Posted: November 14th, 2022

Cybersecurity is closely related to cybercrime

Cyber Crime
Introduction
Cybersecurity is closely related to cybercrime, currently one of the major concerns in Information Technology due to the new development in technologies. However, cybercrime is an unethical practice that is dominant in the world of sophisticated technology. Most of the business enterprises rely on data that is available on technological platforms such as cloud computing that is vulnerable to attacks (Choo & Grabosky, 2013). Cybersecurity is now part of our daily life and it is now becoming a culture. Cases of cybercrime are now increasing and hackers are inventing new methods to propagate this crime. Technological developments have made the issues of cybercrime is an unethical practice in the Information Technology sector and hence a big concern in finding the solution to the problem.
Data collection and privacy is a critical part for any enterprise. Enterprises and government agencies rely on data and the ability to protect the data from any form of breach is one of the main goals of the organisation. Organisations rely on data for their daily activities. Individuals also store personal data about bank accounts, purchasing data among other types of data. These data are supposed to be protected from unauthorised entry thus achieving privacy of data (Saini et al, 2012). Departments such as sales and marketing and companies use the data that is available to target customers and other individuals. Different types of data are aggregated to form one big set of data. For instance, data can be collected from social media accounts, web pages through the internet and communication channels such as emails. The sets of data are consolidated together to form one set of data that is useful to an organisation.
Data privacy is an important aspect of data because of many breaches that exist. Organisations that conduct their businesses through the internet need to protect the data of their customers and other important data that is used for the running of the organisation. However, some countries have enacted laws that protect the public from individuals who are targeting to invade in the privacy of the customers. The laws ensure that the data is fully protected and no misuse of the data. However, there are criminals who invade into the computer systems by introducing malware that damages data. The IT systems need to be protected so that their privacy is not compromised.
Cybersecurity is one of the matters that has caused a global interest and of great importance. Therefore, the issue should be treated as a priority in dealing with the security of the systems. Many countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom have prioritised the issues of cybersecurity by channelling more resources in this area. However, cybersecurity consists of a number of tools and guidelines that are used to protect the assets of an organisation. Other areas that are connected to cybersecurity are policies, training and technologies. Cybersecurity ensures that the systems in an organisation are protected from any security risks. In addition, the data that is protected must be available when needed, authentication to be carried out to define who will access the data and the confidentiality of the data. On the other hand, cyberbullying has become one of the major concerns in current society. According to Martin and Rice, “technological increasingly used to bully cause embarrassment, invoke harassment and violence and inflict psychological harm’’ (Jaishankar, 2011)
Cybercrime, on the other hand, compromises the security of the data in a given IT system. Many infrastructures such as electricity, water and oil depend on the internet for communication. Cybercrime is committed by terrorists who target critical infrastructures and other important files in an organisation. Companies and government sectors incur huge losses as a result of the attacks. Some of the attacks could lead to shutting down of infrastructures. Cybercrime is executed in many forms such as vulnerability scanning whereby the computer is checked using a special tool to know the weaknesses that are found in the network. Others include the brute force attacks such as guess of password whereby one may guess the correct password that provides the access into the system, password cracking among others. Cybercrime is an unethical practice that has led to major concerns across the world, therefore a strong system and measures must be integrated to deal with the crime (Lesk, 2011).
The problem in this context is the cybercrime. Cybercrime is the most serious concern in the current technological developments. The problem of cybercrime is serious because of the extreme damages that result from the attacks. The damages are caused as a result of many factors which includes;
Harassment through the mail: Harassment in the email is a common crime that is committed by the attackers. The harassment could cause a total damage of long-term relationships and introduces conflicts. While communicating through the mail, one may click on a message that pops up which may be a malicious code that will send wrong messages to the receivers and hence introducing conflicts. Therefore cybercrime is a serious problem that should be given a priority by many organisations.
Unauthorised control over the systems: The hackers get access into the system thereby interfering with many functions of the system. The hacking process leads to loss of important data that forms a cornerstone of many organisations. Hacking is normally carried out by introducing a malware in the system which corrupts the data leading to loss of important information (Tendulkar, 2013). Previous hackings have caused huge damages to companies losing billions of money. Hackers have invented new methods to achieve their mission. However, the vulnerabilities of the systems could lead to hacking. Systems which are not well secured are prone to hacking and therefore the system should be made stronger to help to reduce these attacks.
Vandalising computers is also another way of which criminal use to commit the crimes. Computers in an organisation may be vandalised physically by a brutal individual who has bad intention. Computer hardware and software are deliberately damaged and completely destroyed by criminals. The criminals physically harm the computers or they steal away the hardware and backup devices that store important information. The stolen hardware consists of important information which is important in running of the organisations. It is not easy to retrieve the information that is stolen. Data recovery is an expensive process. Loss of data may lead to shut down of critical infrastructure. Therefore cybercrime is a major issue of concern in many organisation and other sectors (Tehrani et al, 2013).
On the other hand, cyber issues may expose the youths into bad behaviours such as pornography, drug trafficking. Financial related crimes, online gambling and forgery. The activities are against the norms and culture of people. These cyber-related issues are worse and could cause major damages to the youths and the general society. The problems that are caused by cybercrime are so serious and results in major losses and damages.
The issue of cybercrime is very serious as it is because of new developments in technology. Sophisticated technologies mean that the systems become vulnerable to attacks. The new technologies such as cloud computing provide a good environment for cyber-attacks. Cloud computing is operated on the server and hence it is not easy to control especially when there are many organisations. On the other hand, the hackers are using modern and sophisticated methods to initiate the attacks in the systems. The methods are not easily discoverable. The problem is also made serious because of a limited number of experts that are able to deal with cybersecurity threats. There are few qualified IT individuals who monitor the system and provides solutions in case of any suspicious activity (Akhgar et al, 2014).
Cybercrime compromises the privacy and collection of the data. In most of the cases, there is a breach of data leading to loss of important information. The data that was well collected and organised cannot be traced as a result of the attack. Generally, cybercrime is termed as one of the dangerous activity in the technology. A number of cases of cyber-attacks were reported in the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries such as Russia. For instance, in the year 2017, a hospital in the United Kingdom was attacked resulting in huge losses. The losses were adverse. The virus was introduced in the system leaving the system operational for close to one week. The case was considered one of the worst cyber-attacks for almost close to a decade. In these attacks, the hackers gained access into the systems of the hospital thereby breaching the data that was collected from patients and other staff members. The medical system in the United Kingdom was completely shut down. The malware that was used to attack the systems was also used to attack a freight company leading to infections in a large number of computers. The virus was believed to have been transmitted through the mail which was in form of an attachment. The virus could spread in the network when the attachment was clicked on (Yassir & Nayak, 2012). After clicking the virus could not allow any more action rather than a notification that appeared demanding for money. A big number of computers were infected with the malware. Generally, the attack that was carried out in the hospital system led to a situation where the data in the systems were compromised. Health is an important sector in an economy, if the hospital was hacked, what was the resultant health of most patients? If the hospital lost data about the diagnosis of the patients, how was the health of the patients managed?
On the other hand, the cases of cyber-attacks are extreme and one would wish not to fall a victim of cyber-attack. In another case, hackers stole billions of money from different global banks. The case took place in the year 2015; the hackers were believed to have originated from Russia (Dawson, 2015). The hackers gained entry into the bank system thereby compromising all activities from the institution. A malware was introduced in the system which made the hackers to have access to personal data of the customers. Access to personal data provided a good way to get access to important details such as the bank account details. Therefore the privacy of the data was compromised by allowing unauthorised entry into the system. The whole data collected of the customer that was well stored in the in the system was interfered with. Huge sums of money were stolen through personal bank accounts. The hack was considered one of the biggest attacks in the field of technology. This, therefore, brings a discussion on the security of the banks and other financial institutions where customers save their money. The institutions have proven not secure and customers are losing confidence in them (Anderson, et al, 2013).
In another case of cyber-attack, Sony Company which deals with the sale of electronics and entertainment was attacked with a virus.
A large amount of data was stolen from the company. The data that was contained sensitive contents that the company relied on. The attack was attributed to the wrangles that existed in the entertainment industry. In my opinion, the systems of the company were not secured through investing enough resources. The management did not allocate enough staff and resources to deal with such cases.
Generally, in all the cases, there was interference of the privacy of the data. Most of the data that was collected and stored in the systems were attacked. The attackers could get away with vital information that Helped them to gain access to other areas such as personal bank accounts and other sensitive files. Most cases of cyber-attacks compromise the privacy and data collection. The government should invest heavily in critical sectors such as the health in managing their security system. Health is a very sensitive sector in any economy.
There are several causes of cybersecurity. These causes are mainly as a result of weak and insecure systems. The weak system provides opportunities for the hackers to get access into the network.
Insecure routers and the whole network: Failure to assess the security of the network and the extent to which the network is exposed is one of the causes of the cybersecurity. Most organisations do not scan the ports of the network from the outside environment to reveal any issues of insecurity in the IP address that controls the File Transfer Protocol. If the vulnerability of the server is not monitored through scanning then the system could be weak and prone to attacks. However, most organisations do not limit the number of people who access the router and hence people of bad intention might introduce malware in the system.
Lack of reliable backup and firewalls: Backups and firewalls are important in keeping the network safe. Organisations that have not invested in these devices are at risk of exposing the network to a more serious attack. Backup is used to store data in case of any attacks while firewalls are installed in the system to keep them safe against the entry of the virus and also scan the existing virus (Tiwari, 2010).
Improper use of password: Passwords limits the number of people to access certain files. The password should behave like a toothbrush. Most organisations expose the system through the sharing of passwords. On the other hand, same passwords should not be used for long but keep on changing them. Thus improper use of passwords such as exposing the password to anyone, failure to introduce passwords while logging in the system could expose it to attacks (Bigo et al, 2012).
Cybercrime has adverse effects on the system and organisations. The effects are mostly loss of important data, damage to the system and financial losses. If the problem of cybercrime is not solved, then most organisations will continue losing money. Eventually, as a result of cybercrime, many enterprises are shut down especially if it is carried out on critical infrastructures such as electricity and oil production companies. Important data such as financial, sales and customer details are lost as a result of the attacks. Financial loss is worse and the hackers use hacked details to access important accounts leading to massive losses.

There are several approaches to find a solution to the problem of cybercrime. The solutions are both internal and external. The issue can be made ethical through education and sensitization of the members of the public on the dangers of the attacks and how to protect the system from attacks. On the other hand, crime offenders should be severely punished to avoid future attacks. Most of the cyber crime cases go unpunished thus providing a good environment for attackers to execute their missions. However, training should be done to expose the security experts and other experts on the sophisticated methods that are used in the attacks. Nowadays the methods that are used by the attackers keep on changing due to change in the technology (Uma & Padmavathi, 2013).
Ensuring the security of the system is important in solving the problem of cybersecurity. Systems are secured through a number of ways such as securing the routers and networks by assessing the security of the network, scanning the ports of the network, running the vulnerability scan against the servers and monitoring the network traffic. On the other hand, the security of the network can be improved by limiting on who accesses the router by ensuring that control is available on who to make the changes to the configuration of the router. The use of passwords, use of firewalls and antimalware are some of the measures that can be put in place to control the issue of cybercrime (Yar, 2013). Therefore, organisations must invest heavily in resources that will ensure that their systems are secured. The resources are used to install important security apparatus in the system and also used in training of experts on matters of new technological developments. The new technologies such as cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) exposes the network to possible attacks.
Generally, the solution to cybercrime is hindered by many factors. Some of the major factors are insufficient resources and change in technology. Resources are used to build strong systems that are safe from any form of attacks. Technology is dynamic with new developments taking place (Thapa & Kumar, 2011).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the issue of cybercrime is a worldwide concern and measures towards reducing the crime should be implemented. Technological advancements with new technologies such as cybercrime continue to propagate this unethical issue. However, the damages those results from cyber-attacks are huge and adverse. Damages and losses that are as a result of cyber-attacks are many. On the other hand, the security of the system should be a priority in many organisations. The system must be secured from unauthorised entry and entry of malware. The major security measures are monitoring the system, use of backups, protecting the system from physical damage and entry from outside. Therefore more resources should be diverted to keeping the system secure and ensuring that the system is free from any possible attacks. Resources should also be used to train the experts in IT on more sophisticated methods that are used in the attack.

References
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