Online identity theft

Online identity theft

                                Abstract

What exactly is the meaning of identity theft? In the days gone by, the term used to refer to the use of any other person’s confidential information without their consent.

That, however, does not capture the entirety of what identity theft is all about. The exact definition is unlawful activities conducted by a person or persons using the private information of another individual or a fictitious person.

Once the person has successfully created the new identity, the possibility of the crimes he/she could commit is endless. These range from small-time ones such as doing online purchases using a fraudulent credit, to big ones such as creating ghost accounts at the bank to maximize their gains.

So what does an individual need to create a fake identity or take over another person’s profile? The documents and information needed are such as passports, place of birth and parents details, fingerprints, full names, taxpayer pin code, and social security numbers, among many others. Individuals must be extra cautious with this information because they could implicate themselves in significant crimes such as international terrorism.

The target for these criminals is far and wide extending to all work sectors such as civil servants, high ranking corporate officials, politicians, regular employees, and even private citizens. The crimes committed range from small ones such as laundering of illegally acquired money to major ones such as weapons smuggling and international terrorism.

This essay will go in-depth to discuss the methods and loopholes these criminals use to conduct identity theft. The article will focus mainly on online methods with which these crimes occur. The methods discussed here are:

• Use of Trojans
• Use of spyware
• Use of password cracking software
• Phishing

Use of Trojans

Trojans are normally computer programs whose main purposes are masked and can be used to extract valuable information from the host computer. Their classification is dependent on the function that they seek to perform, which includes; key loggers, password decoders, and backdoors. Note that the functions and programs of these online identity theft methods often overlap depending on the task it’s used for. Back doors mainly target windows explorer. The program waits for the user to attempt to open an account or enter valuable private information that it saves. This information is sent to another server whereby it is stored. Users should be careful and on the lookout for these programs, especially in this era of online banking.

Phishing

It is the highest reported method that is used to steal online information. It mainly involves the tricking of individuals into opening sites that are mainly scam. It also involves the fishing of information from users’ emails. This method is effective because the hackers gain information by scaring the public. They do this by claiming that a certain service (electricity, phone bill, etc.) will stop working if the individual does not comply. They provide a link in the email for the victim o follow hence the attack. Phishing may be classified into 1) Spoofing-creating fake websites and email links. 2) Pharming- redirecting a legitimate host website to a fake website. 3) Redirectors- taking a user to a site he did not wish to visit. 4) Advance fee fraud- tricking a user into thinking they won a large amount of money.

Spyware and Crime-ware

This is a common method that involves the installation of a program on a victim’s computer to track the interactions between him and the machine. They are used to intercept the private information of a user and send it to other parties to commit crimes or fraud. If it is used specifically for the purpose described above, then it’s referred to as a crime-ware.

Key loggers and password crackers

Key loggers are programs that track the information entered into a computer by monitoring the keystrokes. The data for key loggers can either be stored on the host computer or sent to the hacker directly. Key loggers, depending on the program, may enable the perpetrator to view screenshots of what the victim is working on. Most common key loggers are physical such as USB devices.

Conclusion

From the essay, it has been made clear that identity theft is prevalent in today’s digital world. Online data theft is the most common compared to all the other types of identity theft. It is, therefore, paramount that the public gets an education on ways in which they can combat it.

References

Marjie T. Britz. “Computer forensics and cybercrime.” 3rd edition pp 115-137