Guarding Yourself On The Internet

CYBER CRIMES

Cybercrime is a totally different ball game. It can make it entrance from many types of entrances which may be unknown and alienated to us if we are not equipped with enough knowledge to defend ourselves against the unexpected attacks.

So what exactly is this crime that has been ranked as a top crime in the recent years?

Basically it is any crime that involves a computer and a network.

There are many types of cybercrimes, to name a few more high frequency ones, Theft Telecommunications Services, Virus & Worms Attack, Web Jacking, Salami Attacks and E-mail Spoofing.

Let us go through briefly what evil intentions do each cybercrime harbour.

1. Theft Telecommunications Services

The "phone phreakers" of three decades ago set a precedent for what has become a major criminal industry. By gaining access to an organisation's telephone switchboard (PBX) individuals or criminal organisations can obtain access to dial-in/dial-out circuits and then make their own calls or sell call time to third parties. Offenders may gain access to the switchboard by fraudulently obtaining an employee's access code, or by using software available on the internet.

 

2. Virus & Worms Attacks

 

Virus ar programs that attach themselves to a computer or a file and then circulate themselves to other files and to other computers on a network. They usually affect the data on a computer, either by altering or deleting it. Worms, unlike viruses do not need the host to attach themselves to. They merely make functional copies of themselves and do this repeatedly till they eat up all the available space on a computer's memory. Like for example, the Love Bug Virus, which affected at least 5% of the computers of the globe. These losses are accounted to at least $10 million.

 

3. Web Jacking

 

This term is derived from the term hi jacking. In these kinds of offences the hacker gains access and control over the web site of another. He may even mutilate or change the information on the site. This may be done for fulfilling political objectives or for money. E.g. recently the site of MIT (Ministry of Information Technology) was hacked by the Pakistani hackers and some obscene matter was placed therein. Further the site of Bombay crime branch was also web jacked. Thus web jacking is a process where by control over the site of another is made backed by some consideration for it.

 

4. Salami Attacks

 

This kind of crime is normally prevalent in the financial institutions or for the purpose of committing financial crimes. An important feature of this type of offence is that the alteration is so small that it would normally go unnoticed. For example, th Ziegler case wherein a logic bomb was introduced in the bank’s system, which deducted 10 cents from every account and deposited it in a particular account.

 

5. E-mail Spoofing 

 

A spoofed e-mail may be said to be one, which misrepresents its origin. It shows it's origin to be different from which actually it originates. Recently spoofed mails were sent on the name of Mr. Na. Vijayashanka, which contained virus.

 

  So, in this modern times we live in, it is inevitable that we will face these cybercrimes and I believe would still be increasing.

 

We are building our lives around our wired and wireless networks. The question is, are we ready to work together to defend them?

 

... ...

 

How To Fight Against Cybercrimes?

 

5 Easy Steps!

 

1. 

 

Turn on your spam blocker. Most Internet providers provide a spam blocking feature to prevent unwanted messages, such as fraudulent emails and phising emails, from getting to your inbox.

 

2. 

Make sure you have adequate anti-virus software for your computer, such as McAfee, Norton Anti-Virus, Stopzilla or other similar programs. You also need to make sure you regularly update your anti-virus software and that you do a once-a-week scan to locate and eliminate any malware, spyware, viruses and other problems. If you don't want to purchase security software, then there are programs, such as AVG, that offer free versions.

3.

Encrypt important data you don't want compromised. Utilize encryption software, which "garbles" your data to make it unintelligible to anyone who tries to hack into your computer system.

4.

Avoid getting taken in by common scams, such as foreign lotteries, phony sweepstakes and similar methods used by cyber criminals to get your personal information and money. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

5.

 

Make sure that you do online shopping on a secure website, like those with a url that starts with "https" and/or have a TRUSTe or VeriSign seal. If you don't see these anywhere on the site, you run the risk of submitting credit card information and other personal information to a site that may be a fraud.

... ...

It is therefore important that you counter cybercrimes because it will hit you unknowingly! Let's aim to ensure a stable framework for online transactions, reading of e-mails, opening unknown softwards etc. And all computer misuse and cyber crime should be enacted into law without further ado! Do not tolerate them!