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Cyber Crime in the Social Network

UK6153 Cyber Law

Name : Punithemalar HariaratnamMatrick No. : GP01285Date : 27 July 2013 (Saturday)Lecturers : Dr Rizal Rahman

Just what do we mean when we say,

Social Network?

A social network service focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities

The process of building online communities, often accomplished both through 'groups' and 'friends lists' that allow greater interaction on websites.

Interactive communication in which participants in online communities such as Facebook share thoughts, photos, etc. with members of their own personal networks in a controlled way

The Law

Communications and Multimedia Act 1998Evidence Act 1950

Penal Code ActComputer Crimes Act 1997

• Facebook.com• MySpace.com• LinkedIn.com• Bebo.com• Friendster.com• hi5.com• Orkut.com• PerfSpot.com

A focus on building social relationships among people.

Building online communities.

Interactive communication among participants.

• Facebook claims that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would mean at least 175 million users every 24 hours

• Twitter now has 75 million user accounts (15 million active)• LinkedIn has over 50 million members worldwide.• Facebook currently has in excess of 350 million active users on

global basis. Six months ago, this was 250 million. This is over a 40% growth in less than 6 months.

• More than 35 million Facebook users update their status each day.• Photo uploads to Facebook have increased by more than 100%.

(2.5 billion) • More than 250 Facebook applications have over a Million

combined user seach month

Cyber Crime• Crime committed using a computer and the internet

to steal a person’s identity or illegal imports or malicious programs

• Computer used as object or subject of a crime• Online activities are Vulnerable to crime and can

compromise personal safety just as common everyday unless law makers, law enforcement and individuals need to know how to protect themselves and the persons for which they are responsible

The first recorded cyber crime took place in the year 1820! That is not surprising considering the fact that the abacus, which is thought to be the earliest form of a computer, has been around since 3500 B.C. in India, Japan and China. The era of modern computers, however, began with the analytical engine of Charles Babbage.

The first spam email took place in 1978 where it was sent over Arpanet (Advance research projects agency network)

• With the rising popularity of the social networking websites today, you'll find many Cyber crimes where adults impersonate children, becoming friendly, and then coaxing children to meet face-to-face. This is aserious problem today with youth as young as

• 13 years having sanctioned access to these social media and networking sites.

Types of cyber crime• Hacking

– Unauthorised access to computer • Child pornography

– Paedophilia who are sexually attracted to children and use false identity • Denial of service attack

– Flooring bandwidth of victim with spam mails• Virus dissemination

– Malicious software ie; trojan horse etc• Computer vandalism

– Damaging or destroying data• Cyber Terrorism

– Hate email• Software piracy

– Theft of software through illegal copying• Credit Card Fraud

– Hack and misuse your card

• Net extortion– Copying confidential data and extort for huge amounts

• Phishing– Pulling our confidential info from banks or financial institutions

• Spoofing– Pretend to be in identity of another computer

• Cyber Stalking– Following victim by sending email, entering chatroom etc

• Salami Sttack– Insignificant changes, deducting small amount from individuals account– Confidential info from banks or financial institutions

• Spoofing– Pretend to be in identity of another computer

• Cyber Stalking– Following victim by sending email, entering chatroom etc

• Salami Sttack– Insignificant changes, deducting small amount from individuals account

‘79 per cent of social media users victims of cyber crime’

by Lee Ya Yun, April 6, 2013, Saturday

• Booming social media popularity • The obvious social media addiction/lure • Social media becoming an ideal place for

crime • The vast transition from emails to social

media Rising usage of social media over smartphones -

Why social media is the target!

Cybercriminals use social media not only to commit crime online, but also for carrying out real world crime owing to “over-sharing” across these social platforms. • A survey of 2,000 home-owners stated that 35% users post

their vacation plans on social networking sites. Availability of such authentic information helps the criminals achieve their motives easily. Adding to these reasons, the money associated with the malware market is also a motivation for criminals to attack using social media.

• Although social media talks more about individual users, the cyber criminals not only attack the user as an individual, but they also use it as a channel to victimise businesses.

MURDERED BY A MAN SHE MET ONLINE.

Ashleigh Hall was groomed by Peter Chapman via Facebook after her claimed to be a teenager

A study by Cyberoam reveals that disclosures over social media highly affect business. Here is the summary of disclosures in brief:

According to Sophos Security Threat Report 2013, Malaysia is the sixth most vulnerable to cyber crime. Listed among the 10 riskiest countries, Malaysia is also reported to be highly exposed to Android PC and devices malware attacks. Remember that in the event of a cyber crime, victims can lodge a report with CyberSecurity Malaysia.

Just like any other medium, social media can also become a source of data leakage, intrusions, entry for malicious content, loss of productivity and so on. A good balance between security and social networking can help. How? Here are a few pointers that will help:

• Establish an organizational policy for social networking and regularly train them on the safety measures

• Monitor access of social networks in your organization

• Use strong passwords for your corporate profile on social networking sites

• Upgrade IT Network Security with a solution that offers multiple security features and scans HTTPS sites (most social networking sites today are on HTTPS).

• When signing up for social media sites, ask employees to avoid using official email address

• Caution employees on clicking the links wisely or when installing plugins/pop-ups

• Ask them to keep a track on the personal information they post

• Request them to avoid allowing social networking services to scan their email address book

• Limit the number of persons authorized to blog or tweet on behalf of the company

• Choose an official spokesperson for Twitter/Facebook

• Ensure that the authorized person knows what can be communicated, and when?

• Keep a record of all public/employee disclosures

ScamsCriminals have been utilizing the scam for centuries. In the Facebook world, scams are particularly effective at drawing people in by simply enticing an individual to click on a link that would interest almost anyone, such as an innocent-looking notification that you’ve won a free prize like a gift card. Then, in order to claim the prize, scammers require you to submit some information, such as a credit card number or Social Security number. This description may make it seem like scams are easy to spot, but even the most savvy social media user has to be on the lookout for illegitimate requests for information.

RobberyIt doesn’t take much for a thief to find out where you live, go to school, work, or hang out if you make that information readily available on Facebook. If you use Facebook’s check-in or Google Maps feature, then you could be in a heap of trouble if a robber is paying attention. This person isn’t always a complete stranger either; they may be an old acquaintance or someone else you’d never expect to come rob you.

Identity theftWith the large amount of personal information swarming around Facebook these days, it has become fairly easy for criminals to steal users’ identities. Hackers often break into users’ e-mails and make fake Facebook accounts. From there they can access personal and bank information and cause havoc to your sense of security. Protect yourself from identity theft on Facebook by keeping your profile very secure and free of personal information that a criminal would love to have.

DefamationAn individual commits the crime of defamation when they communicate a false statement to a third party that paints another individual or entity in a negative light. Facebook makes communicating defamatory statements frighteningly easy, and the exposure Facebook provides makes it more likely that businesses or individuals will be harmed by the defamatory statement, and thus more likely to pursue legal remedies. Be careful what you say on Facebook; you may be committing a crime without even knowing it.

HarassmentHarassment happens all the time on Facebook. From sexual harassment to assault threats, there has been a significant increase in the number of harassment cases happening on Facebook. It’s not uncommon for sex offenders and sexual predators to prey on unsuspecting victims on Facebook and even pose as a teen or college student. Harassing messages, inappropriate comments, and other persistent behaviors should be reported to Facebook and your local police station.

CyberbullyingCyberbullying is a common occurrence among teenagers on Facebook and one that can result in serious criminal charges if it goes far enough. Cyberbullying on Facebook has contributed to the deaths of several teens who either committed suicide or were killed by a peer. Cyberbullying that involves hacking or password and identity theft may be punishable under state and federal law. When adults engage in this kind of online behavior it is called cyber-harassment or cyberstalking.

StalkingThe term “stalking” is thrown around a lot on Facebook, and it is often meant as a joke for regularly looking at someone’s profile. However, the actual act of cyberstalking is a common crime on the social networking site and can result in a serious offense. Cyberstalking typically involves harassing a person with messages, written threats, and other persistent online behavior that endangers a person’s safety. Although cyberstalking may seem like nothing more than annoying behavior, it is a legitimate cause for concern in many cases and can even lead to in-person stalking or endangerment if not treated seriously.

A good balance between security and productivity is the need of the hour for organisations facing similar challenges due to their presence over social media.

The End

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