CYBERCRIME:

There are various crimes in the world. Among those, Cyber Crime is the one which is an unavoidable problem in the cyber world. Crime refers to action which is performed against law. It consists of specific crimes dealing with computer and networks. In addition to cyber crime there is also ‘Computer-Supported Crime’ which covers the use of computers by criminals for communication and document or data storage. There are various types of cyber crimes. Some of them are as follows,

1. HACKING: It means an illegal intrusion into a computer system or network. Equivalent term for hacking is cracking. It also means act committed towards breaking into a computer or network. Hackers write or use ready made computer programs to attack the target computer. They hack for personal gains such as stealing the credit card information, transferring money from bank accounts to their own account followed by withdrawal of money.
2. CYBER STALKING: Cyber Stalking can be defined as the threatening behavior of the cyber criminal towards the victim by using internet services. Stalking refers to the repeated acts of harassment targeting the victim such as following the victim, making harassing phone calls etc.
3. PHISHING: The act of sending an email in an attempt to make the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. For example the user gets an email. The email directs the user to visit a website where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card information. The website is a fake one and set up only to steal the user’s information.

Software Piracy, Internet Relay Chat Crime, Virus Dissemination, Net Extortion, Credit Card related crimes are other type of crimes. The various groups of hackers include Children’s and adolescents between the age group of 6-18 years, organized hackers and professional hackers.

As we all know that “Prevention is always better than cure”. It is always better to take certain precautions while operating the net. To prevent cyber stalking avoid disclosing your identity to strangers in public places. Avoid sending any photograph online particularly to strangers as there have been chances of misuse of the photographs. Avoid sharing your credit card information, passwords, and addresses in public sites to prevent phishing. If any strangers are black mailing or threatening you then inform immediately to the crime service. If you follow some these precaution measures, then you can prevent cyber crime.