ТЕМА 13. Противодействие киберпреступности

The world is constantly developing new technologies and has a big reliance on technology. Most smart devices are connected to the Internet.  There are benefits and there are also risks. One of the risks is the big rise in the number of cybercrimes.

Cybercrime is any criminal activity that involves a computer, a network or a networked device[1].

Cybercriminals are offenders who use their skills in technology to commit cybercrimes. Cybercrimes can be committed by individuals or organizations. Some cybercriminals are organized, use advanced techniques and are highly technically skilled. Others are novice hackers.

Most cybercrimes are committed by cybercriminals for profit. Cybercriminals are widely available in what is called the dark web, or the dark net, where they provide their illegal services or products. But sometimes cybercrimes aim to damage computers or networks for other reasons: political or personal. Cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks to gain unauthorized access, steal information, disrupt services, and cause financial or reputational harm to individuals, organizations and governments.  

Cybercrimes can target individuals (e-mail and internet fraud, identity fraud, phishing, spoofing, cyber stalking, etc.), organizations (theft and sale of corporate data.  cyber extortion, etc.), property and the economic system (theft of financial or card payment data, cryptojacking, copyright infringement, etc.), the government and the society (cyber espionage, cyber terrorism, etc.)

Cybercrimes can be divided into two main categories. Cybercrimes that target computers are usually associated with the use of viruses and other types of malware. The examples of such crimes are infecting computers with malware to damage devices or stop them working (malware attacks), denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks (cyber-attacks when legitimate users are unable to access information systems, devices or other network resources). Cybercrimes that use computers to commit other crimes are identity theft, identity fraud, cyber extortion, cyber espionage, cyber terrorism, etc.

Identity theft is committed when cybercriminals steal somebody’s personal details (login credentials, bank account numbers, etc.) and identity fraud occurs when those details are used to commit fraud. Criminals often use phishing, vishing and spoofing to commit these crime. Phishing is a type of social engineering attack and a scam that targets the users by sending fake messages, emails, and links (which seem to be from a trusted source, such as a bank or a government agency) to get sensitive information about them. Creation and use of such fake messages, emails, etc. is called spoofing. These messages often redirect to a fake page where the user is asked to enter his/her login credentials, which can further be used to steal money or for other purposes. Vishing (short for voice phishing) uses fraudulent phone calls to trick victims into providing personal information, like login credentials, credit card numbers, or bank details.

Swatting is a term used to describe the action of making hoax phone calls to report serious crimes to police or emergency services. People who carry out a swatting prank call aim to fool emergency services into sending a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to respond to the supposed emergency.

Cyber extortion is the demand for money by cybercriminals to give back some important data they've stolen or stop doing malicious activities such as DDoS attacks.

Cyber espionage is the unlawful access to government or company data.

Cyber terrorism is an act of terrorism committed by the use of cyberspace or computers.

Cybercrime is a global problem. Cybercrime is almost always a cross-border activity, with criminals targeting victims in foreign countries to reduce the risk of arrest. Many cybercriminals are based in countries where laws against cybercrime are not as strict as they are in other parts of the world. All that makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to detect, locate and apprehend them. To solve cybercrimes police agencies should keep abreast of technological development, use modern advanced techniques such as AI-driven forensic software, etc.

Cyber security requires cooperation between many states as well as between public, private, and international organizations within a country. It also requires individual security measures such as the use of anti-virus software and keeping it updated, the use of strong passwords, etc. Only through the joint efforts of different countries and the police, the state and citizens in every country can cyber threats be effectively countered.

[1] https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/cybercrime

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Exercise 1. Translate the following words and word combinations into Russian:

    networked device, novice hackers, advanced techniques, identity fraud, card payment data, cyber extortion, spread malware, to take a look at, areas of urgent need, account hijacking, to be on the rise, to address concerns, fraud and cyber espionage.

Exercise 2. Match English and Russian equivalents:

1) a pattern	а) отслеживать
2) to emanate	б) оценивать
3) to spot	в) происходить
4) to mitigate	г) вредоносная программа
5) to trace	д) цифровые доказательства
6) to assess	е) шаблон
7) online services	ж) криптовалюта
8) digital evidence	з) обнаруживать
9) Cryptocurrency	и) онлайн-сервисы

Exercise 3. Complete the sentences:

1) Cybercrime is a criminal activity that either targets or uses a … .

2) Cybercrimes are carried out by … .

3) Cybercrime that targets computers … .

4) … both categories of cybercrime at once.

5) … are all areas where criminal activity appears to be on the rise.

6) Officers can then take that data and use it to investigate … .

7) … contain a wealth of information.

8) The software can identify patterns in very complex data sets and … .

Exercise 4. Agree or disagree:

1) All cybercrimes are committed by cybercriminals or hackers who want to make money.

2) Cybercrimes are carried out by individuals or organizations.

3) Often, cybercrime aims to damage computers for reasons other than profit.

4) Cybercrime that targets computers to commit other crimes may involve using computers or networks to spread malware, illegal information or illegal images

5) Sometimes cybercriminals conduct both categories of cybercrime at once.

6) Agencies should begin by assessing areas of urgent need.

7) To commit these scams, agencies must be able to trace cryptocurrency on the darknet and quickly identify instances in which data may have been compromised.

8) Officers can take data and use it to investigate the incident and mitigate the damage.

9) By first collecting the data, and then using AI-driven forensic software to analyze it, police officers can make use of their digital evidence faster than ever before.

Exercise 5. Answer the questions:

1) What is cybercrime?

2) Why are cybercrimes committed?

3) Who can commit cybercrimes?

4) What are the main types of cybercrime?

5) How can law enforcement agencies combat cybercrime?

6) Why should law enforcement agencies develop a cyber-defense plan?

7) How can use of intelligence tools help law enforcement agencies?

8) How can AI help law enforcement agencies to combat cybercrime?

B

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