Cyber-Enabled Crimes vs. Cyber-Dependent Crimes

Crimes can be divided into many categories, depending on your criteria. When it comes to crimes related to internet use, you will find that crime is divided into cyber-enabled crimes and cyber-dependent crimes. The difference between these two categories seems self-explanatory. However, the types and forms of criminal offences falling under these two categories vary greatly, as well as the means of protecting yourself against both.

In this article, we’ll learn what both categories of cyber-enabled crimes and cyber-dependent crimes mean, the different forms and examples of each one, and the steps to protect yourself from them.

What are Cyber-Enabled Crimes?

Cyber-enabled crimes are just like traditional crimes, such as theft, fraud, or harassment. They take place in the outside physical world and can be committed without the use of a computer. However, committing these crimes has been elevated to a whole new level through the invention and use of the Internet. Their scope, scale, and reach have increased with the help of ICT or Information Communications Technology.

Forms and Examples of Cyber-Enabled Crimes

Cyber-enabled crimes can be categorised into the following categories:

Economic-Related Cybercrime

These include financial fraud, especially:

1. Banking frauds encompass a range of tactics aimed at financial gain or loss. These include phishing, smishing, vishing, identity theft, check fraud, card skimming, and more. Vigilance and preventive measures are crucial to protect against these scams.
2. Data theft includes the theft of personal information, such as banking information, names, and even national and social security numbers. It also includes company login credentials and client information stored in company databases.
3. Many methods are used in data theft as a cyber-enabled crime, such as exploiting vulnerabilities in computer systems like hacking. Criminals search for personal information about the victim on social media, employment, or dating websites to identify the person’s identity and either target their banking information or target them with phishing scams. The last method is using social engineering techniques, which depend on the trust people put in others online and can disclose personal information accordingly; cybercriminals can use social engineering with other tactics, such as pharming, to obtain personal information or money from the victim.
4. What is known as CNP or Card-Not-Present fraud involves remotely conducted transactions where the cardholder and the card are not present.
5. E-commerce fraud is a general reference to all financial transactions that are fraudulent, such as online retail sales, where both customers and sellers can be victims.
6. Crimes include intellectual property such as forgery, piracy, innovations, new products and counterfeiting.

Online Auctions, Retail Sites, and Fake Websites

Fraudulent sales occur in these places, such as offering goods and services for sale but not truly existing. Customers are probed to believe the products are original using these websites. These cyber-enabled crimes include all retail misrepresentation, including selling fake tickets.

Marketing Frauds

As one of the most common cyber-enabled crimes, marketing frauds manifest in advance-fee scams, where the victims are asked to pay money before obtaining the service or goods. These include bogus charities, fake disaster relief, inheritance frauds, pyramid schemes, fake lottery, and fake investments, where the victims are asked to pay a sum of money as an investment in return for a larger sum of money as profit in the future.

Online Markets to Sell Illegal Items

These illicit marketplaces operate on the dark web, accessible through specialised browsers like Tor. These platforms facilitate the trade of a wide range of illegal goods and services, including:

1. Stolen Data: Credit card information, login credentials, and personal data are frequently sold on these markets, posing a significant risk to individuals and businesses.
2. Counterfeit Goods: Counterfeit products, such as luxury goods, electronics, and pharmaceuticals, are readily available and often sold at significantly lower prices than authentic items.
3. Hacking Tools and Services: Malicious software, hacking tools, and hire services are offered, enabling cybercriminals to launch attacks and exploit vulnerabilities.
4. Illegal Substances: Drugs, both legal and illegal, are openly traded on many dark web markets, posing serious health risks to users.
5. Weapons and Explosives: In some cases, firearms, ammunition, and explosives can be purchased on the dark web, posing a significant threat to public safety.

Phishing Scams

As one of the most common types of cyber-enabled crimes, phishing occurs through any means of communication, such as text messages, phone calls or emails. The most common outlet for phishing scams is email, where the attacker sends an email to a potential target that looks genuine or professional to trick the victim into clicking on the fake link.

When the victim does that, the attacker can “fish” for the victim’s personal information, such as a banking account or any information that will either provide him with direct illegal financial gains or help the attacker modify his method to target more potential victims.

Pharming

This occurs when the victim follows the link provided in the seemingly genuine email the attacker sent as a phishing attempt to the victim. When the victim opens the website and inputs their payment information, that’s when the attacker can steal it.

Offensive and Malicious Communications

This category of cyber-enabled crimes encompasses online activities that harass, threaten, or intimidate others. It includes:

1. Virtual Mobbing: Coordinated online attacks targeting individuals with malicious intent, often involving harassment, threats, or doxing.
2. Cyberbullying: Persistent and aggressive behaviour targeting individuals online, causing distress and harm.
3. Hate Speech: Language that promotes discrimination or hatred based on race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, or other protected characteristics.
4. Stalking: Repeated and unwanted communication or behaviour that creates fear or distress in the target.
5. Doxing: Publicly releasing private information about an individual with the intent to harm or harass.
6. Threats: Direct or implied threats of violence or harm against individuals or groups.
7. Social Media Trolling: Intentionally posting disruptive or provocative comments online to provoke reactions or cause distress.

Frauds of Fake Romance

Whether through social media applications or dating applications, where the attacker asks the victim for personal information or even money after a fake online relationship with them. These cyber-enabled crimes involve deception through fabricated online relationships. Fraudsters create false personas to gain trust, exploit emotions, and eventually extort money or obtain personal information. Tactics may include:

1. Sharing Personal Information: Tricking victims into revealing sensitive details facilitates identity theft.
2. Love Bombing: Overwhelming victims with affection and compliments to foster trust rapidly.
3. Financial Urgency: Creating a crisis to pressure victims into sending money.

Offences Targeting Specific Individuals

Cyber-enabled crimes can disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, including women and girls. These crimes can have severe psychological and emotional consequences. Reporting such incidents to authorities and seeking support from trusted individuals or organisations is crucial. These offences often involve:

1. Cyberstalking: Persistent and unwanted online harassment, including threats, intimidation, and monitoring.
2. Coercion and Control: Using technology to manipulate or control individuals, limiting their freedom and autonomy.
3. Harassment: Engaging in offensive or abusive behaviour, including threats, insults, or hate speech.
4. Sextortion: Using sexually explicit content to blackmail or extort victims.

Sexual Offences and Indecent Images of Children and Online Grooming

This heinous category of cyber-enabled crimes exploits children’s vulnerability and innocence. Perpetrators often employ grooming tactics to build trust and manipulate victims. Once established, they may engage in:  

1. Online Grooming: Manipulating children into revealing personal information or engaging in sexually suggestive conversations.
2. Production and Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM): Creating, sharing, or possessing indecent images or videos involving children.
3. Live Streaming of Child Sexual Abuse: Using platforms like live-streaming services to broadcast or view sexually explicit acts involving children.
4. Enticement and Meeting: Attempting to meet a child offline with the intent to engage in sexual activity.

How to protect yourself from Cyber-Enabled Crimes?

Since cyber-enabled crimes are crimes that can be committed offline, regardless of the internet. Then, the means to protect yourself from such crimes should include both the physical world and the cyber world. Here are some steps to take:

1. Use strong passwords.
2. Use a password manager to store your password, making it harder for pharming tactics to access your data.
3. If you don’t feel comfortable about the link you received or suspect it’s a scam, it probably is.
4. Don’t trust people you don’t know on social media applications, especially if they try to send you messages.
5. Your information on social media applications must not be made available for anyone to see.
6. Do not share images with people you don’t know.
7. One way to avoid malicious links is to open your browser, search for the organisation or charity’s name, and read everything about it.
8. Report any messages you get of cyberbullying, harassment or abuse.
9. Be aware of your children’s internet activity, social media accounts, and online time habits.
10. Avoid online markets that sell illegal items.
11. If you’re buying something online, ensure your banking details are not stored on the website.
12. Use multi-factor authentication to keep track of any activity on your financial accounts.
13. Make sure to check if the auction website you’re buying from is valid.

What are Cyber-Dependent Crimes?

A cyber-dependent crime is any crime whose execution depends on the use of computers, the Internet, or any form of information communication technology (ICT). This means that without an internet connection, these crimes cannot be committed.

The scope of cyber-dependent crimes includes all forms of cybercrimes, such as hacking, spreading malware, and denial-of-service attacks, that cause disruption and damage to a business’s reputation.

A cybercriminal doesn’t need high or sophisticated hacking skills to commit cyber-dependent crimes. An online marketplace for such crimes makes many sophisticated techniques and tools available for anyone who wants or intends to commit a cybercrime. This marketplace facilitates the exploitation of computer system vulnerabilities that are easy to penetrate.

Forms and Examples of Cyber-Dependent Crimes

Cyber-dependent crimes can be divided into two main categories:

1. Illegal access to computers and networks, whether of individuals or businesses, such as hacking.
2. Attacks aiming at disrupting computer networks and downgrading systems such as denial-of-service, distributed denial-of-service attacks and the creation and spreading of malware.

The reasons behind committing cyber-dependent crimes differ from one cybercriminal to another. But they generally fall under these reasons:

1. Individuals with high computer skills who can write code and infect software to execute attacks on computers, networks, and operating systems, either to commit cybercrime for their own benefit or to facilitate committing it for others.
2. Groups of organised crime.
3. People who have a high level of skills but no real criminal intent, such as hacktivists.
4. Cyber-terrorists who aim to cause disruption and maximum impact.
5. Either individuals or groups who don’t have a high level of skills but the commitment of cybercrime is made easier through access to its tools online.
6. Politically motivated cyberattacks are launched under the sponsorship of governments on other political systems with the aim of collecting data and information that can put such governments in danger or affect their defences and security.
7. Insiders to the organisation of even employees with privileged access to sensitive data.

How to Protect Yourself from Cyber-Dependent Crimes?

Since cyber-dependent crimes mainly depend on the internet, you must know how to protect your data online. Some of the easiest steps you can take are:

1. Have an anti-virus and anti-malware software set up on your computer, as well as activate your system’s firewall.
2. Do not connect to Wi-Fi in public places. These are usually fertile environments for lurking hackers and malware.
3. Always make sure to have a backup of your data.
4. If the text message, message or email from someone you don’t know, then it’s most probably a scam.
5. Don’t give out your credentials or banking information without the option of validation or multi-factor authentication.
6. As a company, it only allows access to sensitive data based on the employee’s role.
7. Provide your employees with courses on how to spot and act in the event of a cyberattack.
8. Store company data backup files on separate servers, preferably offline servers, so that all data will not be lost in a cyberattack.
9. Do not use the default username and password provided to you by the system administrators; change them into strong credentials.
10. If you’re designing a web application or website, do not copy code from another application or website since code can contain many vulnerabilities. If you do, it’s preferred that you have your IT team check the code for any loopholes.
11. Do not design your encryption algorithms; it’s preferable to use algorithms that have been publicly tested and verified.
12. Do not transfer data over the network in plain text; always use encryption algorithms.

The steps to protect yourself from cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crimes can be summed up in the steps and ways to protect yourself online in general. So, it’s vital to take these steps seriously and not trust the internet too much.

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