Normally the very mention of the word cyber crime sends a shiver down our spine. Who knows what has been compromised? Has your bank account details been leaked or is there an attack on your computer. The possibilities are endless, and the broad range of crimes covered under Cyber Crime manifests the danger areas lurking around in the virtual word.

What Is Cyber Crime?

At the very behest let’s understand what it means. Essentially cyber crime is any illegal and criminal act performed involving computers and internet networks. Of course, it involves the commonly perceived internet hacking, but also another type of crimes like frauds, money laundering, threat, blackmail and lots of other similar activities. The computer and the internet work could be used either as the medium of the crime or essentially the ultimate target for the crime. These could even involve a serious infringement of privacy like pornography, identity theft and even copyright infringement.

Types Of Cyber Crime

Though the possibilities are quite huge, cyber crime can be broadly divided into the following types:

  • Virus Attack Or Threat From Malicious Code: It is a threat to cyber security and involves placing a hardware, software or even any firmware essentially with the purpose to harm the target machine or user. It is also commonly known as Virus attack, malware or spyware. In this, a program gets installed without appropriate authorization or consent.
  • Attack On Network: This is a type of cybercrime where the criminal action is undertaken with the purpose of destabilizing the entire network to either destroy information or extract information from the computers in the network. It enables unauthorized use and could result in illegal trade of confidential information.
  • Abuse Of Network: This term is used essentially to commit a fraud using the computer. One common example of network abuse is Spam mails and Phishing mails. Economic gain is mostly the ultimate target of the concerned perpetrators who manage to redirect the traffic to a particular site to their bogus site.
  • Manipulative Action: This is a kind of cyber crime where users are manipulated in a way that compels them to perform a certain action and divulge important information on their own. No technical tool I used to break into a security system rather the user is so manipulated that he or she gives it on its own without understanding the risk.

Prevention Of Cyber Crime

Increasingly we see governments and private firms waking to the unlimited threats associated with cyber crime and taking meaningful steps to contain it. Apart from establishing cyber crime wings of Police organizations across the world, there is also an effort to increase awareness and education.

Cyber crime can impact governments, multi-national companies, individuals and even non-profit organization. Using technical countermeasures like installation of anti-virus or anti-malware, regular inspection of computer programs and installation of network firewall go a long way in reining it in.

Not just that there is an urgent need for government and private organizations to join hands and identify threat prospects in a way that they are able to work on it jointly to reap maximum benefit.