The Ongoing Cyber Crimes

REVIEWING THE ONGOING GLOBAL CYBER CRIMES


Brethren, surely it’s needless to ask you how was your night; because apparently, going by your respective facial countenances, I can boldly see for myself that you had a very fantastic night. I most sincerely welcome you all to this special edition of our ongoing social crusade.

“It’s a completely new game now”, says a commander involved in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which was heading from Malaysia to Ukraine with 239 people on board that vanished into thin air from radar. Furthermore, he (the commander) reportedly said, “We went from a chess board to a football field”.

If I may ask; how does the above utterance sounds to your hearing? So funny, right? Nevertheless, the bone of contention is that any phenomenon or occurrence can take a different dimension as time goes on. But sometime, the subsequent dimension(s) we encounter might not just sound funny, but as well seem unfounded or deadly as the case may be.

A good friend of mine residing in Asia, precisely Japan, called me on phone penultimate Monday to ascertain how Nigerians were coping with the hurdles as regards internet hacking. The friend and colleague in question is my fellow ICT consultant. I responded unequivocally that Nigeria as a society was growing equally with western (civilized) nations such as U.S.A and England in respect to internet/cyber connectivity, but the major plight being faced by the said country was that, hackers were coming up with various advanced hacking softwares or techniques beyond the knowledge of most ICT personnel in the country.

Frankly, internet/computer hacking which constitutes the most recent cyber crimes, is real and really eating deep in the global internet connectivity. ‘Computer Hacking’, in a concise term, is the act of breaking into someone else’s computer systems, especially in order to acquire secret information that is stored there. In the same vein, a computer hacker is someone who tries to break into computer systems belonging to others for the purpose of getting secret or confidential information stored in them.

Apart from internet hacking which is widely in circulation and “lucrative”, there are other many internet/cyber criminal acts taking place globally on a daily basis. Such acts include the ones occurring on the numerous existing social media.

Prior to the invention of the Internet, criminals had to dig through people’s trash or intercept their mails to steal their personal information. Now that all of these information are available online, criminals presently use the Internet to steal people’s identities, hack into their accounts, trick them into revealing the information, or infect their devices with malware. A malware is a “computer threat”, which includes the famous computer virus. Let’s ride on!

Most cyber crimes are committed by individuals or small groups. Though large organized criminal groups also take advantage of the Internet. These so-called professional criminals find new ways to commit old (ancient) crimes. They treat cyber crimes like a business and form global criminal communities. Criminal communities share strategies and tools and can combine forces to launch coordinated attacks. They even have an underground marketplace where cyber criminals can purchase and sell stolen information or identities.

It’s very difficult to track cyber criminals down, because the Internet makes it easier for people to do things anonymously and from any location on the globe. So many computers used in various destinations have actually been hacked and are being controlled by someone far away.

For hackers who want to come clean and turn away from crime out of pretence, one option is to work for the people they used to torment by becoming their security consultants or employees. These set of hackers are referred to as “Grey Hat Hackers”. In the past, they were addressed as “Black Hat Hackers” who used their computer expertise to break into systems and steal information illegally while posing as a friend or dedicated employee/consultant. But presently, some of them are acting as “White Hat Hackers” who specialize in testing the security strength of their clients’ information systems.

If the interest of the aforementioned set of hackers (White Hat Hackers) is to be paid, they will attempt to hack into a company’s network and then present the affected company with a report detailing the existing security loopholes of the company and how those anomalies can be tackled. The advantage of this is that, they can use their skills for a good cause and help stop other cyber criminals, since keeping up with security and cyber criminals is a fulltime job and many companies can’t afford financially to have someone totally dedicated to it.

Another recent devastating aspect of internet hacking is the “Social Engineering” routine. Social engineering is a tactic used by cyber criminals that use lies and manipulations to trick people into revealing their personal information. Social engineering attacks frequently involve very convincing fake stories to lure victims into their trap. Some of these tricks include sending victims an email that claims there’s problem with their account and has a link to a fake website, trying to convince victims to open email attachments that contain malware, pretending to be a network/account administrator and asking for the victim’s password to perform maintenance activity, claiming that the victim has won a prize but must give their credit card information in order to receive it, promising the victims that they will receive millions of dollars if only they will help out the sender by giving them money or disclosing their bank account details, just to mention but a few.

The recent dimensions of cyber crimes, which is becoming funny, barbaric and deadly, have called for constant and consistent update of advanced anti-hacking computer softwares by software producers, and the adequate dissemination of the said softwares to the apt quarters. Presently most developing countries are less-privileged in regard to advanced anti-hacking or anti-malware softwares.

On the other hand, a strict and grievous law regarding cyber crime ought to be implemented by all the countries in the world. Such law mustn’t bear anything less than capital punishment if anyone is found guilty. Also, thoroughly equipped Internet Communication Agencies comprising well experienced experts are expected to be established by the respective countries.

And, those involved in these criminal acts with the sole aim of bankrupting their victims should as a matter of urgency, endeavour to turn a new leaf to distance themselves from the dangers that will surely befall them.

Above all, the potential victims either individuals or corporate organizations, must also take precautions of the above mentioned internet/computer scams in order not to exclaim ‘Had I known’. Truly, “A word is enough for the wise”. Think about it!
FRED NWAOZOR

frednwaozor@gmail.com