5 Types of Cyber Criminals and How to Protect Against Them

5 Types of Cyber Criminals and How to Protect Against Them

Cybercrime is defined as a crime where a computer is the object of the crime or is used as a tool to commit an offense. Cybercrimes are at an all-time high, costing companies and individuals billions of dollars annually. A cybercriminal may use a device to access a user's personal information, confidential business information, government information, etc. Understanding the types of cyber criminals and their techniques can help protect your organization from a data breach, cyberattacks, etc. Here is the list of types of cybercriminals and how to protect against them.

Identity Theft

Attackers can do all kinds of things with a person's identity. They can seize control of victims' banking credentials, apply for new banking accounts, steal users' hard-earned savings, and more. All they need are some key bits of information about you to convince a bank or a customer service representative that they're you. To protect against identity theft, users should take care not to reveal too much about themselves on social media and other websites.

The Ransom Artist

Bad actors have been modifying codes and implementing new ransom attack methods, sparking a rise in ransomware as the fifth most common form of malware, up from the 22nd most common in the 2014 Verizon Data Breach Incident Report. Many companies are paying the ransom, often via anonymous bitcoin payments, to have their data restored.

The Hacker

Nearly two-thirds of confirmed data breaches involved leveraging weak, default or stolen passwords. Malware poses a serious threat, as it can capture keystrokes from an infected device even if employees use strong passwords with special characters and a combination of upper- and lower-case letters. Use multi-factor authentication, enforce strong password requirements, patch operating systems, software, and apps, and increase redundancy and bandwidth.

Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking is a form of cyberbullying, where an individual tries to threaten or harass other persons by using computer systems connected to the Internet. Most cyberstalking cases involve using anonymous communication systems such as email, social networks, instant messaging applications, etc.; anything relying on anonymity to protect the cyberstalker's true identity.

IOT Hacking

The Internet of Things is a brave new world that has opened insights into our daily routines and our business processes to the web. Whether we like it or not, all of these internet-connected objects are collecting and exchanging data. As you know, data is valuable and for that reason, hackers will look to exploit any devices that aggregate it.

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