Phishing Computer Crimes - Research Paper Example

?PHISHING COMPUTER CRIMES Phishing Computer Crimes Affiliation With the passage of time, huge developments have been done in thefield of computer science. The computer is being used in every field of life. Computer is being used in scientific research, medical department, missile technology, banking, laboratory, and other walks of life. The concept of the cyber world and the Internet has revolutionized the World to a great extent. Every technology has some pros and cons. The above mentioned are the advantages of computer but there are also some weak points of this technology. The computers have mechanized the whole world too much and people heavily depend too much on computers. On the other hand the biggest pessimistic use of a computer is for crime purposes. As people make use of the computers they typically think that their activities are confidential and also their personal information are protected. For instance, web sites of business nature often gather details from many visitors; later on many web sites sell these personal details against the desires of the visitors (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004; O'Leary & O'Leary, 2007). This is a kind of computer crime. There are many other kinds of a computer crime however this paper mainly focuses on phishing. In their book, (Laudon & Laudon 1999, p. 147) define “computer crime as the unlawful activities by making use of a computer or against a computer system. The Internet's user-friendliness and convenience have fashioned modern ways for computer crime, well-known forms of which is phishing.” Additionally, the computer crimes appear in a wide variety of ways and also cause a number of serious problems for different people. For instance, nowadays online frauds or frauds using the Internet are modern form of the online criminal activities in which an authorized person (normally acknowledged as a hacker) hacks some useful data and information and later on use it to conduct illegal and criminal tasks, such as cash related scandals. In this scenario, the basic intentions of criminals are to earn money, tease other or play games with others. In fact, the Internet is open for everyone which gives the opportunities to criminal people, to steal, new ways to steal them, and new techniques to harm others (Laudon & Laudon, 1999, p. 147). As discussed above, there are many kinds of a computer crime and criminals do it intentionally. For instance, sometimes a dissatisfied employee or terminated worker can be dangerous to an organization. In this scenario, these people want to damage business with their extensive criminal activities (Parker, 2002; O'Leary & O'Leary, 2007). Therefore, employers should properly scrutinize the background of persons being connected with critical computer related tasks. Some people falsify resume to get jobs. Also, the company should hire trustworthy personnel to minimize crimes related to computers (Parker, 2002; Worthington, 2003, pp. 621-623). In addition, Hacker and Cracker are most widely used terms in computer crimes. In this scenario, Hacker is an external person who can break through a computer system, typically with no illegal intention. On the other hand, a Cracker is a nasty hacker, who may perhaps produce a stern crisis for the organization (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004). Moreover, Phishing is an emerging problem regarding online data security and information safety. There are a number of cases of identity theft and online frauds using Phishing and other hacking techniques. At the present, Phishing is normally carried out through E-mail or the instant messaging. In many cases its basic purpose is to direct online traffic to a particular website whose appearance or interface are approximately similar to the actual one. Even though server cannot differentiate between false and original web site so a hacker successfully passes through these security walls. Normally, Phishing techniques are aimed at making fool to the internet users, and making use of the attractive usability of present web expertise. In this scenario, figure1 demonstrates that the majority of phishing crimes are reported in USA (which is more than 31%). Without a doubt, this crime cannot be successful without the support of targeted entity. So effort to tackle the growing number of reported Phishing events needs public awareness, user training, legislation, and technical safety procedures. However, with the passage of time people are getting aware of these techniques and in 2012 this ratio has started to decrease as shown by the figure2 (Tan, 2006). Phishing is a computer crime and the intentions of Phishing criminals will be the same like computer criminals. In many cases, criminals want to earn money quickly by making people fool. For this purpose, they use different techniques. For instance, one of the most commonly seen types of phishing is deceptive phishing. It is also known as information theft through fake and instant messaging. In addition, nowadays a deceptive email technique is a commonly seen Phishing mechanism that makes use of the email message for this function. In this scenario, messages on the subject of the need to authenticate or verify the user bank, credit or any payment account information, system breakdown necessitates clients to re-enter their data and information, fabricated payment account payments, unwanted account transforms, up-to-date free of charge services necessitates fast action, and a lot of other scams are transmitted to an extensive group of receivers with the anticipation that the innocent will respond by clicking a fake link to or logging in onto a fake site where their secret data and information could be gathered (Courtesy of Computer Associates, 2007; Nigerian Scam, 2013; Tatum, 2013). In addition, in some cases, the Phishing also involves the data theft through fake ids and email address. Without a doubt, systems are employed to contact similar servers as well as can simply be compromised. Information and data stealing is an extensively employed technique to business intelligence. Additionally, through theft of personal infrastructure, plan credentials, officially permitted estimations, worker associated records, etc., information robber’s proceeds from promotion to those who want to make self-conscious or cause economic harm to competitors (Courtesy of Computer Associates, 2007; Nigerian Scam, 2013; Tatum, 2013). Phishing can be avoided or detected by getting knowledge of the latest security issues and following certain security measures. It is useful to use latest anti spyware software and install firewalls. Additionally, people should not open the email which is received from a suspicious entity. In addition, people should get training about latest security trends. Moreover, they should regularly update their antivirus programs (Courtesy of Computer Associates, 2007; Nigerian Scam, 2013; Tatum, 2013). In conclusion, with the passage of time there have emerged many kinds of computer crimes and they have become more and more organized. In this scenario, Phishing is a latest emerging trend, which is commonly seen in daily life. The research has shown that the most of these crimes are conducted in the USA. In view of the fact, these crimes and criminals are difficult to catch as compared to physical crimes. So the government must implement strict laws and regulations in order to deal with these crimes and criminals. People should educate themselves and adopt some careful measures. References Courtesy of Computer Associates. (2007, September 12). Types of Phishing Attacks. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from PCWorld.com: http://www.pcworld.com/article/135293/article.html Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (1999). Management Information Systems, Sixth Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall . Nigerian Scam. (2013). Phishing Attacks. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://www.nigerianspam.com/Phishing-Types.html O'Leary, T., & O'Leary, L. (2007). Computing Essentials. New York: McGraw-Hill. Parker, C. S. (2002). Understanding computers Today and Tomorrow. Harcourt Brace College Publishers. Tan, K. (2006). Phishing and Spamming via IM (SPIM). Retrieved February 12, 2013, from Internet Storm Center: http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=1905 Tatum, M. (2013). What Are the Different Types of Phishing Attacks? Retrieved February 15, 2013, from WiseGeek.com: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-phishing-attacks.htm Turban, E., Rainer, R. K., & Potter, R. E. (2004). Introduction to Information Technology,3rd Edition. New York: Wiley. Worthington, P. (2003). Introduction to Information Systems. Singapore: Thomson. Phishing Statistics Figure 1Phishing rate in different countries, Image Source: http://techblog.avira.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/geo-phish.png Ratio of Phishing Rate Figure 2 Image Source: http://www.emailtray.com/blog/email-phishing-activity-over-time-2004-2012-in-figures/ Read More