Cyber Crime And Cyber Security – What Is The Direction?
Cyber crime has in the recent past been on the increase with very many incidences getting reported time and again. And the saddest thing to happen is that the severity of the attacks grows bigger and wider as more and more attacks are poured onto internet users. For many people as well as the businesses, questions linger as to what would be the best course of action to take to enhance cyber security and particularly put this wave of crime to a complete stop. Worries and fear exist for all stakeholders on the internet due to the sheer amount in wealth and information broad as it can be being transferred especially on the internet. Cyber crime has been at its highest at a point when this transfer of wealth and information is at its highest. Systems are continually being exposed through many vulnerabilities and this is concert with many external threats identified and still cropping up today.
It is said that for every new technology, there comes opportunities for crime and this somewhat explains the different criminal activities seen in the cyber world today. Computer crime has been on the rise and it gets advanced each passing day. Cyber crime can be defined as the activities which are criminal in nature and also unethical and which are facilitated by the use of a computer or by the use of information technology. Examples of these crimes are the denial of service attacks through the saturation of a network, impersonating an individual on a computer system, stealing files and documents for many different reasons, stealing money and services, the interception of data, hacking of websites and lastly creating an spreading malware. These are just few examples of computer crimes and they all have different and devastating results. Of great interest to many people have been the attacks by viruses and other forms of malware. Second to the virus attacks on the cyber crimes which many people will be wary of are the hacking of systems. These are more rampant and they are associated with some of the most devastating results known in the cyber world.
The motivation for many a cyber criminal will be monetary gains which are seen in a variety of attacks aimed to steal money. These people will target financial systems. On the other hand, there will be the theft of services, information and software. For another lot of cyber criminals, their main intention will be thrill and challenge associated with hacking and other forms of cyber crime that they engage in. these criminal elements end up becoming a nuisance. The ever evolving nature of information technology has made it very difficult for businesses, organizations and all other players in the world to stay ahead of cyber crime or even forge a concerted effort at cutting down the ever growing number of risks.
With the knowledge that no one system is 100% secure, a number of very important steps have to be made towards ensuring cyber security is guaranteed on the very least. It has been observed that financial institutions and for the big organizations, security is very strong since they possess the capacity and money is involved. It becomes a demanding task for the medium sized and the smaller online businesses which will make efforts reminiscent to their ability and scope and which are never adequate to guarantee cyber security. Security should be matched to the need and this is where it gets tougher for the smaller businesses. It is with great concern that security has been a big issue and this arises from the fact that responsibility has to be emphasized all around the board. Government has a role to play in coming up with laws and regulations and all other stakeholders have a stake in the whole picture. Awareness is also another big part of the equation towards achieving cyber security. The impact of this would be big since from a tender age school going children are taught about the dangers found online and this would influence everything that they later learn and do when online. What is for sure though is that the whole environment whether it is policy or regulation, all these must move with great speed to ensure that cyber security is a reality now and in the immediate future.