The Internet is a major cause of cybercrimes, as too much information can be accessed by anyone. It has been a boon to the tech-savvy generation, but there are always other sides. While information, services, goods, etc. With just a few clicks, people can access information, services, interests, etc. Cybercrime is a broad term that includes a variety of crimes where hackers/fraudsters target victims in different ways, such as their reputation, finances, businesses, etc. A cybercrime lawyer can help you if you are a victim in India of one of these types of cybercrimes. In the article below, you will learn about the different types of cybercrime and how to avoid them.

What is a cybercrime in India?

Cybercrime is the illegal use of electronic devices in cyberspace. Information and Technology Act 2000 has several provisions that deal with cybercrimes. The device may be used as a weapon or target to commit crimes elsewhere. Cybercrime can be directed at individuals, groups, or governments. Cybercriminals are highly skilled individuals who use their devices to harm another device for profit or other purposes.

Cybercrime Types

Knowing the target of online attacks is important before tackling the ten types. Cyber attacks are often not considered serious by people who do not hold any sensitive information. In the modern age of technology, when everyone has access to their bank accounts via the Internet and can lose this information, it could be a big problem. Below are some of the most common cybercrime attacks that affect users.

Theft of Personal Information: When someone steals information such as usernames, passwords, OTP codes, PIN codes, or personal photos or videos, the owner is left vulnerable both financially and socially.

Use of Devices for Illegal Activities: If someone has access to your device, they can do anything illegal. The authorities can track you if they find out about such activities since the proxy addresses/other links indicate the original users. Meanwhile, hackers are playing their tricks miles away.

Financial Fraud: In the world of Internet banking, giving someone else access to your account number, OTP, or other confidential information is an invitation for fraudsters. They can empty your account.

Web Services Interrupted – A hacker sitting thousands of miles away could disrupt the smooth running of a website. It can affect the services provided by such websites or the brand that has been built over the years.

Cybercrime: 10 types

Below are some cybercrimes that have been reported in India and are repeated. Understanding the context is easier if you read a few examples of different types of cybercrimes.

Phishing

Phishing is when a spam email contains unauthorized URLs or attachments that lure the user to open them. This act is designed to trick users or organizations into divulging personal information. Some may have been flagged, but the majority of them don’t show any signs of malpractice.

Cybercriminals may not harm the device directly. Still, they may cause financial losses to the user through the sharing of credentials, data loss as a result of website access, identity theft, etc. Lawyers who specialize in mail fraud can help you if you have been a victim of email phishing. They will explain the legality as well as how to protect your confidential information.

Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when someone impersonates an original user. Cybercriminals steal personal information from users to use fraudulently.

Someone posted the other day on social media about receiving an email from their boss asking for a large amount to be transferred into a client account. She shared the money without verifying it and became a victim of financial fraud due to identity theft. Identity theft is evident in this case.

Social Engineering

Social engineering is used to describe malicious internet activities that have a personal touch. In order to trick users into sharing confidential information, they use psychological tricks by impersonating a government official. In India, Credit Card Fraud usually occurs in the same way. Someone calls and pretends to be an official from a bank, asking the user to give the one-time password they received on their phone to protect their financial interests, bank accounts, etc.

Denial of Service

Many websites offer services to their clients online. The services may be affected if the website is not functioning properly. This is the way denial-of-service (DoS) works. Fraudsters flood the website with traffic involving online networks. This disrupts the service. The attack can be distributed by using compromised computers and is called Distributed Denial of Services.

Ransomware

Ransom money is what happens when someone illegally takes possession of a person or a property in order to threaten others and then demands financial rewards for saving their interests. Ransomware is a type of cybercrime where fraudsters steal confidential or personal data and threaten to delete or misuse it unless users pay a certain amount in order to access or safeguard the information. Cybercriminals often extort their victims by locking information and demanding cryptocurrency.

Malware Attacks

It is possible to track people using smartphones that have internet connections. This can be done for their location, their web searches, their usernames and passwords typed into their device, or through webcams. Sometimes, this tracking could be legal due to application permissions. Other times, however, it might not be informed to the user and pose a serious risk to confidential data. Malware attacks are a form of uninformed behavior on devices that can lead to financial fraud and other threats. Individuals, large organizations, or government departments could be the targets.

Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking is when someone stalks another on social media sites, search engines, or online websites and sends them a multitude of messages or emails that threaten their safety. Cyberstalking can lead to sextortion in which the victim is threatened with personal photos or videos or asked for money or sexual advances. Cyberstalking can lead to cyberbullying, which could be a permanent danger to mental and physical health.

Web Jacking

Digital marketing has become the norm, and businesses are now launching their websites. The more traffic to a website, the more people know about your brand/product/service. What if someone steals your traffic using malware? Webjacking is one of the most serious cybercrimes. This could be accomplished by maliciously gaining access to the URL and tampering with the Domain Name System to redirect users to a different webpage.

Botnets

Botnets are networks of compromised computers that an external group controls. Hackers can use this malware to perform malicious actions over the Internet or attack other devices.

Prohibited Content

Internet content that is prohibited can be shared by someone who shares offensive content or information. These prohibited contents can include sexual content, child pornography and violent images/videos.