COMPUTER CRIMINALS CHRISTIAN BERNARDÜ IDENTITY THIEVES Identity theft is the stealing of another person's personal or financial information in order to conduct fraud, such as making illegal transactions or purchases. Computer technology is increasingly being used by identity thieves to access other people's personal information. Identity theft may take various forms, with the most common consequences being harm to a victim's credit and reputation. SCAMMERS OR PHISHERS Scammers try to mislead you into giving out personal information such as bank account numbers, passwords, and credit card details through phishing schemes. A phishing attempt might turn into a security crisis from which a company would struggle to recover. Employees are compromised in this scenario in order to circumvent security perimeters. Phishing is frequently used as part of an attack to acquire a foothold in business or governmental networks. BOTNET OPERATORS A botnet is a collection of networkconnected computers that are remotely operated as a single entity by an individual, small or bigger cybercriminal gang. Each device has been infected with the same virus and has been commandeered to carry out the grunt labor required in covert operations. When your computer is infected, it becomes part of a botnet - a network of infected or zombie computers controlled remotely by a cybercriminal. Your system resources and bandwidth are being rented out to the highest bidder to assist them in attacking other unwary individuals or even legitimate businesses. EMPLOYEES Black Hats: Criminals that enter into computer networks with harmful intent are known as black hat hackers. Black hats may also distribute malware that deletes data, enslaves machines, or steals passwords. Black hats are driven by self-interested motives such as financial gain, vengeance, or just wreaking devastation. It's possible that their purpose is ideological, as they target those with whom they strongly disagree. Black hat hacking is a worldwide issue, making it exceedingly tough to eradicate. Hackers typically leave minimal evidence, utilize the computers of unknowing victims, and span numerous jurisdictions, which makes it difficult for law enforcement to catch them. White Hats: White hat hackers, often known as "ethical hackers" or "good hackers," are the polar opposite of black hats. They take advantage of computer systems or networks in order to detect security weaknesses and provide recommendations for improvement. Instead, they work with network operators to help them fix problems before others do. White hat hackers have the same legal rights as black hat hackers but must obtain permission from the system owner first. HACKERS AND CRACKERS If you refer to the formal definition in the Internet Users’ Glossary under RFC 1392, a hacker is “A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular. The term is often misused in a pejorative context, where ‘cracker’ would be the correct term.” Hackers are those who design and construct things. They learn and explore many computer systems and networks, and many of them have prior programming expertise, which further adds to their vast knowledge. They create safe settings. Looking at the formal definition of a cracker: “A cracker is an individual who attempts to access computer systems without authorization. These individuals are often malicious, as opposed to hackers, and have many means at their disposal for breaking into a system.” Crackers are often referred to as "black hats." They search for backdoors in programs and systems, exploit them, and steal sensitive information for nefarious purposes. ORGANIZED COMPUTER CRIME Any illegal conduct that includes a computer, a networked device, or a network is considered cybercrime. While the majority of cybercrimes are committed to make money for the perpetrators, some are committed to harm or disable computers or devices directly, while others utilize computers or networks to disseminate malware, unlawful information, pictures, or other things. Cybercriminals employ a variety of attack vectors to carry out their cyberattacks, and they are always looking for new ways to achieve their objectives while evading discovery and prosecution.
