Internet Crime

Internet crime poses threats on our social life producing problems that are hard for the users to combat. Trojan horses are capable of extracting vital information about users, email groups, and personnel information such as social security numbers, this data can be collected, and then sold to many different corporations.  In my opinion, the worst internet crime is identity theft. The fact that a person can steal your information and use it to their benefit such as credit cards, credit ratings, thus charged merchandise makes it hard for everyday people to trust corporations located on the internet.   Information leaks such as the Sony Play Stations database being hacked for online gamers and government facilities being hacked for information makes it hard to transfer information from one place to another.

Internet fraud is the number two worst crime known to the internet. The fact that a person who is selling merchandise on the internet can be located anywhere in the world makes buying items a hassle because the rules for other countries do not protect the consumers’ best interest as well as the United States, if a company from overseas takes your money for merchandise  and never sends the product it is  heart breaking considering how far we have come with internet sales.  Frauds such as being told to cash a check that will be sent to you but is actually counter fit or being offered help in repairing credit scores and having your information stolen from you makes people weary of who to trust on the internet.  Feeling safe to use the internet to buy goods and communicate using email is a large part of our everyday lives, the internet makes it easier for people to complete everyday tasks. With the fast growing issues of Trojans horses and other information stealing software, we have to be extra careful of what types of web sites we use and who we trust.

References:

FBI (2011) IC3 Program, International Mass Market Fraud from source:  http://www.ic3.gov/media/MassMarketFraud.pdf

Lo, Joseph (2-5-2006) Trojan Horse Attack from source: http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/security/trojan.html