Spyware, Trojan Horses and such.

According to Wikipedia, "although the term cybercrime is usually restricted to describing criminal activity in which the computer or network is an essential part of the crime, this term is also used to include traditional crimes in which computers or networks are used to enable the illicit activity."



Cybercrime is criminal activity done using computers and the Internet. This includes anything from downloading illegal music files to stealing millions of dollars from online bank accounts. Cybercrime also includes non-monetary offenses, such as creating and distributing viruses on other computers or posting confidential business information on the Internet.Perhaps the most prominent form of cybercrime is identity theft, in which criminals use the Internet to steal personal information from other users.

Two of the most common ways this is done is through phishing and pharming. Both of these methods lure users to fake websites (that appear to be legitimate), where they are asked to enter personal information. This includes login information, such as usernames and passwords, phone numbers, addresses, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and other information criminals can use to "steal" another person's identity. For this reason, it is smart to always check the URL or Web address of a site to make sure it is legitimate before entering your personal information.Because cybercrime covers such a broad scope of criminal activity, the examples above are only a few of the thousands of crimes that are considered cybercrimes. While computers and the Internet have made our lives easier in many ways, it is unfortunate that people also use these technologies to take advantage of others. Therefore, it is smart to protect yourself by using antivirus and spyware blocking software and being careful where you enter your personal information. (techterms.com, 2008).



These are some statistics, as shown in this graph depicting the different types of cybercrime such as financial frauds, identity thefts and virus/worm/trojan infections. (http://www.osc.edu/, 2008).

Speaking of spyware, my computer was hit by some spyware not a long time ago. When it was infected with the spyware, i had initially no idea that my computer was hit by dangerous spyware which could wipe out my entire computer system until my computer started to act really slow and when i opened my internet pages, i was directed to a different website instead of my usual home page, msn.com. I did not know how to deal with the spyware so i started to listen to everything that popped up on my computer as an information bubble, especially the one which told me to download a spyware software. So clicked on the bubble, and downloaded this 'software' which to my despair, was spyware itself! So it is actually amazing how this spyware can be, intruding into every aspect of your computer and even tricking you into downloading it.

From then on, i had to virus scan my computer regularly, be consisently watchful of the items i download by checking if the source is credible or not e.g. microsoft.com. I was also careful not to download anything that looked or sounded funny or was not familiar to me and i was also on the look out for the signs of spyware 'infection' which includes pop-ups suddenly appearing and slow performance.

ISN Security Watch has reported that “2008 will see an expansion of economic espionage in which nation-states and companies will use cybertheft of data to gain economic advantage in multinational deals.” Is this so much an expansion of a social-ill, or a facilitation?

However,the fault is not to be found with technology, but with humans. If anything, something like the internet should be considered as somewhat of a mirror or looking-glass that only reflects the behaviour and flaws of humans, magnifying those tendencies back at us. Thus, old scams that prey on human weaknesses, such as greed, are facilitated through e-mail increasing the rate of such crime. Likewise, bullying which for so long has been ignored in our schools is only aggravated, becoming pervasive and unrelenting for victims. Economic espionage, These threats aren’t new, however, they are just being facilitated through advancing technology.

Until we shift our focus away from the technology and onto the underlying threat that is human nature, these problems will only continue to worsen. As with many security related issues, our attention is misplaced on the immediate consequences - the tools, the victims or the crimes. As a result, we don’t dig beneath the surface of the situation to address the true source of the problem. Behind every issue undoubtedly stands a human. Our approach to security must begin to accept this fundamental principle if we are ever to achieve stability.