’s article is a culture of exploitation and survival for the fittest. This is evident through the article since the poor and others exploit people without the knowledge.

The entire article evokes sorrow due to the level of exploitation that people are exposed to in the world over the internet. The different techniques that are used to subject people too theft and fraud cause sadness and sorrow. The thought of how people also lose their money and property is another issue.

Conclusively, the authors present well-argued out points in their article. Their arguments are also credible since they use supportive evidence and information to back up their arguments. The information in the article also proves that authorities have been reluctant to take the necessary measures to curb computer crime activities. The article is very informative and evokes critical thinking from the arguments presented by the author.

Reference

Broadhurst Roderic, Grabosky Peter, Alazab Mamoun & Chon Steve. (2014). Organizations and Cyber crime: An Analysis of the Nature of Groups engaged in Cyber Crime. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, Volume 8 (1), 1-20.

Clough Jonathan. (2010). Principles of Cybercrime. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Martin Clemens. Et al. (2004). Cybercrime: A Reference Handbook. California: ABC-CLIO.

Yar Majid. (2013). Cybercrime and Society. California: SAGE.

Stonec Larmas. (2011). Definition of Cybercrime. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/internet/security-privacy/articles/3435.aspx