Victims and Perps of Cyber Crime †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Victims and Perps of Cyber Crime. Answer: Introduction: Almost similar crimes were discussed in the article published in the SC Magazine, which discussed the issues of malware, spam attacks, cyber-attacks and the like (Abel, 2017). Both of these articles highlighted that the factors which led to such unethical action or behaviour were predominantly financial reasons. The article published in The Guardian highlighted that in 2017 there had been high profiled cyber-attacks. The article also covered the statistics on the huge amount of customer records which had been stolen, which included bank account details (Pattenden, 2017). The article published in the SC Magazine provided a number of instances where different financial losses had been cause. For instance, the malware created by Mark Vartanyan had caused losses of $500 million in losses. This is because nearly eleven million computers were attacked and information was stolen through the malware, which included the personally identifiable information and the financial account credentials. Further, this article also highlighted another reason as committing treason for undertaking such cyber-attacks. There were also the factors of tarnishing the reputation and b reaching the privacy through use of malware (Abel, 2017). In order to overcome or prevent unethical actions which had been discussed in the previous segment, there is a need to take steps on both individual and statutory level. The statutory level involves bringing stringent norms, and bringing in such checks in place which could prevent such instances from taking place, owing to the high protections and penalty norms. More importantly, there is a need to bringing in individual level steps, by the companies and the people. The companies, for instance, need to bring out proper protection in their information technology. There is a need to curb the malwares coming in the organization, from external sources. A leading requirement is of controlling the entrance of such malwares through BYOD, i.e. bring your own device (Lord, 2017). Again, there is a need to educate the employees regarding the possible modes of cyber-attacks, particularly through spam emails and clicking on wrong links. Apart from the employees being educated, there is a need fo r the board to be educated on this and for the boards to identify such risks, in order to prevent the necessary plans required for avoiding such risks. So, by indulging in risk analysis and taking requisite steps, along with proper cyber training, such instances of cyber-attacks, resulting in financial losses can be avoided at individual and company levels (Belbey, 2017). E-commerce is the activity related to buying and selling online. There are basically six different types of e-commerce which include business to business, business to consumer, consumer to consumer, consumer to business, business to administration, consumer to administration (Strauss, 2016). In Malaysia, e-commerce is commonly used, particularly in the type of business to commerce. The biggest type of security issue which is faced by the e-commerce system, particularly in context of the fashion and apparel business and Information and Communication Technology in Malaysia, and in merchandise industry, and grocery and retail industry in UK, relates to the unauthorized access to the personal data of consumers, owing to the changes of security breaches or due to the absence of internal controls. The next issue is of risk of secondary use, where the personal data of the consumers can be used for unrelated purposes without taking their consent. Lastly, through cyber-attacks, the financial information of the clients can be misused causing great financial burden on the individuals (Ackerman Davis, 2003). All the aforementioned businesses/ industries have large customer base and they become prone to the issues highlighted here. As the customers of the aforementioned businesses and industries are at risk, such instances of cyber-attacks have to be controlled, if not eliminated. The first way whereby the instances of cybercrimes can be avoided is protecting the computers. There is a need to install antivirus programs on the computer systems, in order to avoid viruses breaking immunity of the computers, which makes the computers prone to the external attacks. These programs have to be kept latest to avoid as out-dated programs would not fulfil their desired purpose. There is also a need of installing firewalls in the server and the computer network. The operating systems on the computers also have to be kept updated as this is the place where the private and sensitive information is stored. The second mode of avoiding cyber-attacks is by preparing for an invasion. This requires proper risk assessment which could highlight the possible areas of attacks and could help in taking timely measures to avoid such atta cks from happening in reality. There is a need for installation of an efficient intrusion detection tool, which could give timely and swift updates regarding the system being breached. There is also the need of backing up the information regularly, as instances of data loss could be minimized by doing so, particularly when in the cases of Ransomware and invasion (Nwazor, 2017). A survey conducted recently highlighted that the students were more prone to cybercrimes in terms of both being the victims and the offenders (Goldman, 2008). There are different types of cybercrimes to which the students are vulnerable to. These include cyber bullying, child pornography, breach of privacy, defamation, nudity, There are also instances of teenagers being involved in instances of hacking, just to show that they can do this. Where the children go on the criminal path, they also indulge in instances of data theft, or spreading worms or virus in the public systems. There is rampant misuse of social media, like Facebook, where fake profiles are created by the students, as the children are not able to create profile when they are below 13 years of age, and yet this is done (Facebook, 2018). More than becoming the proponents of such cybercrimes, the students becomes the victims of such cybercrimes. Students are not aware of the predators lurking on the internet and indulge in friendships with predators having fake profiles. Through the level of trust which is generated by such predators, the children/ students leave their homes, without telling anyone and go to meet such predators, where they become the victim of sexual abuse. Predators use the means of sending gifts and other products to the young children to lure them. Then there are cases where the children use the credit card information of their parents to gain access to certain games or websites. As they are not aware of the authenticity of such websites or game, they put the financial data of their parents at risk. There are also the instances of cyber bullying, which include making fun of students online, or posting their embarrassing pictures or videos online (Ghosh Turrini, 2010). Cyber bullying took a whole new level with the Blue Whale challenge. Even though it was a game which did not exist physically, it was a game used to trap the students or young children, by sending specific invitation to the students. The situation was particularly grim because it involved students to put their lives at risk across the game, and to win the game, the student had to end their life. The other tasks included mutilating the skin. Where any task was refused by the child, the administrator would publish, release, share, or post some highly sensitive personal information of the child online. At least the children were led to believe this (Rossow, 2018). All this requires proper education of the young children, from very beginning of their school life, and their lives on internet to be aggressively monitored by parents and school administrations as well. There is a need to take these steps at the earliest, particularly in light of the recent events like the Blue Whale challenge. Some of the specific steps, in context of five cybercrimes, are stated below. Cyber Bullying: There is a need to educate the children from very young age, regarding the possibilities of cyber bullying. This involves steps to be taken by both parents and the school authorities, in educating the children about bullies lurking on the internet and in teaching them how these things can be avoided. There is also a need to educating about the means which have to be adopted where such instances take place, in terms of reporting them. Child Pornography: The children need to be taught about the correct manner of using internet. This is in context of not uploading any such content on the internet which involves nudity. Here again, the children education comes into play. There is also a need for parents to keep a vigilant eye on the internet use of the children. Breach of Privacy: The children, at their tender age, are not fully aware of privacy norms. There is a need to initiate programs at school level and at community level, where the children are educated about privacy and its significance, along with being made aware about the negative impact of breach of privacy, by making use of examples suiting their requirements. Defamation: Similar plans need to be adopted for defamation, where there is a need to make certain that the children does not indulge in defaming others. Harassment: There is a need to make the children aware about the steps which they can take, where they are faced with harassment online. They also need to be made aware of not indulging in such activities, as harassment is used commonly to further cyber bullying. Refrences Abel, R. (2017). 2017 Biggest Cybercrime Arrests. Retrieved from: https://www.scmagazine.com/2017-biggest-cybercrime-arrests/article/720094/ Ackerman, M. S., Davis Jr, D. T. (2003). Privacy and security issues in e-commerce.New economy handbook, 911-930. Belbey, J. (2017). How To Avoid Cyber Attacks: 5 Best Practices From SEC And FINRA. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joannabelbey/2017/06/30/how-to-avoid-cyberattacks-5-best-practices-from-sec-and-finra/#2f747e761a16 Facebook. (2018). How do I report a child under the age of 13? Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/help/157793540954833 Ghosh, S., Turrini, E. (Eds.). (2010).Cybercrimes: a multidisciplinary analysis. New York: Springer Science Business Media. Goldman, D. (2008). Survey shows students as victims and perps of cyber crime. Retrieved from: https://www.mpnnow.com/x390614737/Survey-shows-students-as-victims-and-perps-of-cyber-crime Lord, N. (2017). BYOD Security: Expert Tips On Policy, Mitigating Risks, Preventing A Breach. Retrieved from: https://digitalguardian.com/blog/byod-security-expert-tips-policy-mitigating-risks-preventing-breach Nwazor, T. (2016). 5 Ways to Prevent Cyber Crimes From Derailing Your Business. Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/toby-nwazor/5-ways-to-prevent-cyber-c_b_12450518.html Omar, C.M.Z.C., Anas, T. (2014). E-commerce in Malaysia: Development, Implementation and Challenges. International Review of Management and Business Research, 3(1). Paris, D. L., Bahari, M., Iahad, N. A., Hashim, H., Ismail, W. (2017). Organization's perspective of managing B2C e-Commerce implementation: Lessons from fashion and apparel business in Malaysia. InResearch and Innovation in Information Systems (ICRIIS), 2017 International Conference on(pp. 1-6). IEEE. Pattenden, M. (2017). Lack of IT staff leaving companies exposed to hacker attacks. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/25/lack-of-it-staff-leaving-companies-exposed-to-hacker-attacks Rossow, A. (2018). Cyberbullying Taken To A Whole New Level: Enter The 'Blue Whale Challenge'. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewrossow/2018/02/28/cyberbullying-taken-to-a-whole-new-level-enter-the-blue-whale-challenge/#75cd01502673 Strauss, J. (2016).E-marketing. Oxon: Routledge.