'Cyber-crime', a word most of us know; but a better clarification on the same is good before we begin. Cyber-crime holds a broad array of activities or incidents, some of which include computer viruses or malicious software, forging, spoofed/fake email or website which captures personal details, online bullying/ stalking, hate crime or other form of online harassment, hacking into personal profile/account, scams, online credit card fraud, identity theft, an unsolicited SMS text messages, and so on.
As above, Cyber-crime can be anything, which includes data theft or breach, without the owner's permission. As consumers go mobile, so do criminals. Hence, compared to the earlier attempts of cyber-crime over Desktops, now attackers are more oriented on mobile and social networking. A mixture of socially engineered and blended attacks is what attackers are now using.
Cyber-crime over Mobile device
News like 'iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Top Two Million in First 24 Hours' displays how indispensable mobile devices have become for us today. According to the '2012 Norton Cyber-crime Report', every 2 of 3 adult uses a mobile device to connect to the internet today. The increase on mobile usage is also realized by the Cyber-criminals.
The bait that attracts cyber-criminals is not the vast usage of mobiles but also the numerous hidden vulnerabilities in them. Mobile vulnerabilities doubled in 2011 over 2010. That in itself is alarming. But apart from these facts, the matter to worry more is the fact that 44% people aren't even aware that security solutions exist for mobile devices. Every 2 out of 3 persons don't have security for their mobile devices. Using unsecured Wi-Fi connections is yet another source of vulnerabilities.
Socially engineered Cyber-crime
Apart from Mobile, with increasing usage of social media, cyber-criminals are also going social now. Figures say that, every 4 people out of 10 people have been a victim of cyber crime through social sites. While some complain their accounts have been hacked, others are concerned about their accounts being eyed upon. Apart from this, 1/3rd of the population using social networking sites have fallen victim to the scams on such sites.
The major reasons behind most attacks through social platforms are:
1/3rd of the users don't log out from one session1/5th among the users don't check the link before clicking on it1/6th people aren't aware about their privacy settings, and lastlyLess than half don't use any security measures to protect their accounts.Apart from these issues, 36% users accept friend requests from strangers, increasing their vulnerabilities.
What can be done?
Social sites are taking a toll on our personal lives. Numbers say 16% would end a relationship, as a reason of something they didn't like about the person online. Hence being on your marks and taking measures to ensure good privacy settings is helpful. Measures like deleting suspicious mails/comments/links, use a basic anti-virus, avoid opening attachments from unknown senders, and so on; can be highly useful.
Take pro-active steps to secure you personal data online. If you won't; no one would. If something is too good to believe, then you may be right; I am talking about advertisements and applications appearing on social sites, which trick users, with lucrative statements and promises. Be on your guard by staying informed. Use strong passwords, and make it a habit to change them often. Efforts taken by you to protect your data will surely increase the difficulty levels for criminals to attack you. Fear of attacks should never deprive anyone of the huge benefits of using internet through mobile devices and networking socially. Hence ensure security measures and reap the benefits to your fullest.
Note: Majority of figures/statistics used in this article are from 2012 Norton Cybercrime Report
Talking about solutions, to such Cyber-crime attacks, Cyberoam Unified Threat Management appliances offer comprehensive security to small, medium and large enterprises through multiple security features integrated over a single platform. It is the first UTM that embeds user identity in the firewall rule matching criteria, offering instant visibility and proactive controls over security breaches and eliminating dependence on IP Addresses. Its, Layer 8 [Identity-based security] Technology platform makes security simple, yet highly effective. Cyberoam, with its Extensible Security Architecture (ESA) and multi-core technology carries the ability to combat future threats for organizations' security. To read more about Cyberoam and the solutions it offers, visit http://www.cyberoam.com/
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