Cybercrime
Cybercrime is crime committed by individuals or groups through the use of electronic equipment that is connected to the Internet. This includes crimes such as fraud and identity theft. The penalties for these crimes vary, depending on the severity of the crime.
Cybercrime is not only a threat to individuals, but also to businesses. Security breaches can impact investor perception and raise borrowing costs. In the last decade, data theft has increased significantly.
One of the most common cybercrimes is phishing. Phishing is when a criminal uses a fake website or email to obtain personal information. They then send harmful content or malware.
Another type of cybercrime is doxxing. Doxxing is the practice of releasing personal information to others for malicious purposes. It often occurs in toxic online communities.
Denial of service attacks are another form of cybercrime. These are grand-scale attacks that overwhelm a system.
Computer viruses are also a common type of cybercrime. A computer virus is a piece of malicious software that spreads to a computer’s systems. Once it infects the machine, it self-replicates and jumps to other devices.
While these crimes are hardly uncommon, society is still not prepared to combat them. That’s because they require a higher level of technical expertise than other crimes.
Computers are used for criminal activities such as illegal downloads of intellectual property and online bullying. They also have potential to harm mental health.
Cybercrimes are a global problem. They target individual, business patrons, and government agencies. Experts estimate that damages from these crimes will reach $6 trillion by 2021.