Portfolio Entry 12

How does cyber technology impact interactions between offenders and victims?

Now that we live in an age where computers are a primary tool used by everyone, a colossal rise in cyber crime has also come to light. Fraud, theft, and even destruction of companies can occur when an attacker commits a cyber crime. This is where the need for cyber security specialist become crucial.

Interactions between offenders and victims are pretty similar to real life. The affects of being scammed out of banking information through phone calls and online leave the same feeling of betrayal and helplessness as if the victim were tricked out of money in a pyramid scheme. Same thing with asset destruction, if someone manages to get a virus into your computer and destroy it, it would be no different than if your car was vandalized. The key difference between real life crime and cyber crime is that one takes place in real life, and one takes place online. Teaching people how to be safe online is critical to being able to surf the web and take care of errands that require a computer.

While tracking an online scammer is trickier than tracking down a real life scammer, it isn’t impossible. However, being online and having methods of hiding your location and maintaining anonymity is definitely something that plays in the favor of the offender. Again, it is not impossible to be able to find someone online, even through their methods of remaining anonymous, but it is harder especially if they are in another country which is very common depending on where the victim is from.

While cyber terrorists are something that every internet user should be wary of, it does not mean they should never login online. Everyone should educate themselves on how to keep themselves and possibly others safe, and learn from experience how to use the internet without fear.