In the early days of computing, a hacker was primarily referred to as a computer guru, someone who is extremely technical with a high expertise in computer also known as “Expert Programmers”. Nevertheless, as technology is advancing at a face pace, hacking has adopted a completely different definition. The modern definition is someone who access a computer system primarily to steal or destroy information. Hacking has caused major harm in the realm of technology. Over the years, hackers have become much more lethal in their craft. They manage to break into complex information systems from entities such as banks, government agencies, and private businesses. Furthermore, they often manipulate their victims through social engineering in order to obtain financial benefits. Hackers hold different label such as: black hat hacker and white hat hacker in which all have their own motives.
Have you ever wondered how computers systems get hacked? Have you ever considered the criminals motives for engaging in such type of criminal activity? While computers and the Internet have undoubtedly brought great advantages to society. Computers have also paved new ways for criminals to engage in dangerous activities that are unprecedented in scope and could potentially cause catastrophic consequences for society. Cyber criminal activity occurs constantly, however, many people are unaware of the true meaning of cyber crime and their risks associated with becoming a victim of such crime. According to an article released by the Law school of the University of Pennsylvania “The term cybercrime refers to the use of a computer to facilitate or carry out a criminal offense” (Katyal 12). These criminal offenses can include, but are not limited to: telemarketing, identity theft, online money laundering, cyber terrorism, and cyber extortions. In an era were society at large relies greatly on computers and the Internet, it is crucial to understand the methods that cyber criminal’s use and the measures that one must take to prevent becoming a victim of cybercrime.
Law Enforcement have always been tasked with having to evolve with the trends in crime throughout history. Unfortunately for Law Enforcement, they are always on the back end of that and are often behind for months before being able to counteract. Cyber crimes are no different. Cyber Crimes are a new and always developing form of crime that bases its entire agenda from taking advantage of its victims over the internet. Law Enforcement 's job is to assess and work to stop these crimes but it 's not that easy. These cyber crimes are heavily in the favor of the criminals and the lack of assistance to Law Enforcement makes it harder for them. The scams are always changing and the costs are adding up as Law Enforcement takes on Cyber crimes.
The data required by E-commerce not only attracts businesses and consumers globally, but because of the profitable nature of the data used to exchange money, Internet criminals known as "hackers" electronically probe and loiter networked pathways with the intention of intercepting this valuable information.
There are four major categories in computer crime. The first is the computer as a target. Then would come the computer as an instrument of a crime. Followed by computer as an incidental to a crime. Not to mention crimes associated with the prevalence of computers. These four major categories are what contributes to digital crimes, involving the worldwide web.
“There are two kinds of people in America today: those who have experienced a foreign cyber attack and know it, and those who have experienced a foreign cyber attack and don 't know it.” (Frank Wolf). The world has become more connected today than ever before. The world’s technology is growing larger and the internet’s traffic is boosting. Major internet-related industries are doubling profits because of the online traffic. With all the wonderful and positive things about the Internet, there is a downside. Anyone using the internet is exposed to the security risks of being part of a large network. The world can now be referred to as the “Cyber Age.” Computer crime, also known as cybercrime is a crime conducted via the Internet or some other computer network. The computer can be used to perform the crime directly or indirectly or the computer might be the bull’s eye (the target). A cybercrime is performed for many reasons. This group of hackers are motivated by the huge number of people online at a given time and the hacker might target a single person or a group of individuals or even a whole nation. His motive is to harm the victim’s physical and mental state. Usually when doing a cybercrime, the internet is the sole means through which the hacker connects to the victim. This connection could be through emails, in a chat room, ads, etc.… These crimes could cause severe damage to the victim and even go as far as threatening a nation’s
Hacking is one of the main forms of cybercrimes (McGuire and Dowling, 2013: 4). To best understand cyber hacking, it is necessary to first define cybercrime. Basically, the word “cybercrime” is a media invention, just as “cyberspace” (Jewkes, 2010). Cyberspace is deemed to be the imaginary space on the internet. Consequently, the crimes committed within this cyberspace are called “cybercrimes” (Yip, 2010: 21). Another connotation provided by Symantec refers to cybercrime as any crime done with the use of a computer, hardware or network device (Fossi, et al., 2008: 51). Wall (2008) further explained that cybercrimes are harmful and criminal activities characterised by the acquirement and manipulation of data for various motives or gains.
Hackers by definition are persons who use computers to gain unauthorized access to data. Hackers are people who by use their knowledge in hacking and are categorized by how they use their knowledge in hacking. There are blackhat hackers, whitehat hackers, greyhat hackers, script Kiddie, and hacktivist. Blackhat hackers, unfortunately, are the reason why hackers are defined as or synonymous to being a cybercriminal because these kinds of hackers are. ("Types Of Hackers", n.d).
Cyber crime is defined as any crime that involves a computer and network. Individuals, businesses and government agencies around the world constantly face threats to their medical information, consumer data, as well as company trade information and military decisions. Cyber security specialists are professionals that are specifically trained to protect individuals and organizations from cyber crime, hackers and scammers.
Since the onset of the first packet switching event that many believe to be beginning of the internet, no other technology besides the printing press has ever transformed the ability to deliver information. Although the internet is used by a large percentage of the civilized world, few Americans realize how vital cyberspace is to our national infrastructure. Today, we are faced with even more threats although it has been a recognized problem since 2009, when President Barrack Obama said “The cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation. It’s also clear that we’re not as prepared as we should be, as a government or as a country (Obama, 2009).” Every industry that operates in the United States is dependent on the internet for some aspect of their business. Commerce, transportation, financial institutions, military, as well as industrial control systems are all interconnected. This interconnectedness has created vulnerabilities within their infrastructure that have increasingly become targets of terrorists, script kiddies, foreign governments and hackers of all types.
To begin with, it is essential to understand what cyberwar is. “Cyber” essentially refers to anything electronic or internet-based. A cyber attack is when one entity hacks into the resources of another entity. This resource could be almost anything- an email inbox, a bank account, a stoplight, a factory, a power grid, or even a nuclear device. Cyberwarfare is to cyber attacks as nuclear war is to nuclear missiles; an exchange between two nations in an attempt for one to damage another. Cyber attacks come in two main forms: espionage and sabotage. In an espionage operation, the objective is to gain intelligence on strategic resources. For example, imagine a country hacking into a communication network to survey enemy troop movements or electronically stealing the blueprints for a missile. The other kind, sabotage, is much more direct. In this case, the objective is to either take control over or destroy an asset. This can range from something as basic as shutting down a website to something as massive and destructive as
Cyberwarfare – The use of computer technology to disrupt activities in a state or organization, to deliberately attacking of information systems for strategic or military purposes. An example of cyberwarfare, is when in 2007 a foreign nation party managed to infiltrate into high tech and military agencies in the US and downloaded terabytes of information.
Denial of Service (DoS) attack is a very common cyber menace that renders websites and other online means inaccessible to intended users. There are various types of DoS threats and nearly all directly target the core server structure. Others abuse weaknesses in application and communication proprieties. DoS is also used as a cover-up for other wicked actions, and to take down security applications like web firewalls. A prosperous DoS attack is very obvious and impacts the entire online user base.
Cyber terrorism is just as its name implies; it is the utilization of the internet for the purpose of causing terror. Today’s cyberterrorist have several methods available for achieving their goals. The first of these is a general term known as “Hacking” which refers to anyone gaining access to a computer or a network of computers to which they are not allowed. There are various forms by which a hacker can gain this access. Hacking is comprised of five key methods utilized for the purpose of gaining that access to a computer or computers whichever may be the case. A terrorist could use hacking methods such as packet sniffing, Tempest, password cracking, or buffer overruns to gain access to unauthorized computers for the purpose of stealing credit card or other financial information. They can also use these tools for the purpose of gaining control of a specific computer or network
Cyber-attacks are being used for espionage, industrial sabotage, or even as a sort of punishment for organizations who are doing business in a way not appreciated by hacker communities. Attacks stopped being random, today’s many hackers know exactly who they want to strike and are patiently waiting for the