Cyber crime

Hi-tech fraud. Both the US and the UK are experiencing a rise in ‘phishing’, pronounced ‘fishing’. Fraudsters send an e-mail message that seems to come from a bank (Citibank, Lloyds) or a company like E-bay or Amazon. The message looks genuine, and may direct you to a website, which includes a corporate logo. You are asked to send or confirm personal information, such as your bank account number or password. This information is then used for fraudulent activity, such as online gambling, or to siphon off money from your account. As many as 20% of recipients are fooled by this scam.

This is another example of spamming. The nature of spam is changing from being just a nuisance to more serious financial scams. Many mails sell fake pharmaceuticals on the black market. Financial and pharmaceutical spam now make up an incredible 70% of all spam.

IT managers estimate that over 90% of computers in organisations have been infected by some kind of spyware. Many employees unknowingly download spyware onto their machines. This software, which hides somewhere in your computer, collects information about you and what you do on the Internet – it may even record your credit card details if you shop on the Internet. On average every PC has 28 so-called spyware programs installed on it, according to one recent audit by a software firm.

Adware is a form of spyware, which installs secret advertising software on your computer, such as annoying pop-up ads. There are government moves in various countries to make spam illegal. As the Internet becomes more and more an integral part of our lives so we have to give more time to protecting ourselves against cyber-crime.

Internet is full of dangers. What can be done about them? Let’s look through four e-mails that come to the Editor of an online business magazine, each of them mentions one type of cyber crimes.

Scam e-mails. I agree that the Internet has brought us innumerable benefits, but it has also brought us Internet crime. I recently received a false mail asking for money, in the famous Nigerian scams. I was also asked for money after hurricane Katrina. Credit card fraud and identity fraud are growing. Lynette Dalgleish, Auckland

Hacking. Users of your site should watch out for the latest virus targeting business users. It is designed to destroy all Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint documents and is activated when you click on the email attachment. What can be done to stop those who create these viruses? John, NYC

Click fraud. On 6 February, you wrote: ‘What is Click fraud?’ An advertiser pays money every time a customer clicks on their ‘pay-per-click’ link on, say, Google. So ‘click fraud’ forces the advertiser to run up a bill. For example, online robots can be programmed to click repeatedly on a link. Low-cost workers can be hired in China, India and other countries to do the same. Employees can click on rival companies’ ads to deplete (исчерпывать) their marketing budgets. It is not unknown for an unhappy worker to click repeatedly on an advert! Hope this helps. Pete, Oxford, UK

Counterfeit goods. I recently bought some jewellery on eBay, but discovered that it was fake. I complained to the seller and I received a refund (компенсация). However, I asked eBay to remove listings for identical pieces – but they refused! eBay maintains it is just a marketplace which link sellers and buyers. I do understand eBay has around 180 million members with maybe 60 million items on sale at any time … but in my view the Internet has now become a marketplace for selling counterfeit goods, with no policing! Kerry O’Connor, Dublin

ASWER THE QUESTIONS: 1. What is spyware? 2. What are the different types of spam? 3. Why does it cost companies money? 4. How much spam do you receive? 5. How do you manage with it? 6. Have you ever made an illegal copy of software or music? 7. In what circumstances do you, or would you use illegal software or buy a pirated album? 8. In your opinion, what is the solution to the problem of piracy? 9. Rank mentioned in the text cyber-crimes in order of their seriousness. 10. Decide on suitable penalties on various cyber-crimes.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-11