Cyber Crimes:
The Players, The Reasons and The ways we can incorporate into our lives to protect ourselves
(Part I)
Crime has become increasingly more digital. It is done with ease, almost unnoticeable, hard to trace and able to be done from anywhere. Pre-date main stream technology, if someone robbed a bank, all we had to do was simply turn our heads and look at those who were in the vicinity of the bank being robbed. Now that it can be done digitally, when someone robs a bank, it can be anyone on the face of the earth that has a computer and an internet connection. The thought of this is very disturbing.
Crimes through the Worldwide Web has been a big problem for America, but in the last 10 years, it has become an issue that has been brought to the forefront. In earlier years when newspaper sales still flourished and hoping on the net required that NO ONE be on the phone at the time you attempted to surf a primitive flourishing network. When we talked of cybercrime, we were most likely referring to website defacements, viral viruses, pedophiles (cyber stalkers) and the occasional stolen credit card order placement shipped to a different address or P.O. Box. Everything we now know has become a lot more rampant along with the natures of these evils. The seriousness of these crimes has reached an all-time high. Perpetrators such as terrorists, organized crime (like the Mafia), foreign dynasties, diplomats, drug dealers and hackers are now shifting ways of their criminal profession’s from our streets to our Cyber Highways. From incognito sites that portray match making (human trafficking), to emails requiring or informing that your account “needs” updating by requesting for personal and sensitive information (known as phishing). As well as sites that “synthetic” cocaine and marijuana (remember MR. Nice Guy back in 2010) to nefarious charities that bank on actual natural disasters or events. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/no-more-mr-nice-guy-federal-drug-officials-make-so/nLqSf/
Cyber Crime is not only a circumstance limited to criminals but to our “supposed” law abiders as well such as law enforcement, Wall Street bureaucrats and geek fan boys. Even our own Governments are unscrupulously collecting data under the guise of “In the Interest and Security of the People”. Yet the same government, instituted for the purpose of delegating to the certain, limited (and enumerated) powers portrayed in U.S. Constitution. (I could traverse through this topic for paragraphs but would lose sight of our current topic. For those of you who still like to elaborate on this distinction, please click on the following link:
The Insidious 6
Let’s take a moment to understand why these evils came to be. Why do you think such crimes exist? Multiplying and introducing more and more culprits to this genre every moment. Everything triangulates to these insidious six:
Before we look at ways to protect ourselves and preserve our assets, let’s dissect the concepts of these root evils. In doing so we might be better to situate ourselves to a position of becoming more impervious to the crime syndicate and its many faces.
Addictions fall into play when we begin to ponder of the “Why this beast of nature comes into play”. Let’s take an addictive like sex as our first example. To possess the capability to indulge in the senses of gratification and lust, we recognize power and money to achieve this “attractive” quality from the opposite sex (or same sex for some). To live dangerously, fast, and by one’s own pace and standards; a potential “culprit” may look at robbery, drug dealing, money laundering, or embezzlement as a quick and easy way to gain this allure. It could even quite possible be a person’s own laziness, dreading the thought of hard toiling days of work, as the result for their delusions of grandeur through crime. Leading a way of life of the least amount of effort for the possibility of an easy score by taking that which is not theirs. Hard earned privileges, earned by individuals, claimed by criminals. Leaving a victim in their wake with a sullied sense of security, a violation not so easily dismissal from one’s life. Then there are our “Persons of Authority” that accept bribery or bend the rules and laws to benefit them and their reputation. High esteemed official’s bloodletting honest tax payer’s money by lining their own pockets. Besides to seeing to their own endeavors and agendas they spend their time in office repaying favors to the other crime syndicate members that assisted in their esteemed positions. Now let’s talk about an act our Geek Fan Boy commit. This is a crime I am sure many of us (if not close to all of us!) are guilty on as well, PIRACY. This is a term that is used to refer to Pirate, Counterfeit, and Bootleg inclusively. Piracy generally refers to the illegal duplication and distribution of applications, programs and audio/visual recordings. There are four specific categories of Piracy:
- Bootleg Recordings – An unauthorized recording of a live performance either audio or visual. These are often referred to as imports.
- Counterfeit Recordings – The unauthorized recording of a prerecorded sound as well as the unauthorized duplication of original artwork, label trademark and packaging.
- Cracked Software – The modification and manipulation of software programs. These are re-created for the masses (I like to refer to as NON-GEEKS) easily used with a slip stream code coded in, a specialized key generator, or artificial / copy infringed licenses.
- Online Piracy – The unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and/or performance of copyrighted software, video and/or sound recording in a network environment.
Whether for profitable gain or New Age hippie beliefs, this is ILLEGAL. Everyone who partakes in the downloading of such said wares are accomplices in this type of theft as well. Even I have (and still do at times) participated in this aspect. Ill download a program or media to see if I like it or worth my purchase. Even when I do finally purchase these products after my “trial testing”, I’m still guilty, no excuses. (Please see more on these topics here 🙂
Let’s review before moving onto the ways to protect ourselves:
Our culprits {consisting of but not limited to}:
Authority figures – Government officials, Law Enforcers, Bankers, Military officials and Foreign Dynasties.
Peer to peer (also known as P2P) – Geek fan Boys and every citizen looking for these wares.
Organized crime – Politicians, Mafia, Gangs, Hackers, Terrorist’s organizations and drug/human smugglers.
The reasons (Insidious 6)
Sex
Money
Power
Fame
Laziness
Addictions
(Next chapter will be on how to secure and protect ourselves from these Cyber Crimes)