What are the 2 most common cybercrime?

With our world moving towards digitization, the occurrences of cyber crimes on systems can be highly damaging. As technology progresses and more people depend on the internet-abled services for every day activities, including storing their credit card details and transacting money online, cyber crimes are becoming more common than ever. The consequences of these digital attacks are destructive and can cause some serious damage.

What is Cyber Crime?

One of the most popular and oft-occurring forms of crime in the world, cyber crime can be defined as the exploitation of computer networks, systems, and technology-dependent enterprises intentionally. There are different types of cyber crimes that use malicious code to modify data and gain unauthorized access.

What are the Categories of Cyber Crime?

Cyber crimes are categorized into three broad categories, individual, property and government. Based on each category of cyber crime, cybercriminals use different levels and types of threats.

Individual: This cyber crime category includes disseminating malicious or illegal information via the internet and digital-applications by one person. Cyber speaking, pornography distribution, and trafficking are a few examples of this category of cyber crime.

Property: This cyber crime is similar to a real-life incident where a criminal keeps the bank or credit card information illegally. The hacker steals an individual’s bank details to acquire money or makes phishing scams online to obtain information from people.

Government: It is the least frequent cyber crime, but it is the most serious misconduct. A cyber crime against the government is also regarded as Cyber Terrorism. Government cyber crime involves the hacking of websites, military websites, or the distribution of government propaganda.

What are the Common Types of Cyber Crimes?

Let’s explore various types of cyber crimes prevalent today.

1. Web Attacks

A web attack affects the computer via the internet. These viruses can be downloaded from the internet and end up causing large-scale and irreversible damages to your system.

2. SQL Injections

SQL injection is a type of cyber crime that effectively employs malicious codes and manipulates backend databases to access information that is not intended to be displayed. These mostly involve private and sensitive data items including the likes of user lists and customer details, among others. SQLI can have long-term devastating effects such as deletion of tables, unauthorized viewing of any user list, and even administrative access to databases.

3. Cross-Site Scripting

Cross-Site is another type of injection breach where attackers send malicious scripts from websites that are deemed responsible or reputed. Attackers inject malicious codes into trusted websites and applications and when a user visits such infected web page, the malicious JavaScipt code is executed on the user’s browser. This code can be used to steal important information like username and password.

4. DDoS Attacks

These are the attacks that aim at shutting down services or networks and making them inaccessible to the intended users. These attacks overwhelm the target with a lot of traffic and flood the same with information that can cause the website to crash. DDoS Attacks are targeted primarily at web servers of high-profile organizations such as the government or trade firms.

5. Password Attacks

These are simply meant to decrypt or even attempt to obtain a user’s password with the help of criminal intentions. Attackers can use Dictionary Attacks, Password Sniffers, or even Cracking programs in such cases. These attacks are conducted by accessing passwords that are exported or stored in a file.

6. Eavesdropping Attacks

Eavesdropping attack begins with the interception of network traffic. This type of cyber crime is also known as Sniffing or Snooping. In this type of cyber crime, individuals attempt to steal information that computers, smartphones, or other devices receive or send.

7. Brute-Force and Dictionary Network Attacks

These are networking attacks where attackers attempt to directly log into the user’s accounts by checking and trying out different possible passwords until they find the correct ones.

Not all of the network attacks are executed by outsiders. The inside attack is a very common type of cyber crime. It is performed on a network or a system by individuals who have authorized access to the same system.

9. Man-in-the-Middle Attacks

A man-in-the-middle attack occurs when attackers eavesdrop on the communication between two entities. This type of cyber crime affects both the communicating parties as the attacker can do anything with the interpreted information.

10. AI-powered Attacks

Computer systems are now programmed to learn and teach themselves, and these AI-powered attacks mark a new type of cyber crime that is bound to get more sophisticated with time.

AI is employed in many everyday applications with the help of algorithmic processes referred to as Machine Learning. This software is aimed at training computers to perform specific tasks all on their own. They can also accomplish these tasks by teaching themselves about obstacles that can potentially hinder their progress. AI can also hack many systems, including autonomous drones and vehicles, and convert them into potentially dangerous weapons. The AI-powered applications can be used for performing cyber crimes such as Password Cracking, Identity Theft, and automated, efficient and robust attacks.

11. Drive-by Attacks

Drive-by attacks are used to spread malware through insecure websites. Hackers first look for websites with lesser security parameters and then plant malicious scripts into PHP or HTTP code onto one of the pages. The script can then directly install the malware onto the computer of anyone who visits the site.

12. Phishing Attacks

The Phishing Attack is a Social Engineering attack that is used to steal precious data such as login credentials or credit card details as attackers pretend to be trusted individuals and trick victims into opening malicious links.

13. Spear Phishing Attacks

These attacks are aimed at specific organizations’ data by individuals who desire unauthorized access. These hacks aren’t executed by any random attackers but by individuals who are trying to access specific information like trade secrets, military intelligence, etc.

14. Whale Phishing Attacks

A Whale Phishing Attack is a type of Phishing that generally attacks people with high statures, such as CFOs or CEOs. It primarily aims at stealing information as these individuals typically have unlimited access and are involved with sensitive data.

15. Malware

Malware is an umbrella term for a code/program that is intentionally built to affect or attack computer systems without the user’s consent.

16. Ransomware

Ransomware generally blocks victim’s access to their own data and deletes the same if a ransom is not paid.

17. Trojan Horses

Trojan Horse is a type of malicious software program which attempts to disguise itself to appear useful. It appears like a standard application but causes damage to data files once executed.

18. Teardrop Attack

Teardrop attack is a form of attack that causes fragmentation in the general sequence of Internet Protocol (IP) packets and sends these fragmented packets to the victim’s machine that is attacked.

19. Ping of Death Attack

The Ping of Death Attack is a type of cyber crime where IP packets ping target systems with IP sizes that are much over the maximum byte limit.

20. PUPs

PUPs is an abbreviation for Potentially Unwanted Programs. These are a form of malware that is less threatening than other types of cyber crimes. This type of attack uninstalls the required search engine and pre-downloaded apps in your systems. Therefore, it is a good idea to install antivirus software to prevent malicious download.

Now that we’ve explained the various types of cyber crimes, let’s dig deep and learn about the history of cyber crime, the impact of cyber crime on society, and how to fight cyber crime.

History Of Cyber Crime

In the 1970s, the malicious link to hacking was first documented when early computerized phones became a target. Tech-savvy people called ‘Phreakers,’ who were the first hackers, have found a way to make long-distance calls through a series of codes by modifying software and hardware. This incident made people aware that computer systems are vulnerable to crime, and more complex systems are susceptible to cyber crime.

Impact Of Cyber Crime On Society

Cyber crime has posed a huge threat to internet users by stealing millions of information from users in recent years. It has also caused a huge dent in the global economy. According to Gartner, the global demand for Cyber Security is expected to hit $170.4 billion by 2022. 95% of Cyber Security violations occur because of human error, according to Cybint.

How To Fight Cyber Crime

Cyber crime is undoubtedly one of the biggest concerns in today’s digital era, but there are many simple and effective online security available in the market. Continuous development of new security initiatives and strategies to keep pace with criminals is necessary; thus, it is imperative to keep up with current developments in the Cyber Security domain.

Listed below are some of the ways to fight different types of cybercrime:

Updating your operating system and software: The latest security patches for your computer are only available if you keep your software and operating system up to date.
Using an updated version of Anti-virus software: Protecting your system from threats is easy when you use anti-virus software that scans, identifies, and removes potential threats before they become a problem.
Strong password: Ensure your logins are secure by using complex passwords which are
difficult to decipher, and they should not be written down anywhere.
Do not open links or attachments in spam emails: Email attachments in spam emails are a common vector for malware and other forms of cybercrime to infect a computer. Also, If you receive spam emails or visit untrusted websites, do not click on any links in them.
Do not share personal information: Always verify the phone line, email, or the person you are speaking with before revealing any personal information.
Contact the companies directly if you notice suspicious requests from anyone claiming to be calling on their behalf.
Be mindful about the URLs (websites) you open: Check the URLs that you’re visiting. Do not click on links that have URLs that are strange or unfamiliar. Before making any financial transactions online, check to see if your internet security software includes transaction security functionality.
Keep a check on your bank statements: Keep an eye on your bank statements and query any unfamiliar transactions with the bank.

Conclusion

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