What is Cybercrime? 

Cybercrime is a term that refers to all criminal activity perpetrated using computers and the internet. It includes crimes like hacking, phishing, identity theft, and more. 

The term cybercrime was first coined in the late 1980s by William Gibson in his novel “Neuromancer”. He used it to refer to crimes committed by people who used computers and networks for their activities. 

In today’s world, cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated than ever before, and they are becoming harder to catch. Cybercrimes are an ever-present threat to the public. They can be committed by anyone, anywhere, and at any time. To protect ourselves from cyberattacks, we need to have a good understanding of the different types of cybercrimes that exist and how to prevent them. 

What are the Most Common Types of Cybercrime? 

The most common types of cybercrimes are phishing, ransomware, and data breaches.

Phishing is a type of online fraud in which the perpetrator tries to steal personal information from unsuspecting users by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an email or a text message. 

Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts data on a computer and demands ransom payments in order to decrypt it. 

A data breach is when confidential customer information such as passwords, financial information, or other sensitive documents are stolen by hackers. 

Motives of Cybercrime 

Some types of cybercrimes are conducted against particular devices or systems in order to injure or disable them, whereas the bulk of cybercrimes is performed in order to generate income for the offenders. Others use computers and networks to disseminate viruses, sensitive information, photos, or other types of data. Some cybercrimes carry out both of these actions; they target computers in order to contaminate them with a virus, which is subsequently transferred to more machines and, occasionally, whole networks.  

Financial loss is one of cybercrime's main effects. Ransomware assaults, email and internet fraud, identity fraud, as well as efforts to acquire bank assets, credit cards, or other payment information, are just a few examples of the numerous profit-driven criminal activities that can be classified as cybercrime. 

Private information about a person or company data may be targeted by cybercriminals for theft and sales.  

Due to the pandemic's widespread remote work practices, it will be more crucial than ever to preserve backup data in 2022 as cybercrimes are predicted to increase in regularity. 

Distinct Forms of Cybercrime

There are many distinct kinds of cybercrime, as was already explained. Although the means by which cybercriminals want to be compensated might vary, the majority of cybercrimes are committed with the purpose of earning benefits from the attackers. The following are some distinct forms of cybercrimes:  

• Cyberextortion: committing a crime that involves an assault or threat of an assault along with a monetary demand to put a halt to the attack. The use of ransomware is one type of cyberextortion. Here, the hacker accesses a company's networks and encrypts any potentially valuable papers and files, rendering the information unavailable until a ransom payment is made. Typically, this takes the form of a cryptocurrency like bitcoin.  
• Cryptojacking: an assault that uses programs to secretly mine bitcoin within users' browsers. A cryptojacking attack may involve installing bitcoin mining software on the victim's computer. However, many attacks employ Javascript to conduct in-browser mining while a user has a page or window open in their browser that is pointed at a malicious website. No malware has to be installed because the in-browser mining code is activated when the affected website loads. 
• Identity theft: a cyberattack that takes place when someone gains access to a computer to collect personal data from a user in order to steal their identity or get access to their valued accounts, including banking and credit cards, or both. On darknet marketplaces, cybercriminals purchase and sell identification information in exchange for financial accounts and other sorts of accounts, including webmail, streaming video and audio, online auctions, and others. Identity thieves also frequently target personal health information.  
• Credit card fraud: a cyberattack that takes place when hackers get into merchants' networks to obtain consumers' financial and/or credit card information. Darknet marketplaces allow for the wholesale purchase and sale of stolen payment cards, which hacking organizations may benefit from by selling to lesser cybercriminals who use the cards to commit individual account credit card fraud.  
• Cyberespionage: a cybercrime when a hacker infiltrates networks or systems to access private data kept by a state or other institution. Attacks may be sparked by ideology or monetary gain. Cyberespionage activities can involve any kind of cyberattack to collect, modify, or destroy data, as well as the use of internet devices, like video cameras or closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras, to eavesdrop on a targeted person or group, and surveil communications, including emails, text messages, and instant messages.  
• Software piracy: a cyberattack including the unauthorized duplication, dissemination, and use of software for either personal or commercial purposes. This kind of cybercrime is frequently accompanied by trademark violations, copyright infringements, and patent violations.  
• Exit scam: unsurprisingly, the exit scam, a traditional crime, has a digital iteration thanks to the dark web. In its current form, dark web admins steal from other criminals by diverting virtual cash from marketplaces escrow funds to their own accounts. 

How Lumifi Can Help

A proactive approach is the best defense, and that's where Lumifi shines. Lumifi runs thousands of simulated attacks on your network and endpoint environment to identify actual security vulnerabilities before cybercriminals can compromise your system. Utilizing our next-gen MDR services, we always stay on top of your cybersecurity, so you can focus on what matters most.