The Internet is developing rapidly, giving new opportunities in all areas of life, business, education and entertainment. However, along with the opportunities, there come also the threats. One of the major dangers connected with the Internet is cyber crime – illegal activity committed on the Internet. Together with a broad range of benefits offered by the Internet has come the risk of being connected to a vast network. Today computers are used for an infinite number of illegal activities like cyber theft, electronic infection, software piracy, e-mail espionage, unauthorized access and interception of computer data. So, what exactly is cyber crime, which we hear so much about nowadays?
Like traditional crime, cyber crime may occur anywhere and anytime and take different shapes. The term ‘cyber crime’ refers to any criminal activity which involves IT infrastructure. Offences range from data, content and copyright infringement, unauthorized access, fraud and forgery to child pornography and cyber stalking. The cyber attacks may occur as a single event. For example, the victim downloads a “Trojan horse” software or receives an e-mail with a link to a hostile website. Often the flaws and vulnerabilities of the software facilitate the attack. This kind of crime is exemplified by phishing, pharming, identity theft, bank or e-commerce fraud and manipulation of data by hacking or viruses. Other kinds of cyber crime include cyber stalking and harassment, blackmail or extortion. It usually takes the form of a series of events, involving repeated interaction with a victim, e.g. through a chat room or e-mail. Finally the perpetrator exploits the relationship to commit a crime. No wonder that cyber security is an issue of top importance for governments. The number of commercial, government and private systems connected to the Internet justifies this concern. The fact that hackers are more powerful than ever is another reason for concern. They work in well-organized groups, exchanging stolen information, and selling credit card data. According to some experts, malware – i.e. viruses, worms, Trojan horse programs – generate more profit than the whole computer security industry. Here is an example of what cleverly written malicious software can do. A number of ATMs at banks in Russia and Ukraine were infected with malicious software. The installed malware allowed gang members to insert a “trigger card” and use the machine’s receipt printer to deliver a list of all debit card numbers used that day, together with all confidential data such as PINs, the start and expiry dates of the cards. That was sufficient to clone the cards and empty the clients’ accounts. The losses due to such fraud rose by about 11% in 2008. The targets of cyber attacks can be both individuals and businesses. The Melissa virus, which appeared on the Internet in 1999, spread throughout computer systems in Europe and the United States, causing 80 million dollars in damages. The targets of cyber attacks are also governments. Recently the British government released evidence that foreign intelligence agencies were hacking computers in the United Kingdom. It was believed that economic espionage was a reason behind the attacks. Similar attacks were launched earlier in Estonia. Thousands of “zombie computers” attacked the government and private websites, shutting them down for a number of hours and revealing the weaknesses of Estonia’s cyber security.
źródło: