Introduction
Cybercrime (or computer crime) is any kind of offense committed with the help of a computer and the internet. Since the IT sphere is growing, cybercrime is growing as well. As a result, criminals enjoy a lot of opportunities to commit a crime on the internet.
Main body
All cyber crimes can be divided into three types. The first one is attacking the hardware or software of a PC. It includes, among all the others, malware and botnets. Malware is a general term that refers to numerous malicious programs such as computer viruses, spyware, adware, and so on. Botnets (also called robot networks or zombie armies) are networks made up of controlled Internet computers (zombie computers), the owners of which usually do not even know that they have been controlled. With the help of a botnet, an attacker can forward transmissions to other computers, often hundreds or even thousands of them, and make those join a zombie army. Most frequently, botnets are associated with e-mail spam. However, the harm they can cause is more serious since they can even break down a PC.
The second type of cybercrime is financial. It covers numerous criminal offenses, which affect individuals, companies, both small or large, and even nations. The primal examples of financial crimes are different types of online fraud, hacking online financial systems and services, and so on.
Finally, the last type of cybercrime is abuse. This subsection includes cyber-bullying, so-called sexploitation, which is a blend of sex and exploitation, and different crimes against children. One of the examples of child offenses is sex tourism when children from developing countries are abused by people who travel there. Due to ineffective legislation, the lack of understanding, and a possible wealth of the offender the goal becomes easier.
The main reason why every crime mentioned above becomes possible is anonymity. There are absolutely no borders on the internet, either real or virtual. Moreover, the easiest targets for criminals are dating services and social networks since they only strengthen those features of the internet.
Indeed, speaking about spam letters, for example, it is much easier to distribute them via social networks. Firstly, anti-spam securities of e-mail services are more complicated than those of social networks. Secondly, on sites like Facebook or Instagram, users trust their so-called friends, and spamming is more effective. Besides, a cybercriminal can attack an account and use its owner’s personal information to send his or her friends e-mails asking for favors (to lend some money and others). That is the “friend in trouble” scenario (Social networks are ‘easier targets for cyber criminals’, 2011, para. 4). Moreover, this information can be used for illegal financial operations, and a person can become a criminal without even knowing about it.
Conclusion
Dating services are even more unsafe since criminals can use a love issue there. As proof of it, Neal (2014) claims that the greatest amount of crimes committed via dating services happen on Valentine’s Day. After some chatting and exchanging personal info, a criminal begins to ask a person to send money, forward a package, cash a check, and so on. Even worse, the bad guys can take someone’s intimate photos sent via private messages, share them on public websites, and demand money in exchange for deleting them.
That is why all of us should be careful and cut down the amount of info we share via social networks or dating services since private information should remain private.
References
Neal, R. W. (2014). Valentine’s Day 2014 Online Scam: How Cybercriminals Are Using Social Media And Dating Sites. Web.
Social networks are ‘easier targets for cyber criminals’. (2011). Web.