Internet Phishing Essay

Introduction

Cybercrime is the use of a computer to facilitate illegal activity, for instance, fraud, infringement into intellectual property, identity theft or privacy violation (Dennis, 1998). That computers and the Internet have become an integral part of commerce, government and household entertainment fostered a fertile breeding ground for the vice. One of the most common types of cybercrime is phishing, which is the practice of criminals creating fake websites that resemble those of legitimate traders with the intention of tricking unsuspecting customers to divulge their credit card information (Bonderud, 2018). As per the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2014), 86% of the American population have been victims of credit card theft. One of the most significant phishing cases was Operation Phish Phry.

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Operation Phish Phry

In 2009, 100 cybercriminals were charged by authorities from the United States and Egypt over stealing account information from thousands of people and successfully roughly $1.5 million into proxy accounts. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (2009), Operation Phish Phry took two years of investigation, bringing together the Secret Service, Electronic Crimes Task Force, and the Egyptian authorities. Phishing is a term borrowed from baiting individuals through e-mails and links, luring them into the trap like fish (Bradley, 2009). Rouse (2009) explains that the operation also earned its name as wordplay between the words 'fish' and 'fry' which stood for capturing the phishing criminals.

The Egyptians in the cartel sent out fake e-mails directing targeted recipients to replica Bank of America Corporation and Wells Fargo websites, where they would enter their account numbers and passwords, exposing their private information to the fraudsters (Singer, 2012). Their American counterparts on their end set up bank accounts into which victims of the scheme transferred the funds. At the end of the operation, 53 defendants faced up to 51 counts of federal crimes and a further 47 charged in Egypt. Given the number of individuals involved, Phish Phry at the time held the record for the highest number of cybercriminals to be charged for cybercrime (Bradley, 2009). Fox News (2009) emphasizes the evolving trends in identity theft, going by the sophistication with which participants in Phish Phry operated. This conclusion hinges on the fact that the criminals were able to function smoothly between two countries facilitated by computers and the Internet. Vijayan (2009) adds that it is difficult to combat crime because phishing schemes continue to thrive despite numerous awareness programs. Statistics by PhishMe Inc. (2017) indicate that the average phishing attack on a company costs roughly $1.6 million, the reason attacks have increased by a 65% margin. Further data by Graham (2017) indicates that the global economy lost $450 billion to cybercrime in 2016, and an additional 2 billion individual records stolen in the United States.

Dealing With Phishing

Law enforcement goes a long way in enforcing cybersecurity and apprehending offenders. There is, however, a loophole in the sense that there does not exist a federal law that directly handles phishing. Therefore it is usually charged under other violations for instance solicitation over the internet and wire fraud (Theoharis, 2018). The current punishments for offenders found guilty of crimes under which phishing exists to include a year of imprisonment, fines, and restitution, where the offender is ordered to compensate the victim to the exact amount of money lost including damages.

Like any other act of cybercrime, phishing usually leaves a trail which can be used to identify the source or location of the perpetrator. This has called for the need to ratify international cybercrime treaties to ensure easy prosecution when crimes cross national boundaries (Dennis, 1998). An example is an international treaty signed by 30 states during the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (Vatis, 2001). Another example is the USA Patriot Act which bestowed more power on law enforcement towards monitoring and protecting computer networks, as well as stiffer punishments for cyber offenders (Duignan, 2001).

Individuals too have a role in protecting their data from scammers. With the scams becoming more sophisticated, people are required to be more vigilant when sharing information, especially to internet strangers. Data and information about passwords and PINs to credit cards, Social Security and bank accounts should be kept confidential at all times. There is also need for installing antiviruses and turning on spam filtering so that unsolicited messages are either scanned or not allowed into the mailboxes. The third way is resisting the temptation to click on pop up ads as they could be links to phishing sites. Internet browsers and plug-ins on personal computers should also be up to date at all times (Colgate University, 2018).

Conclusion

Whereas cybercrime is a threat to everyone in the 21st century, there is little hope that the vice will stop. Computer users, especially when online, should, therefore, observe responsible behavior towards safeguarding their machines and data. At the same time, corporates should install security firewalls on their systems to protect their confidential information from imminent infringement. Furthermore, governments must work together to create frameworks and laws against cybercrime while putting in place more punitive measures to deal with cybercriminals.

References

Bonderud, D. (2018). Financial Phishing: Cybercriminals Bait PayPal Users. Retrieved from https://securityintelligence.com/news/financial-phishing-cybercriminals-bait-paypal-users/

Bradley, T. (2009). Operation Phish Phry Nets 100 Suspects. PCWorld. Retrieved from https://www.pcworld.com/article/173318/operation_phish_phry_nets_100_suspects.html

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2014). Victims of Identity Theft, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vit14_sum.pdf

Colgate University. (2018). Phishing -Ways to Prevent Scams and Control Spam E-mail. Retrieved from http://www.colgate.edu/offices-and-services/information-technology/privacy-and-security/phishing

Dennis, M. (1998). Cybercrime | Definition, Statistics, & Examples. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/cybercrime

Duignan, B. (2001). USA PATRIOT Act | Facts, History, & Controversy. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/USA-PATRIOT-Act

FBI. (2009). Operation 'Phish Phry'. Retrieved from https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2009/october/phishphry_100709

Fox News. (2009). Operation Phish Phry: FBI Arrests 33 for Internet Scam. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2009/10/07/operation-phish-phry-fbi-arrests-internet-scam.html

Graham, L. (2017). Cybercrime Costs the Global Economy $450 Billion: CEO. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/cybercrime-costs-the-global-economy-450-billion-ceo.html

PhishMe. (2017). Enterprise Phishing Resiliency and Defense Report, 2017. Retrieved from https://cofense.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Enterprise-Phishing-Resiliency-and-Defense-Report-2017.pdf

Rouse, M. (2009). What is Operation Phish Phry? Retrieved from https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/Operation-Phish-Phry

Singer, B. (2012). Feds Catch Their Illegal Limit in Operation Phish Phry. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2012/05/15/feds-catch-their-illegal-limit-in-operation-phish-phry/#2bfb5df62653

Theoharis, M. (2018). Phishing: Sentencing and Penalties. Retrieved from https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Phishing.htm

Vatis, M. (2001). The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime. Retrieved from http://static.cs.brown.edu/courses/csci1800/sources/lec16/Vatis.pdf

Vijayan, J. (2009). Operation Phish Phry Hooks 100 in U.S., Egypt. Retrieved from https://www.csoonline.com/article/2124429/fraud-prevention/operation-phish-phry-hooks-100-in-u-s---egypt.html