As it says, the good things grow the bad things grow with it too. As w.k.t Technology proliferation happens in the last five decades from late 1970 to 2021, especially in the computer, networking, or internet. With technology evolution, the rate of cybercrime is on the rise. 

What is cybercrime?

The word "cyber" means relating to or characteristic of the culture of computers, information technology, and virtual reality.

Cybercrime, or computer crime, is a 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. Cybercrime may harm someone's security and financial health. (~wikipedia~)

The global cyber threat continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with a rising number of data breaches each year. A report by RiskBased Security revealed that a shocking 7.9 billion records have been exposed by data breaches in the first nine months of 2019 alone. This figure is more than double (112%) the number of records exposed in the same period in 2018.

According to the analytical report of Specops Software in Visualcapitalist, how much cybercrime affecting the work is down below in the picture.

Here in this report, we can clearly see that India is among the top 3 in cyberattacks after the US and UK.

India has seen a 37 percent increase in cyberattacks in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, as compared to the fourth quarter (Q4) of last year. On average India sees 375 cyberattacks every day, the report says.

History of cybercrime :

• The exact origin of cybercrime, the very first instance in which someone committed a crime across a computer network, is impossible to know.
• The first case of use of computer for theft was in 1973, a teller at a local New York bank used a computer to embezzle over 2 million dollars.
• The first spam email took place in the year 1978.
• The first virus was installed on Apple Computer in the year 1982.
• IN 1981, Ian Murphy, known as Captain zap to his fans was the first person convicted of a cybercrime.
  • He hacked into the AT&T network and changed the internal clock to charge off-hours rates at peak times.
  • He received 1,000 hours of community service and 2.5 years of probation, a mere slap on the wrist compared to today's penalties, and was the inspiration for the movie Sneakers.

List of cybercrime:

• Hacking
• Credit Card Fraud
• Cyber Terrorism
• Virus Dissemination
• Spoofing
• Software Piracy
• Computer Vandalism
• Cyberextortion
• Cybersex trafficking
• Online harassment
• Spam Emails

what are the top 5 cybercrime attacks affecting businesses and individuals in 2021:

1. Phishing Scams

The majority of successful cyberattacks – 91% according to a study by PhishMe – begin when curiosity, fear, or a sense of urgency entices someone to enter personal data or click on a link. 

Phishing emails mimic messages from someone you know or a business that you trust. They are designed to trick people into giving up personal information or clicking on a malicious link that downloads malware. Thousands of phishing attacks are launched every day. 

2. Website Spoofing

The word spoof means to hoax, trick, or deceive. Website spoofing is when a website is designed to look like a real one and deceive you into believing it is a legitimate site. This is done to gain your confidence, get access to your systems, steal data, steal money, or spread malware. 

Website spoofing works by replicating a legitimate website with a big company’s style, branding, user interface, and even domain name in an attempt to trick users into entering their usernames and passwords. This is how the bad guys capture your data or drop malware onto your computer. 

3. Ransomware 

Ransomware is a modern day, technical twist on a crime that has been around for ages – extortion. At its core, ransomware works when criminals steal something of great value and demand payment in exchange for its return. For most businesses, this involves the encryption of company data. When ransomware hits, businesses come to a standstill, and employees cannot do their jobs. 

McAfee reported that new ransomware attacks grew 118% between 2018 and 2019. 

4. Malware

Norton defines malware as “malicious software” specifically designed to gain access to or damage a computer. In the case of ransomware, it’s designed to hold your data hostage, but that isn’t the only kind. There can be multiple objectives for malware – power, influence, money, information – but the result is always the same – a time consuming, often expensive recovery effort.

Common types of malware include:

• Viruses that spread, damage functionality, and corrupt files
• Trojans disguised as legitimate software that quietly create backdoors to let other malware into your network
• Worms that can infect all of the devices connected to a network
• Ransomware that holds your data hostage
• Botnets – a network of infected devices that work together under the control of an attacker.

5. IOT Hacking

The Internet of Things is a brave new world that has opened insights into our daily routines and our business processes to the web. Whether we like it or not, all of these internet-connected objects are collecting and exchanging data. As you know, data is valuable and for that reason, hackers will look to exploit any devices that aggregate it.

The more “things” we connect – the juicier the reward becomes for hackers. That’s why it’s important to remember that personal passwords and business passwords all belong to humans… with memories that we know are going to let us down from time to time.

Recent cyber attacks in India:

• India's national airline Air India has said a cyber-attack on its data servers affected about 4.5 million customers around the world.

The breach was first reported to the company in February. Details including passport and ticket information as well as credit card data were compromised.

But Air India said security details for credit cards - CVV or CVC numbers - were not stored on the server targeted.

The airline, a member of the Star Alliance network, said the breach involved all information registered between 26 August 2011 and 20 February 2021.

• Global restaurant guide Zomato says hackers have stolen data from about 17 million users.

Zomato is based in Gurgaon near Delhi and is active in 10,000 cities, including London and New York, across 24 countries around the world.

The Indian firm, which uses a digital platform to provide information, said it had "recently" discovered that 17 million email addresses and hashed passwords had been stolen from its database. More than 120 million users visit Zomato

Payment-related information is safe as it was stored separately, Zomato said.

Zomato had reset the passwords of affected users and logged them out of the app and the website.

• UIDAI Aadhaar Software Hacked

1.1 billion Indian Aadhaar card details were leaked and this is one of the massive data breaches that happened in 2018.UIDAI released the official notification about this data breach and mentioned that around 210 Indian Government websites were hacked.

Aadhaar Software Hacked: This data breach included Aadhar, PAN, bank account IFSC codes, and other personal information of the users and anonymous sellers were selling Aadhaar information for Rs. 500 over Whatsapp. Also, one could get an Aadhaar card printout for just Rs.300. 

In order to control all this we need to strengthen our cybersecurity.

What is cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is the practice of defending computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks. It's also known as information technology security or electronic information security. The term applies in a variety of contexts, from business to mobile computing, and can be divided into a few common categories.

• Network security is the practice of securing a computer network from intruders, whether targeted attackers or opportunistic malware.
• Application security focuses on keeping software and devices free of threats. A compromised application could provide access to the data it's designed to protect. Successful security begins in the design stage, well before a program or device is deployed.
• Information security protects the integrity and privacy of data, both in storage and in transit.
• Operational security includes the processes and decisions for handling and protecting data assets. The permissions users have when accessing a network and the procedures that determine how and where data may be stored or shared all fall under this umbrella.
• Disaster recovery and business continuity define how an organization responds to a cyber-security incident or any other event that causes the loss of operations or data. Disaster recovery policies dictate how the organization restores its operations and information to return to the same operating capacity as before the event. Business continuity is the plan the organization falls back on while trying to operate without certain resources.
• End-user education addresses the most unpredictable cyber-security factor: people. Anyone can accidentally introduce a virus to an otherwise secure system by failing to follow good security practices. Teaching users to delete suspicious email attachments, not plug in unidentified USB drives, and various other important lessons are vital for the security of any organization.

Cybersecurity Laws in India:

• Information and Technology Act, 2000 (also known as Indian Cyber Act)
• Information and Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (ITAA)
• National Cyber-security strategy. 2020
• Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative
• Cyber Swacchta Kandra in India is a Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre, Operated by Indian Computer Emergency Team, Under the MEIT(Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology).