Anonymous Cyber-Attacks - PayPal - Essay Example

The article involved Weatherhead and his three co-conspirators, Ashley Rhodes, 28, of south London, Peter Gibson, 24, of Hartlepool, and an 18-year-old from Chester where they carried out an online attack at PayPal using distributed denial of services (DDoS). DDos works by first downloading a free internet software called Low Orbit Ion Canon (LOIC) as a "destructive cyber weapon". Once downloaded, “the LOIC could be used to attack by sending internet traffic to a target computer…When the volume of traffic sent to a computer becomes too much for it to handle it would suffer a denial of service. The more LOICs used, therefore, to attack a target computer, the more likely that a denial of service will take place ” (Laville, 2012).

The irony of the hackers Anonymous is that they do not see themselves as criminals but rather online activists or hacktivists who conduct their protest by bringing a site down through DDos or other methods to teach them a lesson for whatever reason they can think of.

Impact of Cybercrime on worldwide justice systems
The advent and proliferation of cybercrime “forced” worldwide justice systems to adapt to crimes committed on the internet and institute laws to combat and prosecute them. As criminals became sophisticated, justice systems have to be responsive as well to arrest and prosecute cyber criminals. The absence of such laws that would enable law enforcers to track, monitor, arrest, and prosecute online criminals would make it an incentive for cybercriminals to launch their criminal activities online.
The classic example that we can cite of the need for countries to have an adaptive law that would serve as deterrence to would-be cyber criminals is the I Love You virus which was sent through malicious emails in early 2000 that overwrote the files of those who received them costing billions of dollars in the US and elsewhere in the world. While the culprit was known to be in the Philippines, authorities cannot do anything to arrest the individual due to the lack of laws to prosecute the person.

This incidence and other crimes facilitated on the internet such as fraud, human trafficking, and terrorism prompted the legislative body of such countries to craft a law to combat cybercrime. Albeit delayed, the Philippine legislature crafted a Cybercrime Act 9225 which was implemented this year (although a Temporary Restraining Order was issued against it) because of this incident and other crimes done through the internet.
The proliferation of cybercrime made governments worldwide acknowledge the digital space as a medium where cyber criminals can facilitate their illicit activities.

The process to combat global cybercrime
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI, the best way to combat global cybercrime is through international cooperation. To effectively counter the threat of cybercrime, “The FBI is working closely with international law enforcement agencies to fight cybercriminals (FBI).To facilitate this international cooperation and collaboration an international conference was held at Fordham University in New York City this year which was attended by over 400 participants from 37 countries. Delegates from various sectors also attended from international counterparts ranging from law enforcement, business, government, and academia.

The conference which was taken as a process to combat global cybercrime involved finding solutions to the emerging cybercrime threat from different perspectives. One of the solutions found was a round-the-clock international cooperation of cyber investigators where cybercrime investigators “can “fast freeze” e-mail traffic and other stored electronic data, which can preserve a crook’s otherwise fleeting digital footprint” (FBI, 2010) thereby making them more effective in combating cybercrime.
The dialogue between countries and industries has to continue because the ways that cyber criminals wreak havoc online also evolve. This ensures that the ways to combat cybercrime are effective. Read More