Effects of Cybercrime on Social Media
Cybercrime is an unlawful act originating from the use of a computer or network. In today’s world of rapid evolution technology, the internet has become part of daily life for many people. Social media has changed and improve the livelihood of society; for example, socially, and economically. Also, it has improved people’s social interaction and sharing of ideas. It makes it possible to connect and interact with friends, family, and other people wherever they are. However, the increasing number of users on social media platforms has raised an alert on security and privacy. The privacy of users’ is affected due to the emergence of cyber-criminal treating their safety. There are many crimes committed by offenders online.
The most common type of cybercrime committed by offenders is fraud. It is a criminal offense where offenders deceive individuals on social media by accessing essential data. They achieved this by destroying, suppressing, or changing individual data for their unfair gain. Therefore, social media users’ data is insecure due to these unlawful activities and misleading information alter by cybercriminals.
The second prevalent cybercrime is identity theft. Identity theft is the stealing of personal information of individuals on online platforms. The requirement of the provision of personal data when signing up on some platforms; for instance, Facebook has become an easy opportunity for cybercriminals. People may provide their data, including debit cards, credit cards, and bank account details. Cyber-criminals are very aggressive and may acquire these details, hence treating the security of users. Also, people may lose money and sensitive data.
The third threat is hacking. It is some parts or complete acquisition of functions within a system, website, or network. The main aim of offenders is to access vital individual data for their intended purpose. Accessing this valuable data may enable them to use for their advantage, for example, publicity gains. They mainly target government and corporation accounts. Therefore, negatively impacting government and corporations reputations. Besides, it causes significant financial loss.
The fourth prevalent cybercrime on social media is computer viruses. It is where cybercriminal devises methods and programs for infecting computers and systems. They use malware and viruses to destruct the functionality of computers, networks, and operations. Cyber-criminals have made malicious software; the user may install unknowingly. For instance, by clicking some adverts on YouTube or Facebook may result in crypto-mining malware installation on the user device. Thus, allowing offenders to access user data and use for their intended purpose. These viruses affect the standard functionality of the user device, for example, increasing power consumption. Besides, it strains CPU performance hence deteriorating enterprise equipment and draining IT resources, also causing additional costs.
In conclusion, there are many malpractices associated with the use of social media networks. Violating social media rules and regulations pose many drawbacks on the regular, professional, and business life of individuals. There is a need to consider the effects of cybercrimes on social media networks has it affect users’ privacy.