1.0 Introduction

The Internet is a slippery ground where one can fall easily should they tread without security caution. It has been made slippery by the rate at which cybercrime is happening. Cybercrime is a threat more significant than before since most of the people are connected to the internet via laptops, phones, and other network devices. Cybercrime is a profitable business being done by those that have technological skills to access the bank account details, steal identities, harass and even destroy devices remotely (Halder et al., p. n.pag). Before listing the types of cyber crimes, it is imperative to define the term for better understanding.

Cybercrimes are the criminal activities that primarily occur on the internet and are done targeting computer networks or devices. Some of the personal cybercrimes that will constitute this paper include phishing, pharming, clickjacking and malicious scripts[1]. Although such criminal activities happen, it is imperative to also outline the methods of protection against them (Janczewski, p. npag). Therefore, the paper will focus on the description of such cybercrimes and the ways of protecting oneself against them.

2.0 Phishing

This is a type of cybercrime that is categorized as a social engineering attack with the aim of stealing the user’s data such as login and credit card details. This attack happens when the hacker camouflage as a trusted entity and lures the victim into opening a mail or a message. By so doing, the convinced user clicks on the link. The link once clicked may lead to the installation of the malware, revealing sensitive information or freezing the system (Halder et al, p. npag). The results of successful phishing could be detrimental. It might be stealing of funds or identity or even making unauthorized purchases. Whenever such an attack rocks an organization, it might lead to loss of finances, reputation and decline of the market share as well as the loss of consumer trust.

Phishing manifests itself in various forms. The most common is the email phishing scam. This involves the distribution of mails to many people; the message mimics the actual emails from a spoofed organization. The message is designed in such as a way it appears legitimate. Along the message is the link that targets the details of the users. Additionally, spear phishing is a more in-depth phishing approach that targets a specific person or an enterprise.

In order to protect oneself from phishing, the most common method is the application of two-factor authentication (2FA) that requires an extra verification when logging in to sensitive applications (Saini et al., p. npag). Apart from the correct username and password, the 2FA may require phone verification. It is also imperative to take care of opening emails from senders that seem unfamiliar. Should such an email is opened; the user should never click links without keen scrutiny of the URL.

3.0 Clickjacking

It’s a cybercrime that occurs whenever the web user is tricked into performing an action they didn’t intend and renders an invisible page element on top of the action the user thinks they are performing. Clickjacking could be helpful to a hacker to spread malware through diversion of users into malicious links. One can also lose their login details as well as offering an opportunity for promotion of the online scams. Since the attack wraps a page, the user trusts in an iframe (Saini et al., p. npag), the protection measure against the attack is to ensure that the page cannot be wrapped in an iframe by a malicious site[2]This is made possible by instructing the browser via HTTP headers or using frame-killing.

4.0 Pharming

Similar to phishing except that it’s the manipulation of the legitimate web traffic that is directed to users with the intention of either installing malicious software or harvesting of the personal data. It manifests itself in two significant ways. First, the hacker tries to install malware or virus into the computer and the virus direct the computer into the target website. Secondly, the DNS server is poisoned, and any attempt to a legitimate website is thwarted to a fake one (Janczewski, p. npag). An online user can protect themselves against pharming by either checking the URL of the website they click to ensure its correct as well as use the security software to ensure that the sites being visited are trustworthy.

5.0 Malicious Scripts

These are codes that are hidden in the websites whose security have been compromised. They are dangerous baits that hook the internet users who are not curious about the sites they are visiting. These codes are executed on the systems of the user. The execution of the code is automatic since it has much to do with the permissions that are granted during the configuration of the system.

The first thing an internet user is supposed to be aware of is that no website is purely secure. Therefore, surfing on the internet should always be backed up by some protection. Updating of the operating systems and the application is essential in combat against the malicious scripts. However, sometimes it is difficult to adequately protect the system against such scripts (Saini et al, p. npag).

From the discussion above, some of the techniques that are applied in the cybercrimes have been explored. The paper has also outlined some of the ways to protect oneself from either of the highlighted cybercrimes.

6.0 Work cited

Halder, Debarati, Karuppannan Jaishankar, and K. Jaishankar. Cybercrime and the victimization of women: Laws, rights and regulations. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2012.

Saini, Hemraj, Yerra Shankar Rao, and T. C. Panda. “Cyber-crimes and their impacts: A review.” International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications 2.2 (2012): 202-209.

Janczewski, Lech, ed. Cyber warfare and cyber terrorism. IGI Global, 2007.

1. Halder, Debarati, Karuppannan Jaishankar, and K. Jaishankar. Cybercrime and the victimization of women: Laws, rights and regulations. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2012.

2. Saini, Hemraj, Yerra Shankar Rao, and T. C. Panda. “Cyber-crimes and their impacts: A review.” International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications2 (2012): 202-209.