The Link Between Social Media and Cybercrimes

In the current era of online processing, the maximum of the information is online and prone to cyberattacks. Cyber-attacks may have some motivation behind it or may be processed unknowingly. The attacks that are processed knowingly are considered as the cybercrimes and they have serious impacts over the society. Restriction of cybercrimes is dependent on proper analysis of their behavior and understanding of their impacts. The term cybercrime is an act committed in violation forbidding it and for which a punishment is imposed upon conviction. Cybercrime is a criminal activity directly related to use of computers, explicitly illegal trespass into computer system. With more and more usage of computers and social media, cybercrimes puts a lot of stress on many teens causing depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. The government should therefore monitor the usage of social media, online activities and take immediate action on cybercriminals to combat cybercrime.

Cybercrimes has a couple of effects on social media. First, the potential economic impact as today’s consumer has become increasily dependent on computer networks as many as 80% of the companies surveyed acknowledged financial losses due to computer breaches. As the economy increases, its reliance on the internet increases, and it is exposed to all threats posed by cyber-criminals. Stocks are traded via the internet, bank transactions are done via the internet, and purchases are made using credit card via internet. All instances of fraud in such transactions impact the financial state of the affected company and hence, the economy. The disruption of the international financial markets could be one of the big impacts and remains a serious concern. The modern economy spans multiple countries and time zones. Such interdependence of the world’s economic system means that a disruption in one region of the world will have ripple effects in other regions. Hence any disruption of these systems would send shock waves outside of the market, which is the source of the problem. Productivity is also at risk by attacks from worms and viruses, thus taking productive time away from the user. Machines could perform slowly; servers might be inaccessible, network might be jammed. Such instances of attacks affect the overall productivity of the user and the organization.

Another effect of social media on cybercrime is impact on the market value. The economic impact of security breaches is of interest to companies trying to decide where to place their information on security budget as well as for insurance companies’ that provide cyber-risk activities. Micro stated ‘‘physical damage is not restricted to physical destruction or harm of computer circuritly but includes loss of use and functionality.’’ This new and evolving view of damage becomes even more important as many firms rely on information systems in general and the internet in particular to conduct their business. This precedent may force many insurance companies to compensate business for damage caused by attacks and other security breaches. As the characteristic of security breaches change companies created actuarial tables that they believe provide ways to measure loses from computer interruptions and hackers attacks. However, these estimates are questionable mostly due to lack of historical data. Some industry insiders confess that the rates for such plans are mostly set by guesswork.

Thirdly, is the impact on consumer trust since cyber-attacker intrude into others’ space and try and break the logic of the page. The end customer visiting the concerned page will be frustrated and discouraged to use the said site and in the internet and its strengths. The site in question is termed as the fraudulent , while the criminal masterminding the hidden attack is not recognized. The perception that the internet is rife with credit card fraud and security hazards is growing. Rife has been a severe problem for e-commerce. Hence, users concerns over fraud prevent many online shoppers from transacting business. Even the slightest perception of security risk or amateurish commerce seriously jeopardizes potential business.

Lastly is the areas of ripe for exploitation which refers to the national security. Modern military of most of the countries depends heavily on advanced computers. Warfare, including network attack, exploitation, and defense, is not a new national security challenge. When intruders find systems that are easy to break into, they simply hack into the system. Terrorists and criminals use information technology to plan execute their criminal activities. The increase in international interaction and the widespread usage of information and technology has facilitated the growth of crime and terrorism. Crime and terrorism is a result of advanced communication technology people need not to be in one country to organize a such crime. Hence terrorists find and criminals find security loopholes in the system and can function from unusual locales instead of their country of residence. The internet has helped fund such crimes by means of fraudulent bank transactions, money transfer. Greater encryption technology is helping these criminal activities.

In conclusion, this essay put its eye not only on the understanding of the cybercrimes but also explains the impacts over different levels of the society. Thus will help to the community to secure all the online information critical organizations which are not safe due to cybercrimes. The understanding of the behavior of cyber criminals and impacts of cyber crimes on society will help to find out the sufficient means to overcome the situation. The way to overcome these crimes can be broadly be classified into three categories; cyber laws, education, and policy making. All the above ways to handle cybercrimes either are having less significant work or having nothing in many of the countries. This lack of work requires to improve on the existing work or set new paradigms for controlling the cyber attacks.