Paper Example on Cyber Crime

In the modern world, crime is a legal and social problem due to the economy and the increase in population. In a society where there are limited employment opportunities, there is a tendency of an increase in the crime rates. When the term cyber is used one is inclined to think of the modern day technological advancements mainly issues to do with computers. A crime involving the cyber is termed as a cyber crime due to its nature. The rise in cases of cyber crime results in the urgency to counter the vice. It is in this respect that professions such as cyber crime investigation come into existence. However, due to the complicated nature of cyber crimes, the professionals are forced to keep up with the advancements in technology.

Cyber crime is an unlawful act by an individual where a computer is either used as a tool or is the target or is both (Mateen and Abbas 29-32). It can be classified into four major classifications namely; the crime against property, the crime against individuals, the crime against organizations, and the crime against society. Crime against property encompasses all cyber crimes against property such as computer vandalism, salami attacks, and intellectual property crimes. Crime against individuals encompasses all cyber crimes against individuals such as child pornography, cyber defamation, and internet relay chat crimes. Crime against organizations encompasses all cyber crimes against any organization such as cyber terrorism. Crime against society encompasses all cyber crimes against the society at large such as the sale of illegal articles online, forgery, net extortion, and data diddling.

Traditional Approach to Cyber Crime

Customarily, cyber crime is approached in a defined manner. Companies consider the Information Technology department to take care of any cyber threats against the organization. The IT personnel are in charge of handling any form of cyber crime such as cyber terrorism. However, research dictates that new strategies have to be in place to counter the rise in the rate of cyber crimes (Trinh). In the modern world, traditional approaches to cybercrime are outdated and risky for anyone applying them. For instance, recently, there was a global attack on computers by a ransomware termed WannaCry. The major targets were medical, financial, and government institutions. Once the ransomware infected a computer it would spread to other computers connected to the infected computer and encrypt files requiring users to pay a ransom to access their files.

In the above example, if traditional approaches to the cyber crime were implemented, it would have been difficult to contain the ransomware. Traditionally, the IT personnel would be in charge of taking care of all computers. However, with the adoption of better and novel methods to tackle cyber crime, users were asked to be vigilant on the internet and avoid opening links sent to them from unknown sources. The participation of general users to combat the cyber crime made the effort successful. Traditional approaches are problematic as they widen the scope an IT personnel has to cater for and that requires additional time. One second is all a virus requires to spread like wildfire. Making the war against cyber crime an everybody affair assists in ensuring computers are safe and sound.

Cyber Crime Categories

As mentioned earlier, there are four major classifications of cyber crime; the crime against individuals, the crime against organizations, the crime against society, and the crime against property. The four classifications of cyber crime create categories of cyber crime. There are numerous types of cyber crime and all fall under any of the four categories. For instance, the theft of telecommunications services is a type of cybercrime that can fall under any of the four categories depending on the goal of the attack. Phone phreakers or people who perpetrate the crime of stealing telecommunications services access the dial in or out circuits and sell call time to other people or make their personal calls (Greenbaum 193-193).

Another type of cyber crime is telecommunication piracy. Telecommunication piracy poses a danger to producers and owners of copyrighted materials on the internet. Such a scheme encompasses the unlawful distribution of copyrighted materials for personal use, reselling at a lower price, or free distribution. Among the affected includes musicians, movie producers, government agencies, and much more. Cyber crime affects the economy of a nation in a number of ways such as reducing the per capita income due to an increase in the unemployment rate, a reduction in an organizations worth, crippling of financial transactions, tax evasion, electronic money laundering, and much more.

Cyber Child Exploitation

Cyber child exploitation encompasses any crime committed by another to an individual below the legal adult age of a nation such as cyberbullying and child pornography. The responsible institutions are putting all measures in place to ensure instances of cyber child exploitation are eradicated. In the past, there have been numerous cases of children committing suicide due to cyberbullying and child pornography (Shultz, Heilman, and Hart). To counter the vice, the authorities request victims to save evidence of the crime, report the matter immediately, and be relentless. Unlike adults, children have a difficult time coping with cyber crimes. Children are helpless and scared making it difficult for cyber experts to curb cyber child exploitation. Strategies in place include educating the children on the power to report instances of cyber child exploitation to adults and urging parents to be vigilant on how their children use the internet.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach

Strengths

The approach empowers the children making them believe they are not alone. Additionally, it makes it easier for the agencies or personnel tasked with the duty of ensuring instances of cyber child exploitation are eradicated to perform their duty diligently. Parents, on the other hand, get the feeling that their children are under a watchful eye and it acts as a source of family unity. Whenever children face an issue, they seek the audience and wisdom of their parents and the result is trust between parents and their children. Moreover, the approach has the ability to solve an existing issue such as cyberbullying. Children facing cyber bullying garner the courage to open up to adults and cyber bullies are arrested and prosecuted (Besag 127-127).

Weaknesses

The strategy may fail to work in cases where children feel threatened. For instance, in cyberbullying, a child can be bullied and told that if he or she reports the matter to the adults or authorities dire consequences will follow. The perpetrators get to know the strategies existing and therefore devise better and skillful tactics of hiding themselves while performing their illegal acts. Moreover, the approach has numerous loopholes such as the affected children are not well counseled after the ordeal. Additionally, the responsible agencies main goal is to eradicate the vice forgetting that victims of the criminal acts require paramount counseling and advice.

Implementation of the Approach Effectively

Educating the masses on the dangers and ways of handling cyber crime increases the rates of success in curbing the vice. Unlike the customary approach where IT personnel or agencies are in charge of the computer systems, the approach makes any user of a computer responsible for the safety of the machine. Duties previously sidelined for professionals are dispensed to the ordinary person. Creating awareness enlightens the people on the safe ways of using computers and preventing cyber attacks from happening. The mainstream media needs to prioritize dissemination of information pertaining cyber crimes to ensure more people understand ways of dealing with cyber attacks. The government should fund further research in cyber crimes and encourage cyber crime experts in furthering their education and devising better strategies to curb the vice.

Conclusion

Cyber crime is an unlawful act by an individual where a computer is either used as a tool or is the target or is both. There are four major classifications of cyber crime; the crime against individuals, the crime against organizations, the crime against society, and the crime against property. Cyber child exploitation encompasses any crime committed by another to an individual below the legal adult age. Educating the masses on the dangers and ways of handling cyber crime increases the rates of success in curbing the vice. The government should fund further research in cyber crimes and encourage cyber crime experts in furthering their education and devising better strategies to curb cyber crimes.

Works Cited

Besag, Val. "Cyber Bullying: Bullying In The Digital Age". Child and Adolescent Mental Health15.2 (2010): 127-127. Web.

Greenbaum, D. "Cyber Crime 2.0". Science 348.6231 (2015): 193-193. Web.

Mateen, Ahmed, and Qaiser Abbas. "Tsunami Of Cyber Crime: Analysis Of Cyber Crime New Trends, Causes And Remedies In Future Prospectus". International Journal of Computer Applications152.8 (2016): 29-32. Web.

Shultz, Emily, Rebecca Heilman, and Kathleen J. Hart. "Cyber-Bullying: An Exploration Of Bystander Behavior And Motivation". Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 8.4 (2014): n. pag. Web.

Trinh, Alexis. "Traditional Approach To Cybercrime Threatens To Hinder UK Corporate Growth - Business Reporter". Business Reporter. N.p., 2014. Web. 20 June 2017.