Cybercrime

As the communication medium that has had the fastest penetration rate since it’s inception, it is no surprise that a few scrupulous individuals would take advantage of this to further their own means.

The first virus can be traced back to the early days of ARPAnet when a experimental self-replicating program was written to test if a program could be spread by itself. But before the days the Internet grew widespread, virus were usually contained on bootleg or shareware programs, usually on floppy discs or tapes. Now as more and more computers were connected via a telephone line, viruses now had a new to spread themselves. Most programs usually hitch on illegal programs or are hidden in the codes of cookies. Without a proper anti-Virus program like Mac Affee or Norton, it is not difficult for even a casual user of the Internet to easily infected. Most programmers create these malicious programs just because they can and for no other reason. They get no monetary rewards  other a perverse sense of satisfaction.

Of course, with computers being connected together, it is not common for people to actually see what others doing. These hackers, as they are called, take the time out to try and acccess another person’s computer for personal, private information which can be exploited. Some common methods include key logger programs which tracks what a person types on a certain website, like a person accessing their bank account over the Internet or logging in to a forum. These programs are usually dumped onto a person’s computer by being sneaked through or being left on computers in Internet cafes.

A fool is born is every minute, as the saying goes. People are always lured by easy money and fear is easily struck when money is involved. I am  sure most of us have received e-mails from a Nigerian claiming to be the relative of some late dictator and that they have recently have come to possess a large sum of money. They are unable to get the money out of the country and need your help to do so. They need your bank account  details to bounce the money to some other country and for your trouble, they will leave a small token. Giving any details other than your bank accoount number and branch number is a big no-no. God knows whatever they will do with the money inside, be the amount big or small.

Cybercrime will always be a problem as long as the Internet exsists. Perhaps the easiest way of preventing such things from occuring to you and those around you is to be aware of such trickery and not be fooled by them. A good anti-virus software and firewall is always a good idea to have at all times.