Is Cybercrime Only Going to Get Worse In Future?
From today till hardly 2 or 3 decades ago, the nature of crime was of a different kind.
A thief broke into your house or shop and committed robbery or broke the lock and looted the safe. Even today, such sporadic incidents are happening everywhere.
But, with time the nature of crime is also changing. In today’s digital world, the nature of business and financial transactions is also being modernized from manual to digital.
Today almost every person has a smartphone in his hand and the bank is at the tip of his fingers. All over the world business is going online and its data is in the cloud or on the internet. Cyber fraudsters no longer need to steal your house or rob a bank, they can trap you and steal your hard earned money digitally.
There is a very direct equation between digital advancement and cyber crime. As the world becomes more dependent on digital technology, the possibility of cyber crime incidents will also increase.
How much cyber crime has progressed with time can only be gauged from the fact that in the year 2001, only 6 people were being victimized every hour, whereas by 2022 this number has increased by 1517% to 97 every hour.
At that time, solar winds, colonial pipeline, wannacry etc. appeared in the cyber crime scene but today the nature of cyber crime has changed a lot and new technologies like AI and machine learning have also played their role in it. Now the question arises is Cybercrime Only Going to Get Worse in the coming future?
The Arguments For:
As I said, the progress of digital technology and the progress of cyber crime are proportional to each other. By July 2023, approximately 5.19 billion, approx 91% businesses are connected to digital technology in some way or the other.
As the world becomes digitally dependent, we are likely to face even more incidents of cyber crime. Its main reason is that in today’s era almost every person has a mobile phone in his hand and he prefers to do his financial transactions online instead of going to the bank.
Along with this, banks and other financial institutions, businesses etc. are also shifting from manual to online, hence it is creating a very big playground for cyber criminals. In the coming future, as the world progresses digitally, the playground of cyber criminals is likely to become bigger.
In the old methods of cyber crime, people are tricked into clicking on malicious links so that data can be stolen. Today, the methods of cyber criminals have become even more modern and sophisticated. They have overcome the old methods by using technologies like AI and machine learning which are much more dangerous than the old methods.
Threats like Deepfake and ClearFake are spreading all over the world which not only causes you financial loss but can also ruin your social reputation. Incidents of ransomware and RaaS (Ransomware as Service) are also increasing.
Such incidents are happening in India too. Along with this, Cyber criminals are also carrying out crimes like digital arrest, cyberstalking etc. and exploiting the victims.
In the initial period of cyber crime, a lot of information and hard work was required to become cyber hackers, whereas in the era of AI and machine learning, malware can also be written with the help of AI. Therefore, even a simple cybercriminal can commit very dangerous acts.
At the same time, people’s hunger to earn money through wrong means is also increasing, which is dragging people into the quagmire of cyber crime. Apart from this, high inflation and low salary situation is also responsible for increasing cybercriminals.
The Internet of Things will almost double by 2030 and there is every possibility of it falling prey to cyber criminals. As more and more IoT equipment enters the market, cyber criminals will try to get them into their clutches and the situation is likely to get worse.
Another reason for increasing cyber crime is the lack of effective rule or enforcement rule to prevent it. Even if the security agency finds out the culprit of cyber crime, it is not allowed to do so in the absence of any effective rule because the cyber criminal is based in a country where there is no proper law regarding its prevention.
The Arguments Against:
But, there is the other side of the coin. There are many such things which can play an important role in reducing cyber crime. If technologies like AI and machine learning can help to grow cyber crime, it can also be used to prevent it.
Government and private agencies are making people aware to avoid cyber crimes and people are now recognizing the importance of this thing.
As the digital world progresses, the threat of cyber criminals will undoubtedly increase. But, with the help of modern technologies, efforts will be made to avoid them and there is a possibility of success.
There is also a possibility that the IoT equipment or computers that will come into the market in future will be capable enough to automatically face cyber threats.
Furthermore, numerous nations are enforcing stricter cybersecurity laws and will keep doing so. Many experts believe that the Telecommunications Security Act, which went into effect last year, is a sign of stricter regulations both in the UK and globally.
Once more, these advancements will guarantee lower attack rates as well as put organizations in a much better position to combat cybercrime.
Moreover, strengthening cross-border cooperation between law enforcement agencies has started to pay off, resulting in the downfall of cybercrime-related businesses and serving as a warning to prospective criminals.
The outcome of the intricate conflict between cybercriminals and defenders is still unknown.
The digital landscape is characterized by a growing toolkit of countermeasures and strategies to counter cyber threats, even as it continues to change and pose new challenges.
The development of technology alone will not guarantee cybersecurity in the future; governments, organizations, and people everywhere must work together to achieve this goal.
We can achieve a safer digital world as long as we keep adjusting, working together, and giving cybersecurity top priority in this quickly changing digital era.
Conclusion:
So, my friend, it is true that with the progress of the digital world, incidents of cyber crime will also increase but it is also true that with the help of modern technologies, efforts will be made to prevent them and we will also get success in it.
That’s all for now my friend! I hope this article will be valuable for you. You can reach me through the emails given below. I will love your valuable comments and feedback.
Yours
Abhijit Ranjan
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