Cybercrime is mainly cyber media crimes and they can be used as a weapon against a person in terms of a device/data infiltration without one’s consent or financial infiltration a few other cyber crimes are: child pornography, cyberbullying, etc.
Cybercrime comprises:
- Internet fraud and email.
- Identity fraud (where a person’s identity is stolen with the help of personal information, digital signature, etc).
- Sale and theft of corporate data.
- Cyber extortion (to prevent threatened attack-demanding money).
- Crypto-jacking (where cryptocurrency mining is done by hackers using resources they do not own).
- Sale of illegal items online.
- Possessing, Soliciting, or producing, child pornography.
- Card payment data theft or financial data theft.
- Cyber espionage (where hackers gain access to company data or government data).
- Compromising a network with the help of interfering systems.
- Ransomware attacks (it’s a type of cyber extortion).
- Copyright infringement.
- Gambling illegally.
Cybercrime includes one or both of the following:
- Targeting computers or using viruses and other types of malware- criminal activity.
- Usage of computers to commit other crimes – Criminal activity
“Since the start of the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, till December 12, 2022, more than 6 lakh complaints have been registered. And until now, an amount relatively more than Rs 188 crore has been saved in more than 1.11 lakh complaints, which could have been lost due to cybercrimes, the Minister of state for home said.
operationalized for assistance in lodging online cyber complaints, toll-free helpline number ‘1930’
These crimes are extremely quick and don’t give a reaction time to the victims in most cases, as the victims aren’t aware that they’re being looted or a victim of crimes on the internet.
CYBERATTACK ON AIIMS DELHI
The country’s premier institution’s servers remained down for several days, which severely affected the sample collection services and outpatient department (OPD).
Eventually, it came to the fore that the cyber attack originated from locations in China and Hong Kong on the AIIMS, Delhi servers, top government sources said.
Apparently, patient data scores were negotiated, AIIMS digital services were hacked by professional hackers/cybercriminals, and an apparent amount in cryptocurrency was demanded- which was Rs 200 crore.
Malware attacks
A malware attack is when a network or computer system is infected with a particular type of malware or a computer virus. A compromised computer by malware could be used for several purposes by cyber criminals. These include causing damage to data by using the computer to carry out other criminal acts or stealing confidential data.
A well-known example of a malware attack, a global cybercrime committed in May 2017 can be the WannaCry ransomware attack. It is a type of ransomware, where malware is used and money is extorted by holding the victim’s data or device for ransom. in computers running Microsoft Windows, the ransomware started targeting the vulnerability.
The WannaCry ransomware attack hit and affected approximately 230,000 computers in 150 countries.
The WannaCry ransomware is estimated to have caused $4 billion in financial losses, worldwide. The attack stands out for its impact and sheer size.
Sent with the intent of duping recipients into doing something that undermines their security-a phishing campaign involves spam emails or other forms of communication. Messages in a phishing campaign may contain links to malicious sites or infected attachments, or the receiver is asked to respond with confidential information.
During the World Cup in 2018, a phishing scam took place. According to a report, the World Cup phishing scam, or 2018 Fraud World Cup, where the criminals communicated with the fans through emails. With fake free trips to Moscow, where the World Cup was being hosted the spam emails tried to entice fans. The personal data of the people who opened and clicked on the links contained in these emails were stolen.
Known as spear-phishing is another type of phishing campaign. Tricking specific individuals into jeopardizing the security of the organization they work for are targeted phishing campaigns.
Spear-phishing messages are typically crafted to look like messages from a trusted source, unlike mass phishing campaigns, which are very general in style. They are made to look like they have come from an important person like the CEO or the IT team. No visual clues were available which could make them seem fake.
Distributed DoS attacks
A type of cyber attack that cybercriminals use to bring down a system or network is known as Distributed DoS attack (DDoS). Devices are used to launch DDoS attacks which can often include devices connected to IoT (Internet of Things).
It uses to spam the system with connection requests by using one of the standard communication protocols which overwhelm the system. Cyber extortion used by cybercriminals may use the threat of a DDoS attack to demand money. While another type of cybercrime is nabbed the DDoS is used as a distraction tactic.
The attack on the UK’s National Lottery website in 2017 is a well-known example of a DDoS attack. The lottery’s website and mobile app were brought offline, which stopped the citizens of the UK from playing. It is suspected that the attack was an attempt to blackmail the National Lottery, however, the reason behind the attack is still unknown.