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Types of cybercrime vary widely and are a growing problem for businesses of all sizes and industries.
What is Cybercrime?
Cybercrimes can occur when computers or computer networks are used as tools to break the law.
Cybercrimes are often committed remotely, making them difficult to detect and trace.
Phishing
Phishing is one of the mostcommon ways hackers and cyber criminals steal information.
Wandera an IT security company reportedthat a new phishing site is created every 20 seconds.
That is, three new phishing websites are created per minute, exposing businesses to potential threats.
They might even destroy the companys reputation by publishing private information about them and threatening the business with more.
They are often referred to as hacktivists.
Cryptojacking
Cryptojacking is a cybercrime in which hackers illegally exploit peoples computers and networks to mine cryptocurrency.
The finance industry was impacted most heavily by a 269% rise.
Sometimes this happens before companies realize they are being attacked.
Spoofing
This cybercrime is when someone disguises their identity online to trick or defraud another.
These crimes can include email spoofing, phone spoofing, fake social media profiles, and fake ads.
Spoofers may also create web pages that look related to your business but are designed to collect personal information.
The best way to avoid these scams is by checking links before clicking them or sending any data.
These vulnerabilities sometimes allow attackers to hijack a session and completely impersonate the victims identity.
Examples are viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, and adware.
Social Engineering
This is the art of manipulating people to give up confidential information or access credentials.
The perpetrator then asks for information such as passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs).
Data shows that 98% of all cyber crimes involve some form of social engineering.
These problems can range from malware to viruses that they must fix for a fee.
The victim is shown a wizard that resembles legitimate errors and programs.
Scammers target people in high-stress situations who are vulnerable and willing to pay anything to protect themselves.
They hack the equipment and infect it with malware, spreading through the entire web link.
The hackers then use this infected system to launch an attack against other systems on the web connection.
These attacks can often result in data theft from these devices and give hackers access to your sensitive information.
This means they are more likely to have vulnerabilities than other systems.
Pirated software affects a companys profit by preventing it from making money from its products.
ASoftware Alliance studyshowed that 37% of software installed on personal computers is unlicensed or pirated.
Eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is secretly listening to or recording conversations without all parties knowledge and/or consent.
This can occur over the phone, with a hidden camera, or even through remote access.
Eavesdropping is illegal and can put you at risk for fraud and identity theft.
you’re free to protect your company by limiting what employees share via email and in person.
Encrypting conversations will also help as well as using software that prevents unauthorized users from accessing connection resources remotely.
This attack targets an organizations website and attempts to overwhelm it by sending numerous requests simultaneously.
APTs are typically used to steal information from an organization for financial gain.
APTs cyber attacks can last for months or years.
They infiltrate networks, extract data, and then exfiltrate it without detection.
Typical targets include government agencies, universities, manufacturing firms, high-tech industries, and defense contractors.
Examples of Cybercrime
Lets now check some real-life examples of cybercrime.
How to prevent Cybercrime
Its essential to have a comprehensive cyber security policy in place.
