ABSTRACT

The social, political, and economic dimensions of human life are facilitated by a digital age
that has encompassed the whole world. Universally, there has been a rapid rise in the use of
computers and electronic gadgets. These developments have led to significant growth in
criminality, especially in cyberspace. Cybercrimes have grown progressively with
perpetrators developing newer and sophisticated techniques every day. Despite the measures
taken by the international community to combat the vice and mitigate its effects, cybercrimes
have continued to rise alarmingly across the world. According to Cyber Security Breaches
Survey of 2018, 40% of businesses worldwide have been a victim of cybercrime. The
research projects that up to six trillion dollars per year could be lost in the hands of
cybercriminals. The research results attempt to provide useful recommendations on
countermeasures against cybercrime and raise the awareness of companies’ senior
management and governments’ representatives on cyber criminality.

KEYWORDS: Cybercrime, Cybercriminal, Hackers

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INTRODUCTION

Information technology (IT) has substantial impact on all spheres of life. Mobiles, tablet-

apps, laptops, telecommunication media and many other gadgets and devices have

accelerated the pace to communicate and exchange information. Security on Internet is

challenging. Security on an Internet is important because information has significant value.

Implementing security involves assessing the possible threats to one’s network, servers and

information. This cybercrime issue not also has become a viral in information system

environment but knocks out as a general issue that could be harm national constitution. This

developing world of information technology has a negative side effect. It has opened the door

to antisocial and criminal behavior. Cybercrime is generally regarded as any illegal activity

conducted through a computer (Obuh & Babatope, 2011).

Computer crime has become a major global challenge and continues to be a major concern

for international security. With the arrival of fast internet and the advent of new technology,

cybercriminals have the chance to infiltrate individuals and businesses via their computer

systems. Analyzing the trend of cybercrimes across countries, analysts have suggested 10–

15% Internet penetration as the threshold level for the generation of significant hacking

activities (Kshetri, 2013)

Notably, in 2015, there was a massive cyberattack that targeted individuals and businesses

through ransomware named Cryptowall version 3.0(Alazab & Broadhurst, 2015). Cybercrime

has led to significant damage not only for individuals but also for businesses whereby it

causes employment disruptions and reduced trust for a company’s online activities. The

responsibilities of addressing cybercrime activities lie in individual countries which should

ensure that they protect and empower institutions to create an organized mitigation campaign

that monitors what happens in cyberspace. Cybercriminals all over the world can only be

brought to justice if there are available and adequate laws to combat the vice.

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S/N Author/Year Title Methodology Results
1 Regner Sabillon, Jermy CyberCrime and Qualitative The creation of national
Cano,Victor cybercriminar govesrnance to fight cybercrime,
Canvaler,Jordi Serra International cooperation to
(2016) prosecute cybercriminals, the
hardening of laws for
prosecution, additional academia
research and a participating
cybersecurity industry are just
some areas to be improved.

2 Victoria Stanciua and Exploring Quantitative Risk culture improvement and

Andrei Tinca cybercrime continuous employees’ training
(2016) realities and should provide the needed risk
challenges awareness.
3 B.A. Omodunbi, P.O. CyberCrimes in Quantitative Cybercrime is the main
Odiase, O.M. Olaniyan , Nigeria: Analysis prerequisite for the manifestation
A.O. Esan, Bolaji Detection and of cybercrime
Omodunbi, Adebimpe Prevention
Esan, Olatayo Olaniyan.
(2016),

4 Maziah Mohd Ali Determinants of Quantitative Average entrepreneurs involve in

(2016) preventing online business
cybercrime: a
survey research
5 Nir Kshetri Cybercrime and Qualitative Businesses and consumers in
(2019) Cybersecurity in African economies are facing
Africa increasing cyber-threats.
6 Mohammed I. Alghamdi A Descriptive Qualitative Conventional laws and policies
(2020) Study on the are currently incapable of
Impact of mitigating cybercrime cases.
Cybercrime and
Possible
Measures to
Curtail its Spread
Worldwide
7 Sheelagh Brady & Cybercrime: Qualitative Cybercrime is largely used to
Caitríona Heinl, SAR Current Threats encompass a range of criminal

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Consultancy & EXEDEC and Responses activities that use ICTs.
(2020)
8 Abdulghani Ali Ahmed, Comprehensive Quantitative The unavailability of benchmark
Wadha Abdullah Al- Review of datasets is an inevitable
Khater, Somaya Al- Cybercrime consequence of the lack of
Maadeed, Ali Safaa Detection cooperation between law
Sadiq, Muhammad Techniques enforcement and researchers in
Khurram Khan terms of cybercriminal data
(2020) collection
9 George Tsakalidis, Cybercrime Qualitative The outcome of this view is a
Graduate Student Offences: mechanism that can manually
Member, IEEE, Kostas Identification, interconnect measures with the
Vergidis and Michael Classification and accountable ones, for all
Madas Adaptive cybercrime.
(2018) Response
10 Adnan Riaz, Adeel Riaz Causes and Qualitative It has also been observed that
(2015) Consequences of media reporting is normally
Cybercrimes confined to wrong doings and
mal-practices happening in the
real environment

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WHAT IS CYBER CRIME

Cybercrime is a term used to broadly describe criminal activity in which computers or

computer networks are a tool, a target, or a place of criminal activity and include everything

from electronic cracking to denial of service attacks. It is also used to include traditional

crimes in which computers or networks are used to enable the illicit activity, such as the

creation and spread of malware, hacking to steal sensitive personal or industry data and

denial of service attacks to cause financial and/or reputational damage” (European Cyber

Crime Centre (EC3), 2019, p. 14). Alternatively, Computer crime has been defined as “any

illegal unethical or unauthorized behavior involving automatic processing or transmission of

data”.

Furthermore, Cybercrimes can be categorized into Type I and Type II depending on the

intensity of the crimes (Moore, 2016).

Type I refers to cybercrime activities that are technical, for example hacking.

Type II relies on human interaction rather than technology. Criminal activities such as

identity theft, credit card fraud, harassment, stalking, and threatening behaviors have been

known to be traditional crimes that are now easier to pursue on computers.

Cybercriminals use the internet and computer technology to hack user’s personal computers,

smartphone data, and personal details from social media, business secrets, national secrets

etc. Criminals who perform these illegal activities through the internet are called – Hackers.

Though law enforcement agencies are trying to tackle this problem, it is growing regularly

and many people have become victims of identity theft, hacking and malicious software. One

of the best ways to stop these criminals and protect sensitive information is by making use of

inscrutable security that uses a unified system of software and hardware to authenticate any

information that is accessed over the Internet.

Hacker is a computer expert who uses technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome

an obstacle within a computer, networking or other skills to gain unauthorized access to

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systems or network in order to commit crime.

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CAUSES OF CYBER CRIME

Capacity to store data in comparatively small space- The computer has unique

characteristics of storing data in a very small space. This affords to remove information either

through physical or virtual medium makes it much easier.

Easy to access- the problem encountered in guarding a computer system from unauthorized

access is that there is possibility of breach not due to human error but due to the complex

technology. By secretly implanted logic bomb, key loggers that can steal access codes,

advanced voice recoders; retina imagers etc. that can fool biometric systems and bypass

firewalls can be utilized to get past many a security system.

Complex- the computers work on operating system & these operating systems in turn are

composed of millions of codes. Human mind is falliable and imperfect &is not possible that

there might not be a lapse at any stage (there’s possibility that mistakes will occur). The

cyber criminals take advantage of these gap and penetrate into the computer system.

Negligence-Negligence is very closely connected with human conduct. It is therefore very

probable that while protecting the computer system there might be any negligence, which in

turn provides a cyber criminal to gain access and control over the computer system.

Loss of evidence-Loss of evidence is a very common & obvious problem as all the data are

routinely destroyed. Further collection of data outside the territorial extent also paralyses this

system of crime investigation.

TYPES OF CYBERCRIMES

1. HACKING

2. DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACK

3. VIRUS DISSEMINATION

4. RANSOMWARE

5. CREDIT CARD FRAUD

6. PHISHING

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7. SPOOFING

8. CYBER STALKING

9. CYBER TERRORISM

10. SPEAR PHISHING

1. HACKING: - Gupta (2019) has defined hacking as gaining unauthorized access or

compromising systems to get access. Alternatively Hacking is the processing of sending

illegal instruction to any other computer or network. In this case, a person’s computer is

hacked so that his personal or sensitive information can be accessed. The criminal uses a

variety of software to crack a person’s computer and the person may not be aware that his

computer has been accessed from a remote location. Often, government websites are a hot

target for hackers because it helps them gain notoriety which is further fueled by

aggressive media coverage. This is different from ethical hacking which is used by many

organizations to check their Internet security protection.

2. DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACK: - A Denial of Service (“DoS”) attack is a rather

primitive technique that overwhelms the resources of the target computer which results in

the denial of server access to other computers. There are several different techniques that

hackers use to “bring down” a server. As the network administrators learn how to limit

the damage of one technique, hackers often create more powerful and more sophisticated

techniques that force system administrators to continually react against assaults. During

Dos attacks, the attacker floods a network server with requests by making several requests

to the server (Doyle, 2011). These requests are illegitimate and contain fabricated return

addresses that mislead the victims' computer servers as they authenticate the requestors.

During this process, the system becomes overwhelmed and fails to perform normal tasks.

The most common Dos attacks are Smurf Attacks and SYN Flood.

3. VIRUS DISSEMINATION: - This category of criminal activity involves either direct or

search unauthorized access to computer system by introducing new programs known as

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viruses, worms or logic bombs. The unauthorized modification suppression or erasure of

computer data or functions with the Internet to hinder normal functioning of the system is

clearly a criminal activity and is commonly referred to as computer sabotage. It provides

the perpetrator with remote access for the victim’s computer (Shea, 2012). A virus

attaches itself to programs or files and can spread from computer to computer leaving

infections. Computer viruses, like human viruses, vary in their severity and can cause

damages to software, hardware, and documents. Victims' computers are susceptible to the

virus once they run or open infected programs. Equally or more dangerous is the warm

which refers to a subgroup of the virus that can travel from one computer to another

without help from a person. Worms are critically dangerous as they can replicate and

create devastating effects

Malicious code is computer code that is written with the sole intent to cause damage to a

machine or to invade the machine to steal information. The most common forms of malicious

code are viruses, worms, and Trojan programs

4. CREDIT CARD FRAUD: - Intangible assets represented in data format such as money

on deposits or hours of work are the most common targets related to fraud.

Modern business is quickly replacing cash with deposits transacted on computer system

creating computer fraud. Credit card information as well as personal and financial

information on credit card has been frequently targeted by organized criminal crimes. Assets

represented in data format often have a considerably higher value than traditionally economic

assets resulting in potentially greater economic class.

5. RANSOMWARE: - Ransomware is a type of malware that denies a user’s access to

computer resources, by locking access to the computer itself or to important files on

computer. After taking control of the computer, the ransomware usually displays a

message asking money from the user in order to restore access to the computer. The main

infection mechanisms are via e-mail, when the user opens an attachment, or by drive-by-

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download, when the user visits a web site with malicious content that automatically

downloads on the user’s computer. After the infection, users Exploring cybercrime –

realities and challenges Vol. 16, No. 4 619 typically have three choices: try to restore the

system from backup, pay the ransom and get access to the data, or lose the data (Sittig,

2016).

6. PHISHING: - connection to the end user. In such cases, the attacker attempts to fool the

end user to provide him/her with sensitive information. Phishing involves a combination

of spoofing techniques and social engineering. The victim receives an email asking

him/her about sensitive information, warning him/her about an attack, and persuading

him/her to install new protection software that is actually malware. Alternatively, a

phishing email may contain a link to a fake website. One of the important defensive

methods is not to click on a link that appears in a suspicious email.

7. SPOOFING:- Spoofing is when a cybercriminal disguises themself as another person,

business, or entity in order to commit malicious act, Spoofing can also be seen Getting

one computer on a network to pretend to have the identity of another computer, usually

one with special access Privileges , so as to obtain access to the other computers on the

network. The ultimate goal of spoofing is to steal from and damage victims. Using savvy

social engineering tactics, cybercriminals use spoofed email addresses, websites, and

phone numbers to trick victims into providing confidential information, downloading

attachments, or into clicking links that install malware.

8. CYBER STALKING: - Cyber stalking is use of the Internet or other electronic means to

stalk someone. This term is used interchangeably with online harassment and online

abuse. Stalking generally involves harassing or threatening behavior that an individual

engages in repeatedly, such as following a person, appearing at a person's home or place

of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or

vandalizing a person's property.

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9. CYBER TERRORISM: - Terrorism acts which are committed in cyberspace are called

cyber terrorism. Cyber terrorism may include a simple broadcast of information on the

Internet about bomb attacks which may happen at a particular time in the future. Cyber

terrorists are people who threaten and coerce an individual, an organization or even a

government by attacking them through computers and networks for their personal,

political or social benefits.

10. SPEAR PHISHING: This attack targets a specific user or a group of users. Normally

uses an email that seems legitimate to ask for some wire transfer already approved by a

top executive within a company.

PRECAUTIONS/PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO BE TAKEN TO PREVENT CYBER

CRIME:

Nobody’s data is completely safe. But everybody’s computers can still be protected against

would-be hackers. Here is your defense arsenal.

1. Firewalls:

These are the gatekeepers to a network from the outside. Firewall should be installed at every

point where the computer system comes in contact with other networks, including the Internet

a separate local area network at customer’s site or telephone company switch.

2. Security Control:

Individuals on their part should ensure proper security controls and make sure they install the

latest security updates on their computer systems. In addition, they should observe the

following (Lakshmi, 2015):

 Carefully select the sites you visit. Do not visit an untrusted site.

 Avoid pirated software and never disclose your Personal Identification Number (PIN), bank

account and email access code to unknown persons.

 Always ignore any e-mail requiring your financial information. Do not send sensitive

information in an email since its security cannot be guaranteed.

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 Use strong passwords that are difficult to guess and employ a combination of characters

(upper case and lowercase letters), numbers and symbols.

3. Viruses:

Viruses generally infect local area networks through workstations. So anti-virus software that

works only on the server isn’t enough to prevent infection.

You cannot get a virus or any system-damaging software by reading e-mail. Viruses and

other system-destroying bugs can only exist in files, and e-mail is not a system file. Viruses

cannot exist there. Viruses are almost always specific of the operating system involved.

Meaning, viruses created to infect DOS application can do no damage to MAC systems, and

vice versa. The only exception to this is the Microsoft Word “macro virus” which infects

documents instead of the program.

4. Encryption:

Even if intruders manage to break through a firewall, the data on a network can be made safe

if it is encrypted. Many software packages and network programs – Microsoft Windows NT,

Novel NetWare, and lotus notes among others- offer and – on encryption schemes that

encode all the data sent on the network. In addition, companies can buy stand alone

encryption packages to work with individual applications. Almost every encryption package

is based on an approach known as public-private key.

5. Data Protection:

Protect your data by using encryption for your most sensitive files such as financial records

and tax returns. A person can stay one step ahead of the hacker by getting information about

the scams and hacking styles on the Internet. Fishing is a famous hacking method, but a

person can get rid of all the frauds by taking information from the Internet about the latest

fishing attacks. So, stay safe and tell your neighbors about these scams and make them aware.

8. Regular password renewal with balance between usability and security

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METHODOLOGY

This study uses the qualitative method that intends to collect comparable records on

cybercrime and computer crime activities across the world. The study was conducted to

elaborate and provide more knowledge on the concept of cybercrime and cybersecurity. The

research used electronic media to carry out these works. The author conducted a survey

covering a variety of internet users among them, student and business persons. The impact of

cybercrime on societies across the world is immense and consequential. There also exists an

upward trend in the cases of cybercrime activities across the world. Currently, there is a

disconnect in the manner the world has handled this form of criminal activity. Cybercriminals

have taken advantage of this gap to undermine global efforts. Undoubtedly, this vice has been

deleterious to economies costing countries millions of dollars every year. Research efforts

must be boosted towards understanding criminal activity globally through international

initiatives, legislation, and procedures.

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This research has pointed out that cybercrime is fast gaining ground in both developed and

developing countries. The lead perpetrators of cybercrime are the youth who may have

technical competence and experience to commit computer-related crimes. Findings also

indicate that a lot of cybercrime cases go unreported due to the fear of humiliation.

This research work also brought our notice to the various reasons why criminals engage in

cybercrimes and the preventive measures that should be taken in order not to fall a victim.

Further, this study has shed light on the rapidness of cybercrime across the world.

This paper recommends that similarly, the response to cybercrime need also be proportional.

To effectively combat cybercrime, there needs to be harmonization of cybercrime regulation

and legislation across the world.

As discussed, cybercrime is regarded differently in various countries. It is critical that a

common classification of computer crimes be adopted by all nations globally. It’s also

recommended that cybercriminals should be brought to book and be punished. Furthermore,

the preventative measures discussed in these research work should be adhered to as a matter

of necessity.

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