Stoppage of cyber crimes is a major concern today.

Cyber criminals make use of the vulnerabilities in computer soft wares and networks to their advantage.

Hacking or Cracking is a major cyber crime committed today. Hacker makes use of the weaknesses and loop holes in operating systems to destroy data and steal important information from victim's computer. Cracking is normally done through the use of a backdoor program installed on your machine. A lot of crackers also try to gain access to resources through the use of password cracking softwares. Hackers can also monitor what u do on your computer and can also import files on your computer. A hacker could install several programs on to your system without your knowledge. Such programs could also be used to steal personal information such as passwords and credit card information. Important data of a company can also be hacked to get the secret information of the future plans of the company.

Cyber-Theft is the use of computers and communication systems to steal information in electronic format. Hackers crack into the systems of banks and transfer money into their own bank accounts. This is a major concern, as larger amounts of money can be stolen and illegally transferred.

Many newsletters on the internet provide the investors with free advice recommending stocks where they should invest. Sometimes these recommendations are totally bogus and cause loss to the investors. Credit card fraud is also very common.

Most of the companies and banks don't reveal that they have been the victims of cyber -theft because of the fear of losing customers and share holders. Cyber-theft is the most common and the most reported of all cyber-crimes.

Cyber-theft is a popular cyber-crime because it can quickly bring experienced cyber-criminal large cash resulting from very little effort. Furthermore, there is little chance a professional cyber-criminal will be apprehended by law enforcement.

Viruses and worms are a major threat to normal users and companies. Viruses are computer programs that are designed to damage computers. It is named virus because it spreads from one computer to another like a biological virus. A virus must be attached to some other program or documents through which it enters the computer. A worm usually exploits loop holes in softwares or the operating system. Trojan horse is dicey. It appears to do one thing but does something else. The system may accept it as one thing.

Upon execution, it may release a virus, worm or logic bomb. A logic bomb is an attack triggered by an event, like computer clock reaching a certain date. Chernobyl and Melissa viruses are the recent examples. Back in March 1999, the Melissa virus was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-mail systems until the virus could be contained.

Classification: Malware is general term used to refer to a malicious application or script. Malware can be, a Virus, a worm (much like a virus, but with somewhat different properties) a Trojan horse or a rootkit.Trojans are programs that specialize in taking control of the infected computer and Rootkits are the concealment experts, specializing in embedding themselves in machines and hiding numerous mischievous processes from the user.

How can we get infected: To get infected by Viruses, Trojans and Rootkits the user performs some action. We either accidentally download them or someone sends them to us. The second we try to open the malware file, our complete system gets infected. The malware can be attached to a normal software. After the infected file is opened, the malware hides itself inside the operating system. From this moment on, the malware has a substantial amount of control over our system, depending on the complexity of the malware.

Botnets is a terrifying problem. A botnet is a massive band of machines controlled by online hackers remotely. First the computers are infected by Malware which the user runs by accident, once the computer is infected it becomes a "zombie". The zombie attempts to create connection with their controller, the master of the malware. The zombies become slaves, they're under the complete control of their operator. Hackers can harvest the power of the botnet in numerous ways in an effort to earn a good profit. They mainly utilize zombies to send spam to huge numbers of people. We're dealing with BILLIONS of spam emails each day! An additional widespread use of botnets is what's termed as a Distributed Denial Of Service attack or "DDOS attack". DDOS occurs when the hacker that's manipulating the zombies, tells them to try and take down a website, online service or routing equipment. This can be done by ordering the zombies to create an incredible number of connections to the targets which the operator decides on, rendering them unreachable for legitimate users.

Cybercrime earns its money from botnets by renting out command over their botnets to clients in the blackmarket. Despite the fact that anti virus programs usually can detect the botnet malware, many people are not aware of this issue and don't secure their computers properly. Can you imagine having your pc at home turning into a zombie and having it be a part of all sorts of illegal cyber crime or cyber warfare activities around the globe? This is definitely a frightening thought...

Fraud has been around since the beginning of mankind, however the internet made it easier for fraud evolve into a whole new level. The key objective of the frauders that lurk on the web is simple: Acquire as much personal data about as many individuals as possible. They'll use a wide variety of methods, some of the most common ones originate from the spam that the botnets send. The email typically says something about a cash winning prize that's waiting for you if enter your personal information.

Sometimes it contains a link to a website that pretends to be a web site you trust, hoping to steal your information as soon as you submit this data to the fake website. The phony website scam is named "Phishing", and it's seriously popular at present. The primary lesson to adopt from this is that you should pay extra attention to the websites that you're browsing, especially if you're submitting your personal information. for example frauders want to use URLs like myspace.shop.co instead of.com original name in an attempt to trick people. Avoiding this is easy, simply take a look at the URL and ensure it's legit.

There are lots of scams and techniques to take advantage of people out there. Be sensible! Don't give up your personal details to something that appears to be suspicious.

So to conclude, the cybercrime process works like so: Hackers develop Malware. Malware creates botnets and botnets generate spam and with spam more information is stolen from people. The spam can also help spread some more malware which further expands botnets. The personal info that is robbed from people might be sold in black markets and each kind of information has a value, for instance a credit card number could possibly be worth X amount of Dollars and a Facebook account name + password might be worth Y Dollars.

Cyber crime is a continuously growing industry.The hacker's methods become more and more innovative as time goes on. We need to be aware of the hazards if we'd like to avoid becoming the next victims.

An important question arises that how can these crimes be prevented. A number of techniques and solutions have been presented but the problems still exists and are increasing day by day.

Antivirus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software. Anti spy wares are used to restrict backdoor program, trojans and other spy wares to be installed on the computer.

A firewall protects a computer network from unauthorized access. Network firewalls may be hardware devices, software programs, or a combination of the two. A network firewall typically guards an internal computer network against malicious access from outside the network.

Cryptography is the science of encrypting and decrypting information. Encryption is like sending a postal mail to another party with a lock code on the envelope which is known only to the sender and the recipient. A number of cryptographic methods have been developed and some of them are still not cracked.

Cyber ethics and cyber laws are also being formulated to stop cyber crimes. It is a responsibility of every individual to follow cyber ethics and cyber laws so that the increasing cyber crimes shall reduce. Security softwares like anti viruses and anti spy wares should be installed on all computers, in order to remain secure from cyber crimes. Internet Service Providers should also provide high level of security at their servers in order to keep their clients secure from all types of viruses and mallicious programs.

One of the most powerful mediums of communication is the Internet and today we see almost everyone using it. Many transactions take place on the net which has resulted in the eruption of cyber crime. Though internet is the main platform used to commit cyber crimes, other communication devices such as computer networks and cell phones are also mediums of this type of crime.

Cyber crime may include activities such as computer hacking, child pornography, stalking, spam marketing, credit card fraud and identity theft. Releasing malware, spyware and viruses to steal information is also a part of cyber crime. Here are a few tips which when followed can protect your sensitive financial or personal information.

If you are a member of online forums and communities, ensure you are very careful sharing your personal information. Predators on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace can steal and use this information to stalk or harass you. Ensure all your online transaction passwords are really difficult to guess and strong. It is a good idea changing your password on a frequent basis to avoid any problems.

Equip your computer with reliable antivirus software for maximum protection. If you are posting photographs on profiles, choose your picture with care. Ensure you do not post pictures that could harm your reputation.

Never leave your personal information details such as address, telephone numbers, passwords, account numbers and social security number lying around. Also ensure they are not placed on cell phones, mp3 players and multimedia devices.

The moment you receive your credit card bills and bank statements, check for any discrepancies. If you are keen on shopping online, choose a reliable and secure website. Ensure you get a free credit report yearly from the credit bureaus. This makes it easy for you to find out if someone is using your social security number unauthorized. If you do come across any cyber crimes, be sure to report to the authorities immediately.