Cybercrime: what is it, the most common and how to report it

They are everywhere and can access personal accounts and even entire systems remotely, silently and with potential harm on a global scale. We are talking about hackers who commit cyber crimes. All it takes is a simple oversight on the other side of the screen or some loophole in the security of a website, for example, to do the damage.

Although not new, these types of crimes are constantly updated and still arouse a lot of curiosity in people who understand little or nothing about the subject.

Finally, What are cybercrimes, what are the most common, and how do you report hackers and cybercriminals? This is what we will understand here. To follow!

What is considered a cybercrime?

The method has similarities with some of the crimes committed in the real world, but the biggest difference is the use of computers and devices that can connect to the internet or an internal network. Hackers are the most known criminals to carry out these attacks and thefts with the aim of gaining money or damaging computers, networks or entire systems.

However, cybercrime can involve vast knowledge in advanced techniques in areas such as information systems, software engineering, and being affiliated with one person (lone wolves as they are known) or an entire criminal organization, i.e. a gang, among others.

With the proliferation of smartphones and instant messaging like WhatsApp, it is also possible for less technologically savvy criminals to deceive victims through social engineering that exploits human behavior to deceive and defraud victims. All this without knowing how to execute a single line of code – it’s all pseudo and trickery.

Stay on top of emerging major cybercrime

It is difficult to choose a single attack as the best of all attacks. large scale cybercrime committed throughout history, but it is possible to list some of the most famous ones involving major technologies. Them:

1 – Case Sony (2011)

After suffering a denial of service attack (DDoS), cybercriminals managed to leak data from around 77 million PlayStation Network users.

The Japanese giant’s service has been offline for days and has had to offer a number of benefits to injured users after continuing its operations, accumulating financial losses and criticism of its cybersecurity.

2 – Yahoo lawsuit (2013)

A massive invasion put more than 3 billion accounts at risk for registered users on the famous portal. The same thing happened again in 2014, when cybercriminals gained access to 500 million profiles. These flaws were only discovered after Yahoo’s acquisition by Verizon, which identified the problem.

3 – Microsoft case (2013):

Computers running Windows operating systems were infected with the CriptoLocker ransomware. This virus hijacked the machines via an encrypted key, causing the Redmond giant to accumulate more than $3 million in damage.

After all, what are the best-known types of cybercrime?

Some of these crimes were mentioned above, and it is worth listing the main crimes by dividing them into three categories: The first is defined as attacks using the computer directly on both the cybercriminal and victim side, while the second method is defined as illegally obtaining a particular network through other computers or devices.

The third involves blocking a machine. Malware can be infected and data can be hijacked, giving the criminal an opportunity to blackmail the victim and demand a ransom payment. The most common situations within these categories are:

• Malware: Once infected, the computer is in the custody of the criminal and can be used for a wide variety of purposes, such as data theft, performing other attacks, among other breaches. The golden tip is not to click on suspicious links or open unknown executables, as these are mostly methods used by criminals to gain access to victims’ devices.
• phishing: this method is one of the most common in Brazil. fishing meaning, in free translation, phishing based on “lead magnets”. For example, the victim may see an ad to earn easy money and click on the link to learn more, without realizing that they are granting access to their device. The tools used can be spam in an email or a message sent via WhatsApp.
• DDos (denial of service attack): Cybercriminals use advanced computing techniques to overload and crash servers by corrupting the entire network system. This is done according to the capacity limits of an online service. In other words, higher-than-normal traffic is generated to bombard and neutralize a digital structure. After this drop, criminals can blackmail, demand payment, and even destroy and leak victims’ data.

Pedro Rafael Thomé Pacheco, lawyer and expert in Criminal Law, Criminal Procedures and Criminology from the Center for Legal Studies in Paraná, details of his crime phishing more common than we think and even hijacking accounts on social networks like Instagram.

“Criminals threaten to expose betrayals on the networks or act like plainclothes police officers who demand a ‘financial settlement’ to shelve investigations of pedophilia or improper assault. But in the end, they still get blackmail of higher value,” he explains.

Who punishes cybercrime?

Cybercrime has repercussions in the criminal field by serving prison sentences, and in the law – with convictions to compensate or reimburse the damage caused.

The crimes committed will be convicted for crimes of complicity and money laundering, in the criminal area where the judge gives criminals – anyone who acts to commit a cybercrime in some way – jail time.

Thomé Pacheco further elaborates that the power generally rests with the State Criminal Judge, except for crimes involving public companies such as Caixa, which fall within the jurisdiction of the Federal Justice.

“In the field of law, compensation and restitution of the damage done to the victims will be required. In this case, it seems that only all persons concerned, including the lender of the current account, are obliged to fully compensate the injured victim. If the damage does not exceed the 40 minimum wage, compensation can be processed in the Special Court (still colloquially known as Small Claims).

Which police station deals with virtual crime?

Ways to suppress cybercrime are in line with criminal practices recorded so far, even cybercriminals can develop. Police stations vary by state. As an example, Delegate Emmanoel Aschidamini, Head of the Delegate of Embezzlement in Curitiba, explains how the unit works in the capital, Paraná.

“We have a police station in Curitiba that specializes in cybercrime, Nuciber. But others [delegacias] They can investigate crimes that occur in virtual environments, neighborhoods and private areas such as Estelionatos. For example, as soon as a scam starts on WhatsApp and after a conversation with the scammers, our police station can take action.”

Thomé Pacheco concludes by pointing out that in other states some crimes are being investigated by the General Police Station. Other more serious violations, such as digital pedophilia, are the responsibility of Specialist Police Stations.

Therefore, anyone wishing to file a complaint should contact the local police station in their city.

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