Cyber Crime - Hacking the youth

CYBER CRIME
The internet, which once opened its doors to a wide array of knowledge and education, is now paving way for misleading the youth. The upcoming number of net cafes and internet surfing that can be availed for the price of pizza are haunting our children’s precious time and brain.
In this era of increased crime and mischaps, internet forms vast sources of criminal opportunities. The internet space is called as cyber space. Simply, cyber crime is an evil having its origin in the growing dependence on computers is modern life. In a day and age when everything from microwave ovens and refrigerators to nuclear power plans is being run on computers, cyber crime has assumed rather problematic implications.
Every time you buy stuff online, do your banking or pay bills over the internet, check in with your office by e-mail or just surf the web for fun, it may be a gateway opening for a cyber crime.
The cyber crime mainly is misunderstood only by the term ‘web pornography’. But, the cyber crime is spreading over its hands more wide in different fields. ‘Hacking’, an illegal intrusion into a computer system or network is used for personal monetary gains such as stealing the credit card information etc.
Child pornography in internet is highly used by its abusers to reach and abuse children, sexually, worldwide. The very fast spread of internet as a household community has made the children a victim to the cyber crime. Another cyber crime is cyber stalking in which repeated harassment or threatening behavior of cyber criminals towards the victim by using internet service. Cyber stalking can include making harassing phone calls, killing the victim’s pet, leaving written messages or objects etc.
As the software companies are booming up, software piracy is also increasing. The software is stealed through the illegal copying of genuine programs. Chat rooms also make platform for the cyber crime to take place. IRCS (Internet Relay Chat) servers have chat rooms in which people from anywhere can come together and chat with each other. Many cheatings can happen in a chat room. In addition, credit card fraud, net extortion, copying a company’s confidential data for huge amount etc are serious cyber crimes that prevail in the present situation.
Cyber crime also shows its authencity over friendship communities. When the friendship communities like orkut, hi5, mingle box etc open the chances of unlimited friendship, it sometimes mould up cyber criminals. A cyber crime was registered in Mumbai, about the murder of a young software engineer by her ‘orkut lover’ in a hotel. This incident peels off the community crimes.
A computer user who is an internet addict can gradually change into a computer maniac. Later as internet crawls up like drugs, in the brain, the chances for the creation of cyber criminals increases. Thus when traveling through the virtual world of internet surfing, one must be sure of the hidden traps and the dangers that may come across. It should be the intelligence and knowledge that is to be used for not getting in cyber crime would and not to turn as a ‘cyber crime victim’.
E-Security tips for students:-
* As a global store house, use internet to increase your knowledge
* Respect the privacy on the net
* Be careful about talking to strangers on a chat room
* Never try to misuse other’s e-mail or pass word
* Be careful about the programs and information while downloading
* Don’t get trapped in on-line gambling and free prizes
* Do not give your password to anybody