Top Cyber Crimes - Basics
Today’s modern world is totally dependent on technology in every aspect of life – whether it is travelling, booking tickets, shopping or billing payments; all done online and that too in a very fast and complex manner. Though internet has become the prime impression of almost every business model, but it can make someone’s life a living hell if they become the victim of any serious cyber crime. A major percentage of computer and internet users using different technologies and services over internet are not aware of the potential risks that may pose and the different attack vectors that hackers and other cyber criminals can plant on them. This article will deal with some of the top hacks and attacks that everyone should know in order to stay safe from these potential risks.
Lists of some popular hacking techniques and cyber crimes are –
Keylogging Technique: There are some uncomplicated applications and programs developed by cyber criminals for recording key strokes & sequences of the victim’s keyboard for tracking their passwords and other activities. They get stored as log files and are later sent to the attacker who then does R&D on those log files and is able to get all information and passwords related to the victim. These programs need to be planted on computers, smart phone, tablets etc. One solution to escape such attack is to use virtual keyboard when you’re accessing any account by giving passwords and other logging credentials.
Scams of phishing: It is a mal-practicing done by cybercriminal & crackers with an intension for obtaining susceptible and sensitive data from any user or system. The process typically involved dummy websites which are also termed as ‘phishing sites’ that are constructed in such a way that they imitate a legitimate website with the intention that unsuspicious user will visit those dummy websites and enter their personal and sensitive logging details like: banking passwords (if the phishing page is exactly same as bank site), social networking ID and passwords (if it is any social networking phishing site) or any other website which the victim uses. These attacks can be reduced by taking proper measures of activating phishing filter features in web browsers or installing add-ons to browsers that will block fishing sites when you will visit them.
Identity Theft: Cybercriminals uses social engineering and other passive attacks for gaining access or fetching details regarding your credit card or banking account credentials or any purchase details from websites you visit on a regular basis using cookie stealing or MiTM (Man in The Middle) attack. Identity theft should be a major concern for every individual’s before conception of services in cyber world. Stealing your identity has become a major form of cyber crime and has become so sophisticated that once they grab all your data (address, phone number, email ID, bank details, credit card number etc), they will be able to generate fake SIM card with your number, send spoofed OTP (One Time Password). Any suspicious activity in your account or any log-in attempt message arrives in your associated mail then you must report it to the concerned authorities or change your passwords and other credentials immediately.
Online Harassment: Another common attack that is ruling the cyber crime arena is the harassing of individuals by creating fake profiles and online identities and posting unpleasant posts or doing inadequate activities. One common example of such cyber harassment is the creating of fake Facebook profile of any boy / girl and performs an ill activity that lowers down the reputation of the victim. It pays to be attentive whom you befriend in social networking sites or apps and how you manage your privacy settings.
Privacy Invasion: Now-a-days, with the increase in technological aspects in all realms, data-stealing has become a business for various organizations and firms, websites and services. These data regarding browsing habit, search choices and other online activities gets monitored, and sold over dark marts in bulk amounts. Many of these sites’ mention these stealing in the form of “Terms and Conditions” where they mention these data storing of every individual are for enhancing user experience and efficient searching and recommendation. Many regulations have been formed including recently GDPR which allows end users the right to protect their privacy and more control of their data.
DoS: Denial of Service (DoS) is a special form of attack for taking down any website and/or server, where the DoS tools will flood the target site and/or server with excessive traffic making a situation that it (website or the server) fails to process all these flooded requests all at a time dynamically leading to crash.
Trojans and Malwares: Crackers and various cyber criminals are well trained to design and code sophisticated malware (malicious software) programs and plant in their victim’s PC which will work in background, and fetch all details and various activities and secretly send the victim’s data to the creator of the Trojans and malwares.
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