5 Essential Steps “How to protect yourself from cybercrime”

Cybercrime is growing day by day. It is a menace in the world that affects people, businesses, and govt. Worldwide. In this blog post, I will explain complex issues understand what cybercrime entails, and how to protect yourself from cybercrime.

There are many types of cybercrime, but the most common are malware, viruses, botnet attacks, and email phishing. These activities are done by using misleading email addresses, fake websites, APK mods, and pirated software.

The increase of the internet has made cybercrime easier and more widespread. 

What is Cybercrime?

Cybercrime is a criminal activity using the internet that either target user or businesses. The main motive of cybercrime is to make money by hacking. However, many cyber attacks damage networks other than profits.

• Some examples are internet fraud, fake crypto tokens, identity fraud, financial theft, or online payments By using other credit cards.
• Sometimes they steal people’s data and sell it to companies.
• Some important terms are cyber extortioner demanding money to prevent attacks, cryptocurrency where hackers mine cryptocurrency using hacking systems, and Cyberespionage where hackers access govt. Data. These are all illegal activities.

Why is important to discuss cybercrime

Cybercrime is one of the biggest growing threats to individuals, governments, and organizations. It can cause financial crises, identity theft, privacy breaches, and physical damages.

It requires constant vigilance and adaptation. It involves various anonymous actors and methods. Groups. It become a global problem. It requires cooperation between the governments, sectors, and academia.

Types of Cybercrime

1. Email and internet fraud

• It is a type of cybercrime based on email-based phishing. It continues to pose a serious threat to users and small businesses. 
• According to a study that has been tracking email user statistics since 1993, the number of email users is set to hit 4.37 billion worldwide in 2023.  So it is very easy to target by email.
• Statistics from Security Boulevard show that in 2020, 22% of all data breaches involved a phishing attack, and 95% of all attacks that targeted business networks were caused by spear phishing.

2. Identity fraud

It happens when hackers steal people’s personal information such as names, mobile numbers, and credit cards. It is committed in many ways. The most common method is by malware installed in systems. 

It is not just collecting credit or debit card information. It is a serious concern for organizations and governments. 

It includes Account Takeover fraud, which is a situation where a thief steals account login details and takes over the victim’s accounts.

3. Theft of financial/payment data

The other type of cybercrime is Theft of financial/payment data. It steals credit cards, bank accounts, or other financial data. 

There are many ways to steal financial data. Recently, hackers have used fake websites or make of popular websites like Amazon, and Walmart to collect financial details.

The other way is to provide MOD APK and collect data.

4. Cyberextortion and ransomware attacks

Many people are stunned when Wannacry ransomware locks computer system and demand editions. 

Ransomware can lock systems files or encryption files. Cybercriminals can demand extortion in exchange for restoring access to encrypted data. 

These attacks are very dangerous because you lose complete data.

5. Cryptojacking and cyberespionage

It is a cybercrime that is used to mince cryptocurrency by hacking a computer system. This usually occurs when the victim unwittingly installs a program with malicious scripts that allow the cybercriminal to access their computer

 The type of cryptocurrency we see primarily mined on personal computers is called Monero. Monero is a private current so tracking on the blockchain is impossible.

Whereas Cyberespionage is the practice of using digital techniques to get sensitive information. It can be done by various methods such as email phishing, malware attacks, and more.

6.  What is hacking

It is an act of identifying and then exploiting weaknesses in any network, computer system, or device. It recognizes the vulnerability of the network and exploits it to gain access. 

Methods used  by Cybercriminals

1. Malware attacks

It is an attack where malicious software installs in the system without the information of users. Then malicious software captures details of the computer so that hackers gain access to a computer.

The main objective of malware attacks is data theft, system damage, and ransom by exploiting the system. Some examples are adware, trojan horses, worms, viruses, and ransomware.

Some best ways to protect against malware attacks are user training, antivirus software, network security, website scanning,

2. Phishing campaigns

Dozens of emails I received every day about Crypto Free Airdrop Scam. The phishing link is attached to these emails so you can access our data.

A phishing campaign is an email scam designed to steal personal information from the victim. The emails are attached with fake links. The link redirects to fake or cloned websites. They may be shopping website clones or free Bitcoin distribution.

3. Distributed DoS attacks (DDoS)

DDoS attacks occur when multiple bots send on a webserver to disturb the bandwidth or resources of target systems. A DDoS attack uses more than one unique IP address or machine. 

Some example is Syn Flood( It is a volumetric attack that exploits TCP handshake to disturb resources), and UDP Food( it is also a volumetric attack that sends a larger number of UDP bots to the webservers.)

5 Ways to protect yourself from cybercrime

1. Keeping software and systems updated

The best way to keep safe from cybercrimes is to UPDATE everything. Because software and operating systems are constantly exploited by hackers and find vulnerabilities. If they find any bugs in software, they try to exploit them. 

Many patches are released to remove bugs in systems so keep up to date.

2. Using antivirus software 

Antivirus software is designed to detect malware, email phishing links, ransomware, and many other threats. 

Also, antiviruses provide a FIrewall feature to filter networks and block malicious networks before reach the users. Browser extension of Antivirus blocks unsafe websites and warnings to the users.

Also, antivirus provides a VPN that is capable of blocking malicious activity on the systems.

3. Creating strong passwords and using password managers

Weak passwords are easy to crack by hackers. So it very essential to keep strong passwords to save your accounts.

Many free password managers do great jobs, it makes it easy to remember passwords. 

Also password manager provides the details of the leaked password so warn us to change it.

4. Email attachments and links

Emaiil is a soft target for the cybercriminals. They spread malicious links through emails to various users. 

VirusTotal is a website that checks malicious links online. If you want to check whether links are malicious or not, copy that link and scan it on the websites. They will tell everything about the links

5. Implementing two-factor authentication (2FA)

Also known as 2FA, it is an extra layer of security when you access your account online. You cannot open your account just input your password, You also provide OTP to gain access. 

It is very important if your password leaks so you need OTP to access your account.

Impact of Cybercrime

Financial loss

The main objective of cybercrimes is to get money from the victims. Companies or individuals can face revenue loss from cybercrimes. 

Reputation damage

Reputation is very important for any business, if cybercrime happens to any business the reputation may be damaged. Because they are not capable of protecting their businesses from hackers. They may lose revenue, users’ Trust, or loss business.

Emotional distress

The emotional impact of cybercrime is a serious problem that affects the mental health and well-being of victims. 

Cybercrime is a criminal activity that involves the use of computers, devices, and networks, such as hacking, phishing, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and online fraud.

The Future of Cybercrime

By 2024, the cost of data breaches is expected to reach $5 trillion, mainly due to increased fines due to data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.

 A study by Juniper Research predicts that cybercrime will increase by 70% during this period, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing an important role in cyber attacks and security.

 The growing connectivity of devices through the Internet of Things (IoT) can allow cybercriminals to spread malware on connected devices.

It is expected that cryptocurrencies will increase in popularity, which may lead to an increase in crypto-jacking events. 

To prevent these threats, experts recommend creating a predictive analytics system, focusing on timely compliance and staying ahead of emerging threats to better prepare organizations for breaches and cybercrime.

How can I report cybercrime in the USA and Europe?

For the USA

You can report cybercrime in the United States by filing a complaint or report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which the FBI runs

You can file an online complaint at the IC3 website at www.ic3.gov

For EU Citizens

According to europol.europa.eu, If you have fallen victim to cybercrime in the European Union, you can report it online at the reporting website of your country. Reporting mechanisms vary from one country to another. In Member States that do not have a dedicated online option in place, you are advised to go to your local police station to lodge a complaint.