Crime is inherent in any human society. Generally, all crimes have similar motives – motives that often serve political, ideological or monetary goals. Whether it be the pirates of the 17th century, the bandits of the 19th century or the robbers of today, all three were and are more or less thieves, seeking to steal valuables and money. But how the ‘stealing’ occurs has drastically changed.
Pirates would maraud ships in the sea and loot their valuables. Bandits would raid and rob unassuming travelers and merchants on land. And the modern day robber? Well, while they can resort to old pickpocketing, they can also misuse a more sophisticated tool of today’s era to steal or cause harm – they can use the computer and the internet.
The ISO defines cybercrime as ‘the commission of criminal acts in cyberspace’ and it is a burgeoning issue of contemporary human society. For instance, The Global Risks Report 2023 by the World Economic Forum identified it as a significant global risk of both the immediate present and the long term future.
In the past several decades, computer and networking technology grew and diffused exponentially. It propelled global connectivity and greatly increased our individual sphere of influence via cyberspace. We could now communicate, collaborate and transfer information quickly, remotely and anonymously. On the one hand, this fueled positive collaboration but on the other, it opened the doors for cybercrime. Not only has today’s cyberspace enabled criminals to commit traditional crimes like theft and social engineering via new ways that can be trickier to prevent, but it has also opened an array of new forms of crimes, such as cyberbullying, cyber harassment, disinformation and misinformation, and the like. Therefore, dealing with cybercrime attempts and staying safe online has become a priority.
The first step to that end is to identify the various manifestations of cybercrime. The spectrum is vast and cybercrime can range from unauthorized use of other people’s accounts and computers to sophisticated translational hacking attacks on national governmental databases and even physical infrastructure like electric grid lines. The offenders of cybercrime can be equally diverse, from casual actors hoping to make money to organized hacktivists, cyberterrorists, state-sponsored agents and so on. Despite this vastness, on an individual level, being aware of several common forms of cybercrime can greatly enhance our personal cybersecurity.
Activating features such as two-step verification, using a difficult password and changing them once in a while, and periodically logging out of all sessions of an account can greatly reduce the chances of your online accounts being compromised.
One common form of cybercrime is Social Engineering. Sometimes called “human hacking”, this often involves tricking people into giving out their confidential information or money online through use of deception. Spurious emails about winning a lottery you never applied for, suspicious calls claiming to be from a certain authority or company and a fraudulent copy of a legitimate website are all forms of social engineering where the criminals impersonate someone to be trusted. All such attempts culminate in requesting your personal information – like your credit card number, bank account or even social media account – or demanding a monetary transaction. With enough awareness and caution, however, an individual can learn to distinguish between fake and genuine emails, websites and other online entities.
Likewise, hacking of social media accounts, creation of duplicate accounts to defame reputation of a person and leaking their personal information on social media platforms is another common form of cybercrime that general individuals in the society often fall victim to. Being safe from such malice requires us to be more vigilant in the safety of our online accounts. Activating features such as two-step verification, using a difficult password and changing them once in a while, and periodically logging out of all sessions of an account can greatly reduce the chances of your online accounts being compromised.
Putting in effort individually for one’s online safety is indeed the first step to a safer cyberspace. Equally important, however, is the action of relevant organizations and governmental agencies to develop appropriate measures for tackling cybercrime in society. In the context of Nepal, existing legal frameworks related to cybersecurity are not comprehensive enough nor do they address the dynamic and evolving nature of cybercrime. Moreover, scarcity of technical expertise further hinders authorities’ attempts to tackle and prosecute cybercriminals. These challenges must be overcome to maintain a safer cyberspace for the citizens of the country.
Like any crime, cybercrime is detrimental to the members of any society and therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility – from individuals to governments – to actively fight against it. Individually, small steps towards personal online safety and cyber-awareness can make it significantly more difficult for any cybercriminals to carry out their operations. At the same time, governmental organizations should work to create proper mechanisms for preventing and punishing cybercrimes. Cyberspace has a lot of benefits but it is equally important to promptly address its pitfalls as well.
(Anup is a high school student of Budhanilkantha School.)
(Nepalkhabar encourages students to send in their articles on any issues of their interest. The article should be around 500 to 700 words in English and sent via [email protected]. We will select, edit and duly publish them in our blog section.)
