Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Internet effects on society
Impact of the Internet in our society
The problem of rising cyber crimes
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Internet effects on society
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of the Internet, as a result of greater amounts of online information and knowledge, commerce, entertainment and social networking. According to the Global Village (2014), in 2014, 40.7% of the world’s population uses the Internet in contrast to 20% in 2007. However, as the rate of Internet use increases so do the rate of cybercrimes, that is, crimes committed via the Internet. A report by Norton, an antivirus software maker, in 2012 found that about 431million adults experienced cybercrime per year in 24 countries. The report also found that 69% of adults have experienced cybercrime in their lifetime and there has been a 3% rise in overall cybercrime compared to the 2010 survey. This essay will argue that legal and illegal access to personal information has resulted in an increase in the number of crimes committed, both online and offline.
Many cybercrimes, that is crimes committed online, continue to flourish because people unintentionally or carelessly leave sensitive information online. Cybercriminals are provided with new areas to exploit as well as new areas for recruitment as a result of the proliferation of social networking websites (Rush et al., 2009). There are many types of cybercrimes committed including fraud and scam, identity theft and also hacking via computer viruses or malware. A significant number of people become victims of online fraud and scam as a result of their lack of information about it and also through the process of sharing personal information. Frauds and scams usually involve deception so as to procure unlawful gain, most especially after trust is gained. In the UK alone, credit card fraud is estimated to have reached over £500 mill...
... middle of paper ...
...ts.com/emarketing.htm [Accessed 15 May 2014]
• National White Collar Crime Center (2011). Criminal use of social media. [online]. Available at:
[Accessed 15 May 2014].
• Norton (2012). Cybercrime Report. [online]. Available at: [Accessed on 16 May 2014].
• Rush H., et al. (2009).Crime Online: Cybercrime and illegal innovation. UK: Nesta.
• Shaw E., (2013) How To Avoid Falling Victim To Online ID Fraudsters. The Independent [online]. Available at: [Accessed 21 May 2014].
• Wolak J., et al. (2009). Online “Predators” and Their Victims: Myths, Realities, and Implications for Prevention and Treatment. American Psychologist, 2008;63, 116-118
Identity theft is a term used for describing criminal that uses individual’s identity without consent. A common crime of identity theft would be identity fraud. Many of the crimes are regularly connected with money-related issues (Reyns, 2013). With technology being commonly used nowadays we are getting more dependent on it for business, financial, medical, and other forms. As a result this became a target for identity thieves as well. The Internet provides us information and accessibility, but information being stored on the Internet eas...
Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K. J., & Ybarra, M. L. (2008). Online “Predators” and their Victims: Myths, Realities and Implications for Prevention and Treatment. American Psychologist, 63. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/Am%20Psy%202-08.pdf
Technology has opened new encounters and opportunities for the criminal justice system. There are so many new practices of criminal activity, such as computer crimes. There are different types of computer crimes that many people become victims of every day. Computer crime is any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target ("Computer Crime: Chapter 2: What Are the Crimes?", n.d.). Crimes such as data diddling, pump and dump, social engineering and spoofing are computer crimes. Even though these crimes are difficult by privacy issues, the new technology has made investigations and prosecutions well organized and effective. Though views are different on the pros and cons of specific technological changes in the criminal justice system, there is an agreement the system has changed affectedly ("Effects of Technology in Criminal Justice | eHow", n.d.).
The increasing widespread adoption of computers in society has led to numerous computer-related crimes. Some of these crimes are ‘pre-computer’ crimes that existed before the advent of computers such as embezzlement, fraud or threats while others are completely ‘modern technology’ crimes that began with the introduction of computers such as hacking, viruses, phishing, denial of service and many more. This paper gives a general overview of what cybercrimes or computer related crimes are and then proceeds to discuss whether we have adequate legal tools and resources to investigate and prosecute these crimes. 1. What is the difference between a. and a. Introduction Cybercrimes or computer-related crimes are crimes that involve a computer and a network (Moore, 2005).
In addition, society is seeing an increase of online scams, which speaks to the need and importance of cyber security. The FBI, Consumer Reports, and Federal Trade Commission have all released reports or warnings regarding online scams to avoid. As technology advances, there are more opportunities for scam artists to manipulate individuals. This is a negative aspect of the trend, but unavoidable. It is unfortunate that that cyber-attacks and data breaches are relevant, and of real danger.
In today’s society technology is used for everything. With the invention of computers and the internet this open doors to the cyber world. Today you can do almost anything without having to leave your home. The internet gives us the opportunity of shopping online, ordering food online, working from home and video chatting with friends and family across the world. Everyone has a computer and internet access in their homes. While the internet is really convenient it also opens doors for cybercrimes, loss of privacy and the need for computer security.
The 90's internet boom gave rise to new ways of writing in through access to cyberspace. What used to be printed or handwritten on physical surfaces such as paper, cardboard, or bulletin boards has changed to 0's and 1's, bits and bytes of digitized information that can be displayed thru the projections of computer screens. Moreover, the internet has made the process of publishing one's works, writing letters, or chatting with one another much easier and convenient for everyone around the globe. The internet became a universal tool, giving much freedom and flexibility to the users; it gave them opportunity to deliver their thoughts with little or no restrictions. Since it's impossible to regulate all cyber-activities, internet users are often unrestricted by the normal laws or authorities that would set boundaries around the various online transactions. More importantly, the fact that a net user can take on different identities in cyberspace brings about several ethical and social issues. These anonymous and unrestrictive characteristics of cyberspace often permite abusive users to easily involve themselves in serious cybercrimes such as cyberstalking, cyber-rape, and cyber-harassment through chatting services, emails, cyber communities, and other online communication.
These cyber criminals often sit and scroll down their computer screen while anxiously observing and drooling over who their next prey will be; moreover, online predators with illegitimate intentions, often give false details on their personal lives. Numerous amounts of online daters dissimulate their true motives and are often exceptionally deceptive on their age, profile pictures, career and even their relationship status. In this society, the number of online sex offenders is steadily increasing. Another world wide social issue that technology has opened a door for is online hackers. Hackers frequently hunt down vulnerable individuals, who are open to sharing their personal information. They profess emotions to deceive their victim to gain access to the individual’s personal
Today in present, with the improvements in technology and science new concepts are integrated in our lives. Cyber crime is among those concepts that did not exist 15 to 20 years ago. In the old days only conventional crime was discussed, which refers to those traditional, illegal behaviors that most people think of as crime. In today one has to be careful not only against conventional crime but also cybercrime also known as “faceless crime” it’s the latest and the most complicated problem in the new century. Cybercrime consists of all criminal actions against communication devices in a network such as Internet, telephone lines or mobile network. Cyber crime can be observed among people at various age groups as it is easier to commit compared to other types of crime like murder, kidnapping or human trafficking.
In today's society, many aspects of crime committed on a regular basis. Civilians take advantage of people all the time using online resources such as a fraudulent website requiring credit card information to get a free monthly trial. Other examples of cyber crimes are online chatting website, full of predators or websites needing a downloadable program that contains a hacking virus. Sadly, there are many cases of cyber crime all over the internet. The acts of cyber crimes are considered violent acts like any other. Every day citizens are constantly losing money and being victimized due to these fraudulent activities. Cyber crime, including fraud, identity theft, stalking, and hacking, is a growing problem which can be prevented by taking the proper precautions.
The Internet is a connection of computers across the world through a network. Its origin dates back to the 1960s when the U.S Military used it for research, but it became more available to the public from the late 1980s. The World Wide Web was created in 1989 and browsers began appearing in the early 1990s. Over the last 24 years, the Internet has enabled people to shop, play, do research, communicate and conduct business online. It has also become cheaper and faster in performing different tasks. As much as the Internet has done immeasurable good to society, it has also dominated people’s lives and brought with it an array of cybercrimes. According to Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way we Think, Read and Remember (Carr, 2010). He debates on whether the Internet has done more harm than good. People use the Internet daily to exchange accurate information and constantly personal data such as credit cards, passwords and Social Security numbers are travelling through the network from one computer to another. With security measures put in place on the Internet, personal information remains confidential. But unfortunately, criminals have adapted to innovations in technology, and today, more people are increasingly becoming victims of cybercrime. The Internet has had profound effects on the public, both positive and negative. In this paper we will examine how access to personal information has led to an increase in online and offline crimes. The essay will particularly focus on ecommerce and hacking.
These types of crimes have become a matter of importance for the consumers as well the business firms because it involves large eviction of the amount in terms of money. In these types of crimes, computer and Internet are the primary factor (Spinello, 2000). A high percentage of population is using computers in the Australia, United States as well as other developed nations. These people are much more connected with the world by the use of internet. They are using the computer for fun, business, e-commerce, e-marketing, etc.; thus, it has become an essential part of life and daily routine (Wall, 2008).
Millions of people around the world use computers and the internet every day. We all use it in school, work even at home, computers have made us life easier, it has brought so many benefits to the society but it has also brought some problems and cybercrimes is one of them. “The times have really changed,” said Greg Garcia, the department’s assistant secretary for cyber security and communications. “We’re seeing now phishing, farming, botnets … war dialing and domain server spoofing. And we’re seeing coordinated cyber-attacks against nation states.” (Fowler 5) Cybercrime is one of the most prevalent and most popular rising crimes being committed today. This is criminal activity done using computers and the Internet. There are millions victims around the world everyday who face these problems. Most people become victims of these at one time or another, but there are ways to avoid or deal with cybercrime by protecting yourself appropriately. I also was one of those victims who faced a similar problem. This unfortunate truth forces me to understand that computers and the Internet have made our lives easier in many ways. However, it is unfortunate that people also use these technologies to take advantage of others through identity theft, hacking attempts, and malicious use of software.
squad in San Jose, California, calls the Internet "the unlocked window in cyberspace through which thieves crawl" (Erickson 1). There seems to be an unlimited potential for theft of credit card numbers, bank statements and other financial and personal information transmitted over the Internet.
Cybercrime is a global issue plaguing the world. The dictionary defines cybercrime as “crime conducted via the Internet or some other computer network”(Merriam-Webster). The definition remains very broad because the word “cyber” is defined as “relating to the culture of computers, information technology, and virtual reality.” Due to the growing number of people gaining access to the internet, rapid development of technology, and the globalization of the world, more of the world population is becoming susceptible to involvement in cybercrime – whether it be as a victim or a criminal. Cybercrime involves different levels of the world on both the victim and criminal side, from an individual citizen, to small groups, businesses, and the government, to the countries of the world.