Crime has always fascinated me. During the pandemic I revisited Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. I would also look for crime stories in the newspaper. In the last one-year cybercrime incidents have risen. Coincidentally, I got the opportunity to enrol for a Cyber Crime Intervention Officer (CCIO) training. It was very interesting. Being a Counsellor I had the opportunity to explore the mindset behind such crimes- of that of the criminal and the victim.
The cyber world is still mysterious to most of us. How much do we even know about the Dark and Deep web? Like the poisonous legs of the tarantula spider, the dark web can be fatal.
Being cooped up within the four walls, with no social interaction, so many intelligent minds were diverted. With just a smartphone and the Internet one can ‘do’ mind boggling stuff (legal and illegal). I learned that ethical hacking is a paradox.
Children as young as the sixth graders are lured into coding by corporate educational giants. Left unsupervised, the internet and the device are deadly weapons of destruction.
During the pandemic online sale of narcotics and child pornography reached an all-time high.
Senior citizens who are learning the ropes of the cyber world have fallen prey to ‘innocuous’ messages and mails. Many have had their bank accounts wiped off completely. Money earned over five decades gone away in the blink of an eye!
What leads one to do such ghastly acts of crime?
Cyber-crime has several categories.
The most common is phishing mails. The sender sends thousands of mails which would require an ‘urgent’ action, or the mail would lure one to ‘click’ on a particular link for a reward. Here the motives are either financial gain or to hack into computers. Hacking into computers could be politically motivated too. There are many groups who are very conservative or ideologically motivated. They manipulate young or vulnerable minds using religion/conspiracy theories. It is very interesting to note how a person can be manipulated. Consistent doses of the ideology/conspiracy theory invade the victim’s mailbox or social media page and eat into the logical mind.
Cyber-crime also involves trolling, bullying via memes etc. The intentions can vary from bullying/ ideological differences and ‘just for fun’. The last factor is very common amongst the idle young populace. Most youngsters want to be popular and receive a huge number of ‘likes’. One person casually remarked that if a person puts himself/herself on social media then his/her life is no longer private.
It is fascinating to note how we become victims.
- That dopamine rush on seeing the words- gift/ reward/ you can be the lucky winner.
- The consumerist behaviour- greed to make quick money and live up to the Joneses.
- The overconfidence that we would not get cheated blinds us to errors.
- That desperation to be recognised or be part of a ‘group’.
Unfortunately, being a grey world of crime, here the criminals get away as it is extremely difficult to nab them. They are after all in the ‘cloud’. This makes them bolder and creative. Being sinister behind the veil of the ‘cloud’ empowers the wicked mind.
What are the consequences faced by victims and how do we protect ourselves?
To be continued. Click here.
Swapna Nair
August 2021
