Definition and Overview of Cybercrime
Cybercrime is also referred to as computer Crime, which is merely the use of a computer or an electronic gadget that can access the internet to commit illegal acts such as trafficking in intellectual property and child pornography, violation of privacy, fraud among other unlawful ends. Cybercrime over the internet has over the years grown substantively owing to advancements in technology in today’s world. Today, major societal issues such as entertainment, commerce, and government operations are operated over the internet. This makes its users vulnerable to cybercriminals. The Americans are known to be among the very first victims to cybercrime due to the widespread adoption of the internet and computers in the United States.
Types of Cybercrime
Cybercrime ranges across a broad spectrum. One end incorporates those crimes that are deemed fundamental breaches into personal or corporate privacy. Attackers assault on the integrity of data held in the digital databases to persuade an individual or a firm by blackmailing them. The second spectrum of cybercrimes is transaction based crimes. These include money laundering, counterfeiting, involved digital piracy, fraud, and child pornography.
The following are specific crimes that are intended for particular victims. However, these criminals hide under the anonymity nature of the internet. This type of crime also majors the kind of offence that involve individuals working in an organization or government department who deliberately alter crucial data for either political or profit objective.
Additionally, there is a third aspect of cybercrimes. These crimes are intended to disorient the normal workings of the Internet. They are several and include Denial of Service Attacks, spam, and hacking. They also go all the way to cyber terrorism which has become a significant threat for many nations globally. In essence, cyber terrorism deals with the use of the internet by unscrupulous none state actors such as extremist groups to disrupt a nation’s infrastructure or economic or political environment. They major on the use of the internet to accomplish their activities.
Identity Theft
Identity theft, also identity fraud, are terms used to refer to all manner of crimes where one wrongfully or criminally obtains another person’s personal information and uses in ways that involve deception or fraud to gain something valuable from them. The most common identity theft cases are one, Responding to spam emails which promises some benefits but requests identifying personal data. The criminal then uses this information to defraud the unsuspecting victim. The second case of identity theft that one may find themselves in, while in a public area, criminals may engage shoulder surfing, where they may snoop over a telephone conversation or watch as you use your credit card and collect some crucial information they may use against you.
Crime Scene Processing For Cyber Crimes.
Crime scene processing is geared towards assisting law enforcement agencies during the investigation of violent crimes. The first step in this process is arriving at the scene. Security professional’s firs assess the business impact. In specific, they determine the severity of the situation, whether confidential information was altered and how the crime took place. Secondly, the agency collects evidence. This is done by capturing the network traffic and a snapshot of the network during the time of the attack. Thirdly, pieces are assembled. Objects from the collected images are examined to come up with a detailed timeline of the happenings. The officers also assess how servers and devices were configured during the time of the attack. The investigation is then documented, and finally, the public is updated of the attack. Cybercrime investigations aim to get the real culprits and have them punished.
