Internet and computers are now can be used for many purposes. They help us in shopping, banking, paying bills, watching movies, etc. But there are some people who can find loopholes and vulnerabilities in our system and thus they can read or manipulate our private data or confidential information like our messages, banking information etc. This is called cyber crime. And cyber criminals are known as hackers.
The cyber community changes in an unbelievable pace. The nature of the Internet as a tool for communication and education has been used and misused for personal gain, which resulted in cyber-attacks and unprecedented rise in cyber-crime rates. These rates are expected to increase more rapidly in the coming years if cyber security is not put in place. Thousands of companies, organizations and agencies, in addition to millions of people all over the world are able to contact each other and to communicate through the computer and the Internet. It is through the phone and the computer that some of the worst crimes are taking place. By definition, a computer crime takes place when an unauthorized person reaches information and data that he was not supposed to reach, or when an individual inflicts damage on the files, systems and networks of others on purpose. These crimes are now becoming serious felonies that lead to imprisonment and heavy fines in countries such as the US, India, China, Russia and Pakistan. Recently Indian Hackers attacked Pakistani Railways' Website and website of a Pakistani political leader.
Most common methods used by hackers are viruses, password stealing, identity stealing and social engineering. Viruses are small programs that can steal our data and send it to some other person, and then that person can manipulate our data. Cyber criminals can also steal our identity by stealing our personal information like e-mail id, password, dob, etc.. And most common method used by criminals is social engineering, they make friends with victims and after a victim trusts that criminal, he use his trust to get all the information he needs.
Sometimes its not possible to detect a criminal. A criminal can delete his digital footprints and can change his digital address while doing any illegal activity. So its very important for a Internet and Computer user to protect his devices and accounts from such people.
