Share your thoughts about people who have found the Internet to be a useful tool for perpetrating crimes, conducting terrorism, and even waging war. Link theories and statistics to your ideas and opinions when explaining how situations should be handled by law enforcement and e-business professionals.

QUESTION

Share your thoughts about people who have found the Internet to be a useful tool for perpetrating crimes, conducting terrorism, and even waging war. Link theories and statistics to your ideas and opinions when explaining how situations should be handled by law enforcement and e-business professionals.

You may find this website valuable when seeking additional information on Internet Crime Prevention Tips: http://www.ic3.gov/preventiontips.aspx

ANSWER

Internet Crime Prevention

Cybercrime refers to those wrongdoings perpetrated through the internet or a computer network. Computers, smartphones, and tablets may be the tools or targets in this crime. It is an umbrella term for the criminal offenses against organizations or individuals aimed at causing a misfortune, mental or physical mischief, or theft, negatively affecting an individual or organization’s monetary security and health. In recent years, crimes of this nature have become highly prominent, with increasing cases of copyright encroachment, hacking, child explicit entertainment, and ridiculous mass-reconnaissance. Furthermore, the offender may prey on a specific gender, as cases of female victims has become common (Halder, Jaishankar, & Jaishankar, 2012). The extent may be international or local, with both non-state and administrative agencies and individuals being involved in the hacking, undercover work, privacy violations, and budgetary robbery.

Cybercrime is a threat to governments, organizations, and individuals.  These cybercriminals aim to acquire the sensitive and private information of business organizations selling it to their competitors. Government sites are attacked to access federal information and plans for purposes related to terrorism. For individuals, cyber bullying and tapping into their financial accounts are the main goals. A study by Loader and Thomas (2013) showed that approximately 74 percent of the interviewed organizations had experienced cyber-attacks. This signifies that cybercrime is a large-scale problem, costing billions of dollars every year. Notably, businesses are victims of theft by cybercriminals. This may be through the illicit downloading of content or stealing of private information. In the United States and many developing countries, the entertainment (music and film) industry suffers from cyber-attacks such as piracy, where people download content without paying for rights or access (Karaganis, 2011). The technology industry is exposed to a similar fate, with criminals downloading software and other programs for free, distributing them at lower cost (Halder et al., 2012). Therefore, there is an urgency to deter computer-oriented crimes to save against the loss of revenue, access, and misuse of information.

Cybercrime and Solutions

In the modern world, a well-established and computerized underground economy thrives, prioritizing information. Information is valuable for its beneficial use to individuals and organizations alike (Curtis, 2011). For instance, stolen information off financial accounts and private data can to tap into people’s credit cards and bank accounts. With stolen or leaked company information, competitors can imitate product designs and business strategy, illegally achieving business success. As a result of this increased valuation of information, online criminal activity, including activities such as corporate database’s hacking, phishing, circulating malware, and pharming have become common (Curtis, 2011). These are orchestrated and supported by experienced code scholars, IT experts, and web hosts, available to encroach upon individuals or organizations using the internet, accessing confidential information.

Yet, estimating the size of this criminal, digital economy is not easy. However, corporations and businesses worldwide continue to suffer billion-dollar losses from various forms of cyber-attacks. Governments must concentrate on the eradication of these criminal underground groups and networks. Partnerships with law enforcement and information and communications technology (ICT) experts will ensure the swift arrest of these perpetrators, upsetting cybercrime rings and networks. Over the last decade, cyber attacks’ research has been extensive, culminating into a superior understanding of the various forms of invasions and how organizations and individuals can better protect themselves (Curtis, 2011). The government and cyber security experts have now more information on both cybercriminals and their modus operandi. They are, thus, capable of formulating ways to enhance security online, and ensure the detection of potential attacks.

Despite mitigation efforts by security agencies and governments, cybercrime has not been completely wiped out. Government restrictions and inter-organization antagonism elicits challenges in the development of global cybercrime regulations. Moreover, the lack of awareness in some countries impedes online security (Reyes et al., 2011). Modern programs and technology, such as antivirus software, firewalls, and passwords, can contain cybercrime to an extent. However, with technological advancement and innovation, new threats continue to arise. Cybercrimes, thus, continue to escalate with the web and technology system’s growth and expansion, making it necessary to expand cyber security’s innovation and development to manage these arising challenges.

Cybercrime has many strains, including cyber bullying, cyber terrorism, spam, and cyber extortion. The people involved are typically holed up behind their screens or at home using their devices. The lack of direct contact with the victims makes them harder to locate. Therefore, awareness must be raised of how the attacks occur and methods to safeguard one’s information and devices. Devices, such as tablets, smartphones, and computers, should be secured using firewall frameworks and antivirus software. While such software does not shield them from all online threats and attacks, protection against majority of online threats is provided. Furthermore, individuals must properly channel their messages and emails to avoid opening spam and other messages from unknown sources, as they may harbor viruses expediting their cyber-attacks. Additionally, children’s internet and computer use must be monitored to make sure unsafe sites are not visited.

Children need to be educated and adequately informed on cybercrime and ways to protect themselves from its instances. One should also see to it that all the stored information on computers and other devices is password-protected, preventing unwitting access to spyware and hackers. When using smartphones, for instance, one should use passwords and biometric software to fortify it against unauthorized access (Loader & Thomas, 2013). Moreover, vulnerable information should not be kept on a smartphone, in case of its loss or theft. Passwords make sure that a smartphone’s stored data is cannot be reached, in case of thefts. Furthermore, the transmission of sensitive information using long-range communication media and the internet should be abstained. Even though cyber attackers continue devising improved attack tactics, governments and people’s coordinated efforts can beat cybercrime. National and personal security both will be improved through these coordinated and joint preventive efforts.

Organizations and businesses’ information systems and databases should be preserved against cyber-attacks. Complex security systems are utilized to guarantee that their systems and information cannot be accessed by hackers. Experienced ICT and cyber security experts should be contracted to help develop these security systems that can avert attacks and filter out malware and viruses. Moreover, organizations can restrict and control employee access to strengthen data protection. Employees should only be allowed to access the information needed to accomplish their duties and obligations (Loader & Thomas, 2013). User accounts should be monitored to prevent the misuse of privileged access. By managing who has access to what, organizations will have better data management and avoid cyber-attacks. IT departments need to be proactive in identifying potential threat and eliminating them before loss of data or money results.

Today’s world, through the internet and different communication media, is highly interconnected. With technological progress and the interconnected operational improvements in businesses, organizations continue automating processes and data storage in their online databases. Cybercrime threatens the security of organizations, individuals, and nations. Online networking extortion, phishing, and corporate security breaks are now frequent. It is, therefore, important that different protective strategies be used against cyber criminals. Moreover, the government should work with organizations and IT experts to develop better ways of reinforcing cyber security. It is only through these coordinated efforts that cybercrime’s threat can be exterminated. Thus, it is up to everyone to see to their own online. Increasing awareness is optimal to clinch coordinated efforts against cybercrime.

References

Curtis, G. (2011). The law of cybercrimes and their investigations. CRC Press.

Halder, D., Jaishankar, K., & Jaishankar, K. (2012). Cybercrime and the victimization of women: Laws, rights and regulations. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Karaganis, J. (Ed.). (2011). Media piracy in emerging economies. Lulu. com.

Loader, B. D., & Thomas, D. (Eds.). (2013). Cybercrime: Security and surveillance in the information age. Routledge.

Reyes, A., Brittson, R., O’Shea, K., & Steele, J. (2011). Cybercrime investigations: bridging the gaps between security professionals, law enforcement, and prosecutors. Elsevier.