Dangers of the Digital Age Essay

Introduction

Less than two decades ago, the prospect of losing money in a digital heist might have seemed preposterous. Stories of hackers committing outrageous crimes for good and evil were the material of pulp science fiction novels and films, rather than a foreseeable future. However, the world of 2017 in some ways is much stranger than fiction imagined decades ago. The prevalence of the internet allowed millions of people to gain instant access to knowledge, entertainment, and methods of communication. Unfortunately, the relatively unregulated space of the internet has claimed a great number of victims over the years, and this trend will likely continue. The danger comes from a variety of angles, and its consequences may be tragic for the victims. This paper will provide an overview of some of the most common and most dangerous aspects of life in the digital age.

Social Networks

Perhaps one of the most common angles of attacks online is focused on social networks. There are a number of reasons for this choice. The first is that they allow the hacker to gain private and semi-private information about the person, which could be used for further identity theft. The second is that social networks often have a way of contacting other people, either through public or private messages. This contact is used to fool the friends and family of the victim into visiting links or downloading files infected with Trojan viruses. The hacker in this scenario impersonates the victim and sends out provocative messages that point the viewer to an infected webpage. Lastly, the hacker may use the page as a so-called “zombie” user (Fire, Goldschmidt & Elovici 2014). It would allow them to boost numbers of friends or followers of pages to give them credibility.

This type of attack is often done through the practice of phishing, which involves the victim inputting their login information into a copy of the site’s login page. After gaining access to the social network account of the victim, the hacker is likely to send out private messages to everyone with ties to the victim. The messages often contain links to either the previously mentioned infected sites, or to other phishing pages. People unfamiliar with such tactics are likely to be fooled by the false page, which puts casual computer users at risk.

Private Information

While the primary way of private information loss is tied to social networks, there are other vectors that need consideration. Currently, a large portion of the world’s population is in possession of a smartphone. These devices have become ubiquitous in modern society. They have replaced cameras, GPS, music players, and portable consoles for the majority of casual users. Unfortunately, not all of them provide sufficient protection to their users (Jones, Chin & Aiken 2014). Even when they do, the user may not be aware of best practices when using the phone.

Phones can be stolen and hacked directly, or accessed indirectly, through malicious programs and applications. Either way, very personal information is on the line. People may keep personal photos of friends and loved ones that they would not want to share with the world, as well as contacts, history of messages, banking details, and much more.

This is one of the reasons why it is important to be careful when installing any software that asks for access to more areas of the device than its functionality may suggest. In addition, a person may use passwords to protect individual folders on the phone. However, such protections may also be bypassed.

Attacks on Banks

One of the most outrageous types of hacker attacks is focused on stealing funds from electronic bank accounts. A few types of banking attacks exist. The first is focused on stealing credit card credentials directly from the users of the bank. It is conducted through a device known as a “skimmer.” A skimmer is a fake set of buttons and electronics that is shaped like the interface of the machine it is trying to imitate. The skimmer is put covertly on top of the original to copy all the information that a person puts into an ATM or cash register (Smith, Cheung & Lau 2015). Such devices can also be used to steal information from cards equipped with near-field communication chips, as well as phones that use the same technology.

Before using an unfamiliar ATM, a person should carefully look over its controls. If there is anything unusual about it, the ATM should be avoided. As a precaution, cards and phones with near-field communication chips should be kept in a case that prevents those signals from coming through without the permission of the owner.

The second type of banking attack is much more elaborate and may differ between the cases. It often involves a person from the bank accidentally exchanging critical data before the plan may be put in motion. Hackers may impersonate members of staff, government officials, and anyone else who can request access to restricted areas of the network. Once the access has been granted, they may gain funds through intercepting transactions, stealing money from accounts, and even transferring money between innocent accounts to cover their tracks. Such operations often result in the loss of millions and can be devastating for a banking company (Smith, Cheung & Lau 2015). To minimize those acts, the staff should be briefed on the matters of cyber security, and additional protection measures should be employed.

The Internet of Things

The internet of things is a relatively modern term that describes household devices such as TVs, thermostats, doorbells, speakers, and many others that can have access to the Wi-Fi network of their users. Such devices gained popularity due to their increased functionality and the proliferation of Wi-Fi in people’s homes. Unfortunately, their use can lead to a variety of attacks by hackers. Such devices, and especially their early incarnations often suffer from having only rudimentary protection and often use the same logic credentials as other models in their series. This makes gaining access to them, and therefore to the other connected devices on the network, extremely easy. A hacker may gain access to a Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat and subsequently connect to the phone that is used to control it (Granjal, Monteiro & Sa Silva 2015). As a precaution, their users should always update the firmware of such devices, as they may have previously unrecorded security holes.

Even if when the attack on such devices does not lead to a loss of private information, the hackers may use the device as a bot in a so-called “botnet.” A botnet is a network of computers that are utilized by a single user to use their processing power and bandwidth to solve complex calculations or commit denial of service attacks.

Autonomous Cars

The newest danger of the year 2017 is not yet fully realized, but its possibility is starting to concern people all over the world. Currently, a variety of firms are testing cars with self-driving capabilities. To ensure the best experience and safety on the road, the cars are connected to a network that analyzes the data from their sensors and then sends the commands to the car for its next move (Fagnant & Kockelman 2015). Even before such a feature becomes common, people have found that cyber security protection on cars is relatively low, and cars with electronic locks and starters may be hacked.

If the driving controls of the car can be hacked remotely, it would become a deadly weapon in the hands of the hacker. It could be used to cause direct harm or make the car drive recklessly. This is the primary reason why car manufacturers should be extremely careful with such technologies. Hopefully, when this technology becomes the norm, a better protection suite will become standard.

Conclusion

Perhaps we do not live in an age of flying cars and off-world colonies, but our world is still filled with marvelous and dangerous inventions. A great number of dangers have to be considered by the internet users of today, but perhaps through education, the frequency of successful attacks may dwindle.

Reference List

Fagnant, D & Kockelman, K 2015, ‘Preparing a nation for autonomous vehicles: opportunities, barriers and policy recommendations’, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, vol. 77, no. 7, pp. 167-181.

Fire, M, Goldschmidt, R & Elovici Y 2014, ‘Online social networks: threats and solutions’, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2019-2036.

Granjal, J, Monteiro, E & Sa Silva, J 2015, ‘Security for the internet of things: a survey of existing protocols and open research issues’, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 17, no.3, pp. 1294-1312.

Jones, B, Chin, A & Aiken, P 2014, ‘Risky business: students and smartphones’, TechTrends, vol. 58, no. 6, pp. 73-83.

Smith, R, Cheung, R & Lau, L 2015, Cybercrime risks and responses: eastern and western perspectives, Palgrave Macmillan UK, London.