Legal and Illegal Access to Personal Information Online - Essay Example

? English Essay “Most internet users, both individuals and businesses, underestimate the risks of sharing personal information online. Legal and illegal access to personal information is leading to a huge rise in online and offline crime.” Written By: Table of Contents Introduction 2 Thesis statement 3 Categories of Cyber Crime 3 E-Commerce 4 Social Networking 5 Identity Theft and Hacking 5 Evaluation and Solutions for E-Commerce & Social Networking 6 References 8 Introduction We live in an era which is rapidly getting transformed into a cyber-world. Here, we get to do an array of things using a computer and a network, ranging from business to entertainment, filling the space in between as well. All kinds of people use the internet ranging from little children to busy businessmen for different purposes like business transactions, communication, entertainment, social networking and research. Where the computer era has devised numerous ways to work more quickly, efficiently, professionally and resourcefully, it has brought with it what we call cyber-crime -- misusing other people’s information without their permission and knowledge. The topic to be discussed here is about the risks and hazards of information being misused over the internet. The worst part about cyber-crime is that it is much easier to escape from it without revealing identity or improvising a false identity. The reason for it is, of course, the resourcefulness of the internet and the fact that it is away from any kind of physical presence. Moreover, it is very easy to replicate data on the internet to get involved in different kinds of crimes. With the increasing technological trends and movement towards cyber space so rapidly, it is inevitable that soon the cyber world will be dealt with a separate set of rules and regulation, laws and globalization. It is not long before divisions within the cyber space will be dealt like a separate state just like physically existing country (Wall, 2007, p.10). What is needed here is that we deal with the dark side of moving towards technology in a way that we are safe from its harmful effects in the long run, that most people fail to realize at the moment. Thesis Statement An analysis of the reasons of internet crime along with its consequence leads to a technological challenge -- whether the harmful consequences outweigh the benefits of internet and what should be done to reduce crime involving unethical practices of hacking, identity theft, crime in e-commerce and social networking. Categories of Cyber Crime Cyber Crime is divided into many categories. These include spam, availability of obscene content, threats, misinformation, cyber terrorism and fraud. With such a huge variety of crime going on the internet, it becomes very easy to exploit the users (Brenner, 2010, p.8). The users also come into several categories, from amateurs to professionals and naive people who do not realize the harmful implications that the usage of internet might cause. The greatest misuse of internet is taking place in the following domains: • E-commerce  • Social networking  • Identity theft  • Hacking  From amongst the above given domains, E-Commerce and Social Networking will be discussed in greater depth. E-Commerce is defines as exchange of goods and services over the internet involving Business transactions, buying and selling as well as the World Wide Web (Bushry, 2005, p.3). Social Networking refers to online networks that allow people to communicate over the internet and build social relations and broad networks ( Stenzel & Nesdahl, 2012 p.19). Identity Theft is the stealing of someone else’s identity and pretending to be someone else, impersonating to be another person or using their identity such as their name or credentials (Boyer, 2008, p.7). Hacking means to identify weaknesses in other networks and take over their networks and later on, misuse them (Brenner, 2010, p.11). E-Commerce Electronic Commerce as defined above is a rapidly growing concept that allows exchange of goods and services on the internet for personal as well as business transactions. E-commerce is divided into two parts, -Commerce from a communication perspective and E commerce from a business perspective. E commerce from a communication perspective basically is the transfer and exchange of information, goods and services, taking orders and making payments online. E-commerce for business includes the use of technology for the effective maintenance of business and work flow ( Bushry, 2005, p.7). It gives many facilities to business users such as inventory management, supply chain management, quick communication and what not online, at a very low monetary cost. The benefits for sure are uncountable, but we don’t realize what we are losing in return. The impact of e-commerce for business is in positive terms, improved efficiency, improved human resource management and training, better organizational structure, lower costs, better marketing strategies and better communication. On the other hand, the concerns for E-commerce include Privacy issues which are the most important thing that is under threat. Important Business Information may be subject to stalking or supervision by potentially anyone- hackers, identity thieves or even vendor websites that do profiling of individuals and know a great deal about them without their permission (Wall, 2007, p.10). Where there is exchange of goods and services virtually, the only important thing over there that matters is information which is the most precious asset that can be robbed online, can blow out servers and websites may lose potentially all important information they have. For many companies, the nature of business is very confidential and confidential information is shared online in huge amounts. This information can be of use to hackers, identity thieves or even vendors and competitors of a certain company, and whoever gets hold of it wins the game. Social Networking Social Networking is one of the most, as I would term them, hot topics under consideration today, as most of us are subject to unconscious exploitation and identity theft through social networking sites. Like E-commerce poses threat to the Business to Business Industry, Social Networking poses a great threat to the masses- the general public who very conveniently share their personal information online without being aware of its consequences ( Noor Al-Deen & Hendricks, 2011, p.5). The most famous example of this kind of exploitation would be when on sites such as Facebook, while playing games, people are asked to accept terms and conditions for playing them or when Facebook asks you to “allow” your information to be viewed by third parties; most people do not even consider thinking once about the consequences. Later, even if a problem of identity theft or hacking occurs, these sites can’t be blamed because they technically asked for permission before allowing unknown third parties to view the information. It may not seem very harmful to have your personal information floating freely over the internet now but the dilemma is that it gets misused in several different ways such as blackmailing people, harassment, misusing their information such as pictures for obscene purposes or making it available to companies that may use it for marketing (Brenner, 2010). For most of us, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter form a very vital part of our lives and we are much dependent on them for our routing networking, socializing and ‘hanging out’ over the internet for entertainment. We have all become computer maniacs who are more comfortable, as well as quick, in responding towards messages or posts on social networking sites rather than in person. Identity Theft and Hacking These two concepts are very much interrelated, as well as related, to e-commerce and social networking. All of these basically are elements of a vicious circle of online crime and illegal access of people’s personal information without their permission. Again, the catch here is that it is difficult and sometimes impossible to catch such theft because it might go unrecorded and even if it gets recorded, there is no solid or physical proof of anything online (Wall, 2007, p.11). Furthermore, since internet crime is a relatively new concept, it does not provide remedies fully that are efficient enough to cope up with the increased crime that is occurring over the web. Hacking is seizing other computer’s or people personal profiles without their knowledge, this could lead to identity theft and that person could falsely pretend to be the victim of hacking. This can take place on social networking sites such as Facebook or even in huge businesses or companies who have important information stored online. Identity theft can take many forms such as using other people’s credit cards, using other people’s profiles without permission, impersonating or fraud. Hackers have created and can easily find software that helps in identity theft. It has created a lot of destruction for companies, as well as problems for individuals ( Boyer, 2008, p.12) Evaluation and Solutions for dealing with cyber-crime for E-Commerce and Social Networking Even though there are many dangers of cyber-crime involved in social networking and e-commerce both, the fact that the benefits and excessive usage of internet facing rapid growth cannot be ignored in any way. The important thing is to stay safe from the problems and try to avoid situations in which cyber-crime could occur. Everyone should have the best and most reliable anti-virus programs installed in their computers to get intimation about alerts if any such thing is about to occur. It will automatically deny permission to enter or use the computer’s information. Secondly, a firewall could also be used as it saves the computer from unauthorized access. Other than that, online shopping should be done from secure websites that are in use already or with prior experience. Furthermore, e-mails from unknown sources should not be opened and a spam blocker should be used that filters spam e-mail from the rest. A lot of misuse of others information is being done through spam (Boyer, 2008, p.9). In the case of businesses, it should be ensured that they use an intranet, an internal system for communicating and sharing confidential information about the company (Bushry, 2005, p.9). Nobody other than people belonging to that company shall be allowed to use that information. On the technical side, it is very important for every company to have a highly specialized IT department that is proficient enough to find out if an issue regarding cybercrime is likely to occur. They need to be capable enough to understand the dimensions of how crime is done. It is also the responsibility of Governments of all countries to add rules regarding cyber-crime and punishment for offenders. Universal laws need to be introduced and the Special Department’s within Governments should be made or outsourced for fighting cyber-crime as it is an emerging dimension of crime and one, whose consequences are yet to be seen more than ever before and remedies are yet to be discovered (Brenner, 2010, p.14). In the case of social networking sites, terms and conditions are to be read when accepting anything that these sites ask for. Moreover, private content like pictures and private conversations should be avoided and privacy settings should be adequate. All in all, individuals, businesses, as well as governments, should ensure their protection and introduce measures that will help reduce cyber-crime and have serious consequences for being involved in it. References Boyer, A. (2008). The Online Identity Theft Prevention Kit: Stop Scammers, Hackers, and Identity Thieves from Ruining Your Life. USA: Atlantic Publishing Company. Brenner, S. W. (2010). Cybercrime: Criminal Threats from Cyberspace. ABC-CLIO. Bushry, M. (2005). E-commerce. Firewall Media. Noor Al-Deen, H. S., & Hendricks, J. A. (2011). Social Media: Usage and Impact. Plymouth, United Kingdom: Lexington Books. Stenzel, P., & Nesdahl, M. (2012). Who's in Your Social Network?: Understanding the Risks Associated With Modern Media and Social Networking and How It Can Impact Your Character and Relationships. Gospel Light Publications. Wall, D. (2007). Cybercrime: The Transformation of Crime in the Information Age. Cambridge, UK: Polity. Read More