With the National Cybercrime Reporting portal witnessing an increase of 15.3% increase in the cyber cases in second quarter of 2022, the post pandemic world has seen a tremendous rise in the number of cybercrime cases. The cases have increased many folds, 125% from 2021, and still continues beyond. The targets of crime are not limited to any age group and innocent children have not been spared. The exposure to online classes, conferences, meetings, etc. has opened the door to criminal activities in a humongous way. Thus, there comes the need for each and every one of us to be well aware of the recent practices that these criminals use and not fall into the clutches of these nefarious cyber criminals.
Top1. Introduction To Cyber Crime
One of the most significant advancements that has been made in the 21st century which has impacted our lives to a great extent is the advent of internet. Way back from the use of ARPANET in 1969 to the furtherance of Web 3.0, knowledge and technical maneuvering has lived up to it. The way we communicate, play games, work, shop, pay bills without having to wait in long queues, greet pals on their special occasions from far off lands, from landline to video calls, anything and everything we do has made our lives better and comfortable.
But this comes along with a dark side, a much deeper side of the world that many of us are not aware about. With the inception of internet, it has undergone due changes from web 1.0 to latest induction of web 3.0 widely used for many purposes legit and illegit. The modern day technology has made easy access to bundle of knowledge from various sources all across the globe that learning of new skills has become tip of the iceberg. The recent advancements has not only reaped upper hand on technocrats but has also whipped hand on criminal mindset as well.
The methods of crimes have ascended from traditional ways like theft, bank robbery, bribing, blackmailing to modern day crimes aka cyber crimes. The indiscriminate exposure to web has augmented these crimes ranging from phishing to ransomware, vishing and many more.
Cyber crime is a term which is most widely used in 21st century defined as any crime administered through the use of computer or any other devices linked to communication like phone, email etc. with the intent to cause fear, anxiety, stress or blackmailing to publish on social media. The severity of crimes has mounted many folds with the increase in daily number of cases being reported on cybercrime.gov portal despite conducting a large of awareness programmes for children, youth, parents and senior citizens through various mediums online and offline. The psychology behind ushering these crimes is either greed, revenge or adventure. The Figure 1 represents the comparison between traditional as well as modern day cyber crimes.
Figure 1. Traditional vs. cyber crimes comparison
Top2. Taxology Of Cyber Criminals
The Figure 2 represents the types of cyber criminals which are detailed as:
Scrip Kiddies: Scrip kiddies are defined as the novice or immature hackers with restricted programming skills and computer knowledge and perform the hacking function with the help of toolkits only. They often tend to perform such functions only for some social media attention.
Cyber Punks: They are advanced technical skills with the competence of creating their own software and are well aware about the telecommunication system they are engaging an attack with.
Internals: They are usually ex-employees or employees engaged in the criminal activity often to take revenge or personal benefit, steal and leak the information to other rivalry agencies.
Petty Thieves: An astute computer professional who takes supremacy of the organisation’s poor security infrastructure for personal monetary benefits.
Old Guard Hackers: People who are more interested in opprobrium of a personal property without the pretention of indulging in any sort of criminal activity.
Hachtivist: The criminals who legitimize themselves on account of moral behaviour like associated with political issues, whether the issue is genuinely a political one or not is difficult to assess as it is generally full of revenge, power, greed or public attention.
Virus writers: The people who are engaged in the process of writing malicious viruses for electronic devices and spread it either for fun or breaching the security framework.
Cyber terrorists: Cyber terrorists are the persons who are indulged in the criminal activity on cyberspace who threaten or violate the security protocols of a particular nation and breach their security and blackmail them or spread fear.