Technology: Blessing or Bane? The Growing Menace of Internet Crime - Essay Sample

Introduction

We live in a world where the lives of most people are at stake for the fact that we embraced technology, but the same technology decided to wipe humanity slowly. The rise of internet crime seems a significant threat to the world. Let us begin with very intriguing questions. Have you woken up and realized that your social media account appears on the trending list for posting nudes and other explicit content. You might claim that your social media account did not post such stuff because you claim to be the only person with the login details. Have you woken up and realized that you cleared your debit card, the president posted trash on social media, or the army issued a threat to the public? All these actions appear hard to figure out, but the main idea behind the activities entails hacking into accounts by cybercriminals. According to statistics, federal agencies in the united states of America reported 35277 cybercrimes (Clement). The American government projects a 51 billion dollar budget in the fight against cybercrime. In my research basing arguments on statistics, trending cybercrimes, and the techniques employed by the cybercrime perpetrators, I intend to justify the need for cybercrime experts.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

My research extracts information from journals, reputable internet sources, as well as scholarly articles. In the context of my research, I will address the statistics of cybercrimes, the contribution of new technology to cybercrime, and the techniques hackers use to invade your privacy. My research also focuses on the role of cybercrime profession in business, individual, government, and public protection. My research will also try to prove that not every cybercrime entails an evil mind, but some cybercriminals perpetrate their actions as a result of depression and other concepts(".:: Phrack Magazine::.").

My research targets any person in any part of the world that has access to the internet or knows a person consuming the internet. Most victims of cybercrime entail online shoppers and social media users. There exist a significant rise in cybercrimes in use, and each day, different personalities fall victim to cybercrimes without notice.

Background Information

The concept of cybercrime entails orchestrating a crime by the use of computers or devices connected to the internet and hiding the identity of the cybercriminal. The history of cybercrime dates back to the 1970s when criminals executed crimes via telephone lines. The criminals were referred to as phreakers, and they discovered the telephone lines in the united states of America functioned based on the specific tones (Schjolberg). John Draper exists as the father of hacking in the united states whose quest inspired the founders of the applicable company Steve Jobs and Wozniak. The concept of cybercrime came to take effect in the 1980s when Ian Murphy appeared for crimes of hacking into a telephone company so that people could make free calls at peak hours. There exist different kinds of cybercriminals who comprise of those who steal money, making a public message, and those who hack systems for fun.

Much as the concept of cybercrime sound dangerous to the criminals, according to an article I came across during my research, the idea of cybercrime constitutes individuals whose ideas the society fails to recognize and brand them criminally. The report argues that cybercriminals constitute a group of young people in the quest for curiosity and creativity. The group exists as evidence of a failed education system that fails in recognition of creativity. The cybercriminals seem to have accepted the world and the branding, and this indicates that cybercrime represents an unending concept (Schjolberg). This threat drives the need for the government and individuals to devise methods to tackle cybercrime.

Rise of Cybercrime in United States of America

In America, cybercrime represents one of the fastest-growing crimes due to the sophistication of technology. The continent spends billions trying to fight the menace or through losses to cybercrime. According to public data from the federal bureau of investigations and insurance agencies, California takes the lead with reported cases of cybercrime activities, and a more intriguing fact entails California reporting more cybercrimes than a whole lot of the bottom twenty-seven states combined (Tanny). Florida states represent the fastest-growing cyber crime rate in the united states of America with an increased rate of 1421 crimes per year. California states represent the country projected to lose most from the activities of cybercrime while the new yok state will feel the hardest effect of the cybercrime activities in the united states of America.

There exist various factors that contribute to cybercrime in America. These factors include a rise in digitization, the existence of smart brains, limited job opportunities, and frustrations of the young generation by the government. The rise of digital technology poses the most significant risk the cybercriminals target in the execution of their illegal activities (Tanny). The expansion of online technology acts as the target ground for hackers since most of the people in the current world resort to online activities for their daily activities, including shopping. The concept of providing the debit card details in the online shopping procedures poses a very significant threat to the cardholder, which can contribute to access to the information one's account by the hackers. There exist cases where the amount in the accounts have been flushed remotely due to those purchases process. The provision of personal information on social media platforms also creates data required by hackers to tarnish a person's reputation.

The other factor contributing to the rising of cybercrime activity entails the complexity of cybercrime attacks. The cybercrime involves multiprogramming activities ranging from corporate espionage to cyber welfare and compromising of data to basic malware. The methods include targeting a highly spread of vast network and gaining access to important email and malicious attacks. These concepts comprise of sophisticated activities which constitute a need for forensic experts who appear expensive to hire. The lack of enough resources to hire the experts to ensure that the cybercrimes continue to take root in the advancement of cybercrimes which contributing to the concept of cyber activity becoming more complicated.

The lack of proper training for new internet users in the world poses another most significant contributor to the increase of the cybercrimes in the united states of America. The rise of internet users recorded a double boost from the past decades, and that suggests an increase in the number of new internet users in the current world (Pacifici). The new internet users lack the basic training of detecting scams or malicious activities posed by internet use and application. The new users fall victim to cybercrime criminal, and this significantly contributes to raising the rate of cybercrimes in the united states of America.

The Need for Cybersecurity Professionals

There exist various concepts that trigger the need for cybercrime professionals in the current world of technological sophistication. The contemporary world keeps erupting cases of a data breach, and this contributes to the dire need for cybersecurity professions (Tsen). The companies keep devising methods of trying to figure out ways of fighting the cybercrime that costs the companies a lot of fortune.

The concept of cybercrime threatens the existence of business in the current technological world. This threat comes in terms of privacy and trust in the business sector. The most important question from the consumer on entrusting a company with the privacy of their data entails asking if we can trust a specific company with securing of the data (Vogel). The company finds it hard to explain to a consumer the existence of sensitive data compromisation. The concept of data compromisation threatens the trust of a customer bestows upon a company. The cybercrime experts, in turn, provides the companies with the required protection against such occurrences.

In the cases of data compromisation or privacy breaching perpetrated by hackers, the ordinary people will find it challenging to solve the quagmire. This situation calls for a dire need of the cybercrime expert in the retrieval of information and finding the perpetrators of such heinous acts (Khidzir& Zulkarnaen). The hackers and other types of cybercriminals require people with a vast knowledge of the sophisticated technology used.

Recommendations

The concept of cybercrime needs a different approach as compared to the methods used in the past years, where the crime was less sophisticated. In the prevention of cybercrimes, the public requires to take various cautions, which include the creation of awareness against cybercrimes, checking for trusted cases, the study of past incidents of cybercrimes, and the need to secure most of the sensitive data with encryption.

Conclusion

Cybercrime consists of the fastest growing and the most sophisticated crime the human history has witnessed. The concept of cybercrime needs serious research on the methods to tackle the occurrence and ways of prevention. The failure to employ the steps will lead to a threat to the whole world. The government and corporation need to apply the use of cybercrime experts in tackling the menace. The concept of cybercrime should also be viewed not from a criminal point of view, but the researchers need to dig deeper into why specific individuals venture into the idea. Some of the cybercriminals want to express a message to the world, and hacking becomes the only way they can do that.

Work Cited

".:: Phrack Magazine::.." Phrack.org. N.p., 2019. Web. 22 Nov. 2019.

Clement, J. "Topic: U.S. Government And Cyber Crime." www.statista.com. N.p., 2019. Web. 22 Nov. 2019.

Khidzir,& Nik Zulkarnaen, "Critical cybersecurity risk factors in digital social media: Analysis of information security requirements." Lecture Notes on Information Theory Vol 4.1 (2016).

Pacifici, Sabrina. "Cybercrime In America - Which State Is Most At Risk In 2018? | Bespacific." Bespacific.com. N.p., 2019. Web. 22 Nov. 2019.

Schjolberg, Stein. The History of Cybercrime: 1976-2014. BoD-Books on Demand, 2014.

Tanny, Joey. "What'S Causing The Rise In Cyber Crime." Vircom | Email Security Experts. N.p., 2019. Web. 22 Nov. 2019.

Tsen, Sylvia. "Cybercrime Threatens Trust In Business - How Accountants Can Help | IFAC." Ifac.org. N.p., 2019. Web. 22 Nov. 2019.

Vogel, Rebecca. "Closing the cybersecurity skills gap." Salus Journal 4.2 (2016): 32.