Cyber Crime Explained in Plain English

 

Without doubt if anything can be said to have changed our lifestyles, it is the computer, they are now essential for the smooth running of day-to-day activities.

It isn't unusual for each member of a family to have their own computer. One individual may use theirs for business, another could be doing homework and 'instant messaging' friends or perhaps playing sophisticated games. Whilst another is online shopping and emailing other family members in the same house to discuss what they are going to eat!

With the vast variety of computer uses and information stored in them, a new breed of criminal has evolved.
New phrases have emerged such as Hackers, Crackers and Phishers. They will remotely gain information via your computer and have the facilities to empty your bank account and use your credit cards to their limits.
How do they glean such information? Here's just one example; you could click on a link to a website that you feel is a genuine harmless link, perhaps from a friend. A file installs itself from that web page and then scans your computer for known vulnerabilities in its web browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. The same applies to your operating system such as XP or Vista. It doesn't end there; it can then trawl through all your other programs and exploit weak spots to mine confidential information, such as online passwords, and e-mail it back to the hacker. All without you knowing!

It is fair to say that every person in the world with an email address would have received a message from one or more 'banks' or other organisations such as eBay or PayPal. These are called 'Phishing', think of fishing, because that is exactly what they do - fish for information.

Suddenly you receive an email from your bank telling you that your account is about to be frozen due to suspicious activity. It apologises for any inconvenience but assures you that it is for your protection. It will then tell you how to prevent anything more happening, just by changing your password. So, you choose to change, after all it is quick, easy and painless (so the bank assures) and you click the link.

The page you see is in your bank's corporate image, it looks your bank's website and asks some security questions just to prove that you are who you say you are. This is the point where you give all the vital information necessary for online fraud.

No organisation will email you asking for password changes. If a bank does require you to confirm any security based information it will ask you to log on in the normal traditional way and perhaps have a message for you on the official site.