Cybercrime and Privacy - Term Paper Example

Cyber crime and privacy “Extraterritoriality, the notion that the internet has no geographic boundaries, has driven the e-commerce revolution. Unfortunately, organized crime groups operate online under the same free market principles, while legislative and law enforcement endeavors launched against them suffer from geographical and cultural restrictions” - Choo, 2008 Introduction: There has been a dramatic rise in the reach and availability of electronic means of communication in the recent decades. This has led to a simultaneous rise in the internet related crimes whereby electronic resources are exploited by cyber criminals, to commit online frauds. The internet related crimes are fast spreading across the globe and have become transnational in nature, transcending beyond geographical boundaries, thus making it far more difficult to restrict, prevent, or investigate such occurrences and persecute the perpetrators. Although the law enforcement agencies, have enacted several policies and set up legal departments to track and prohibit malicious use of internet by the cyber criminals, there is still a serious lack of effective resources and infrastructure to dissuade cyber criminals from engaging in such crimes (Wall, 2007). Online fraud and identity theft has been a big part of our society today. Laws planned for the censorship of the internet has been rejected and ineffective. Cybercriminals are out there, committing crimes without anything holding them back. Laws created for this main purpose have been unenforceable because they could infringe upon the internet users’ right to privacy. However, adjustments need to be made to stop cybercrime, but they also need to be reasonable in terms of the rights of internet users. Adjustments to increase internet security needs to be made in ways that would not hinder the growth of the web. This paper aims to discuss and analyze various issues related to cyber crime and the manner in which such crimes lead to a negative impact on the people as well as the society as a whole. Significance, scope and extent of the problem: The issue of cybercrime, has been growing consistently and is now known to be one of the most serious and globally recognized internet crimes in recent times, causing millions of dollars worth of losses every year in the U.S. According to the Cyber Crime Report (2011) conducted by Symantec, it is estimated that cybercrime has amounted to a total of $338 billion over the past year (Symantec, 2011). The report further states that 69% of the adults surveyed have admitted to have fallen prey to cybercrimes in their lifetime of which 65% suffered due to online frauds during the past one year. 75% of the victims of cybercrimes were those between the age group of 18 and 31 years. Furthermore, it was also observed that of the victims of cybercrimes 72% were males compared to 65% of adult females (Symantec, 2011). Figure 2: Source: Cyber Crime Report: Symantec (2011) Cybercrime, as is apparent from the above mentioned statistics, is a deep rooted issue, which is causing billions of dollars worth of losses annually, across the globe. The anonymity and protection that the cyber world offers to the criminals, along with the little investment and low risk, makes it difficult for the law enforcement bodies to track and punish the criminals, thus leading to impunity. Most of these crimes and frauds are often committed by organized groups, who are difficult to be traced back, thus significantly limiting their exposure to informants, and providing them the leisure to continue their covert operations from a safe distance (Yar, 2006). Furthermore apart from the financial losses, cyber crimes involving identity thefts, spamming and use of malicious software causes loss of important data (Reyes & OShea, 2007). According to statistics made available by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (2011), the major types of crimes and frauds reported during the year 2011 included impersonation; work-from-home scams; overpayment frauds; identity theft; as well as non-auction or non-delivery of merchandise among others. The same are shown in the figures below: Source: Internet Crime Complaint Center (2011) The myths of Cyber crime: counterviews Although there is sufficient evidence substantiating the hypothesis that cybercrime has and continues to cost millions of dollars of losses worldwide, and threaten to disrupt the social fabric of the communities we live, in, there are reports countering and challenging the validity of such claims. According to some, although the gravity of the issue cannot be completely undermined, the extent and significance of the same, however is a myth. The facts and figures highlighting the penetration of cybercriminal in virtually every aspect of our daily online activities, as is observed from the survey, are often blown out of proportion, and hence wrongly calculated (NY Times, 2012). Some authors investigating this issue, have described the cybercrime phenomenon, as discussed in recent times, as science fiction, claiming that the facts and statistics regarding the same may have been misrepresented, thus leading to a serious distortion of reality. The dramatic conceptualization of the potential catastrophic outcomes of cybercrimes, on the society is misleading and has led to a heightened fear of cybercriminals, who are often portrayed as larger than life figures, capable of endangering their online identities and compromising our financial and emotional securities. The trend is further sensationalized by the extensive coverage of the same in the media, thus creating confusion and panic among the users, and blurring the lines between reality and rhetoric (Baudrillard, 1998). It is also suggested by cynics, that the issue of cybercrime is misrepresented by the popular media, thus engaging the users into believing in an alternate reality, which is marred by fictitious data. This ‘mythical’ misrepresentation is then further popularized by theories and notions of the likely repercussions, leading to disruptions and chaos in the social order. The repeated exposure of such misappropriated statistics influences the public belief, and raises serious concerns regarding the safety of individuals in the cyber world (Wall, 2008). Dangers of cybercriminals and impact on society: The cyber world acts as a haven for criminals and offers them an opportunity to execute their malicious and evil attacks on innocent users, to further their own personal agendas. The victims of such crimes include individuals – children as well as adults; and corporate organizations. In case of individuals, the attacks mostly include spamming, identity thefts, scams, frauds and bullying. The individuals are most at risk of cybercrimes due to the lack of effective safety measures and the lack of knowledge regarding the same, such as malware and anti-virus softwares etc. According to available data, approximately 41% of adults surveyed, were reported to have little or no knowledge regarding the use of security software suites and measures to safeguard their online identities; and 54% of them have admitted to have experienced virus attacks during the past one year (Symantec, 2011). In case of corporations the crimes are equally heinous and include data theft, causing millions of dollars of losses to the companies. The rates of victimization in information societies are relatively higher since it offers the criminals the benefit of impunity, as opposed to that in the real physical world. Furthermore common internet crimes such as hacking and cyber bullying continue to dominate the cyber world, putting millions of individuals at risk, every year. In both the cases, the victims are continuously and deliberately pursued and harmed, by cybercriminals putting them perpetually at risk of causing serious physical and emotional damage to their victims (Moore, 2010; McQuade, Colt, and Meyer, 2009). Online bullying has recently emerged as one of the most disturbing occurrences in recent times, which has the ability to cause recurring and long lasting psychological damage to the victims. The extent of damage caused by such crimes is further worsened by the fact that more often than not, the perpetrators of such crime go undetected, thus often leading to an eventual blurring of reality and virtual world. The virtual reality, in such cases, tends to cause physical and emotional damage to the victims, thus hampering the human experience, and leaving the victims completely unprotected. Their inability to develop and utilize psychological defenses may lead to fatal consequences (Clough, 2010). There are instances whereby the excess involvement and indulgence of individuals in the online world, and their inability to apply and use effective virtual defense mechanisms has led to their victimization, forcing them to seek therapeutic solutions, or prompt medical attention. Conclusion: It is apparent from the discussions mentioned above, that the fact that cybercrimes do exist, cannot be contested or denied, however it is also to be taken into consideration that data relating to such crimes, are often misrepresented by vested interests and are portrayed with much more intensity than, needed. The digital realism is distorted with misinformed statistics thus creating a myth surrounding the issue of cybercrime. References: Baudrillard, J., (1998). The consumer society: Myths and structures, London: Sage Publication, pp. 34 Clough, J., (2010). Principles of cyber crime. Cambridge University Press. McQuade, S. C., Colt, J. P., Meyer, N. B. B., (2009). Cyber bullying: Protecting kids and adults from online bullies. ABC-CLIO Publication Moore, R., (2010). Cybercrime: Investigating high-technology computer crime. Elseiver Publication Reyes, A., OShea, K., (2007). Cyber crime investigations: Bridging the gaps between society professionals, law enforcement, and prosecutors. Syngress Publication Wall, D., (2007). Cybercrime: The transformation of crime in the information age. Polity Publications Wall, D. S., (2008). Cybercrime, media and security: The shaping of public perceptions of cybercrime. International Review of Law Computers & Technology, Vol. 22. pp 45-63 Yar, M., (2006). Cybercrime and society. SAGE Publication Internet Crime Complaint Center (2011). [Online] Available at: http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2011_IC3Report.pdf [Accessed: May 15, 2011] NY Times (2012). The Cybercrime that wasn’t [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opinion/sunday/the-cybercrime-wave-that-wasnt.html [Accessed: May 16, 2012] Symantec (2011). Cybercrime Report 2011 [Online] Available at: http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/home_homeoffice/html/cybercrimereport/ [Accessed: May 15, 2012] Read More