World Cyber Crime Types

The current type of Cyber Crime (photo: Unsplash)

YOGYAKARTA - Types of cyber crime are growing rapidly in today's world of technology. World Wide Web criminals exploit internet users' personal information for their own benefit. They dive deep into the dark web to buy and sell illegal products and services. They even gain access to confidential information from the government.

Cybercrime is always high, costing companies and individuals billions of dollars every year. What's even more frightening is that this figure represents only visible last 5 years. Technological evolution and increased accessibility of smart technology means that there are many points of access within users' homes to be exploited by hackers. While law enforcement seeks to address the growing problem, the number of criminals continues to grow, taking advantage of internet anonymity.

There are three main categories of cybercrime: individuals, property, and the government. The types of methods used and the level of difficulty vary depending on the category.

Property: This is similar to real-life examples of criminals who illegally have bank details or someone's credit card. Hackers steal someone's bank details to gain access to funds, make online purchases, or run phishing scams to get people to provide their information. They can also use malicious software to gain access to web pages with classified information.

Individuals: This cybercrime category involves an individual who distributes harmful or illegal information online. This can include cyberstalking, distributing pornography, and human trafficking.

The government: This is the least common cybercrime, but it is the most serious offense. Crime against the government is also known as cyber terrorism. The government's cybercrime includes hacking government websites, military websites, or spreading propaganda. These criminals are usually terrorists or enemies of other countries' governments.

DDoS attack

This is used to make online services unavailable and drop the network by flooding sites with traffic from various sources. A large network of infected devices known as Botnet is created by storing malware on a user's computer. Hackers then hack into the system after the network shut down.

Botnet

The botnet is a network of compromised computers externally controlled by long-range hackers. Remote hackers then spam or attack other computers via this botnet. Botnet can also be used to act as malware and perform malicious tasks.

Identity theft

This cyber crime occurs when a criminal gains access to the user's personal information to steal funds, access confidential information, or participate in tax fraud or health insurance. They can also open a phone/internet account on your behalf, use your name to plot criminal activities and claim government profits on your behalf. They might do this by figuring out the user's password via hacking, taking personal information from social media, or sending phishing emails.

Cyberstalking

This type of cybercrime involves online harassment where users are targeted by a large number of online messages and emails. Usually cyberstalkers use social media, websites, and search engines to intimidate users and instill fear. Usually cyberstalker gets to know the victim and makes the person feel afraid or worried about his safety.

Social Engineering

Social engineering involves criminals who make direct contact with you usually by phone or email. They want to gain your confidence and usually disguise themselves as customer service agents so you will provide the necessary information they need. This is usually a password, the company you work for, or bank information. Cybercriminals will find out what they get about you on the internet and then try to add you as a friend on social accounts. Once they get access to an account, they can sell your information or secure an account in your name.

Online Fraud

This is usually in the form of a spam ad or email that includes an unrealistic promise of gift or money offering. Online scams include attractive offers that are "too good to be true" and when clicked can cause malware to interfere and compromise information.

Kit Exploitation

The exploit Kit requires a vulnerability (bugs in software code) to gain control over the user's computer. They are a ready-to-use tool that criminals can buy online and use against anyone with a computer. Kit exploits are increased regularly similar to normal software and are available on dark web hacking forums.

Pups

PUPS or Programs that may Not be Wanted are less threatening than other cybercrimes, but are a type of malware. They delete the required software in your system including search engines and pre-downloaded apps. They can include spyware or adware, so it's best to install antiviral software to avoid malicious downloads.

Transaction

This type of attack involves hackers sending malicious email attachments or URLs to users to gain access to their accounts or computers. Cybercriminals become more established and many of these emails are not flagged as spam. Users are tricked into emails claiming that they need to change their passwords or update their billing information, granting criminals access.

Forbidden/illegal Content

This cybercrime involves criminals sharing and distributing inappropriate content that can be considered very troublesome and offensive. The offensive content can include, but not limited to sexual activity between adults, intense videos of violence, and videos of criminal activity. Illegal content includes material that recommends acts related to terrorism and child exploitation material. This type of content is on the internet daily and on the dark web, anonymous networks.

So that's the type of cyber crime, see other interesting news on VOI, it's time to revolutionize news!