Digital crime : Understanding threats and How to stay safe online
ABSTRACT
Imagine you wakeup and find your all personal and important information is on internet and everyone see it which is not good for you because anyone can use that information in negative way and also make profit from it which harm your life and may also harm your surrounding.
So its all come under digital crime day by day we make a habit of using internet for our daily life and it’s also helpus to find solution in for our daily life but sometime we get scammed or we click on wrong links or share OTP to others because of that someone able to get our mobile access and get our information which comes under
“ Digital Crime”
INFORMATION
In this era every person life is connected with Internet , Digital crime has emerge as the one of the most faster-Growing threats all over the world . Digital Crime take place on laptops , mobile phones , social media and games we play and digital crime don’t target only rich people only anyone like Student’s , employees anyone become target who use internet in daily life. Children and Teenagers become the easy target because they spend most of the time on Internet . Public Wi-Fi is also risky. Hackers can easily steal passwords and banking details from such network.
What is Digital Crime ?
Digital Crime is also known as Cyber Crime. Digital Crime refers to unlawful acts carry through Internet Networks involving hacking , online fraud , cyberbullying and other activities that harm individual , business and system
Although it is universally agreed cybercrime exists but there is not any universal definition what it means . Terms including cybercrime , computer crime , cloud – crime , computer misuse can refer to any internet and computer related criminal activities.
It is widely accepted that cybercrime is highly prevalent and increasing. A recent report suggests that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) record around 80 billion automated scans daily by online perpetrators with the aim of identifying targets for cybercrime (Lewis, 2018), and in the year ending September 2019, 1 million ‘computer misuse’ crimes were reportedly committed against households in England and Wales (National Crime Agency [NCA], 2020). Online crime is growing not only in incidence but also as a percentage of all crimes. The Crime Survey for England and Wales reports an increasing proportion of recorded crimes being ‘flagged’ by police as online crime, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that such ‘flags’ remain under-used (Office for National Statistics [ONS], 2017, 2018, 2019a).[1]
Common Types of Digital Crime
- Identity Theft
- Online Financial Frauds
- Hacking and Unauthorized Access
- Cyberbullying
- Data Breaches
- Online Fraudulent Content
- Malware
Impact of Digital Crime
Impact of Digital Crime in our daily life is that it affect Financial Security , emotional, psychological and social well-being .
There is we can see the loss of money and assets in Digital Crime. When there is any type of digital crime happen to a person there is that person loss trust on digital system and we can also see there is a fear and anxiety when a person get stuck in digital scam .
How to Protect yourself from Digital Crime
- Use Strong Passwords
Use passwords which no one able to guess and use hard keywords . While making passwords make sure don’t use your name or dates like date of birth
- Keep Your software Update
Running the latest version of your software ensures you have the most recent security. Cybercriminals often exploit known vulnerabilities in outdated software to gain access to your system. Keeping your operating system, apps, and antivirus tools up to date makes it much harder for them to succeed.
- Manage Your Social Media Settings
Adjust your social media privacy setting to limit of personal information that is publicly visible. Cyber Criminal can gather information from your social media just like your family details and other personal details so when you share anything on your social media make sure you share that thing like that the other person can’t get any information from that and also do privacy setting on your social media so no one able to take access .
4. Keep up to date on major security breaches
Staying informed about security breaches helps you to act quickly if your information is exposed. If a company you do business with experiences a data breach, find out what information was compromised. Change your passwords immediately, enable two-factor authentication, and monitor your credit and accounts for signs of identity theft
- Monitor Your Bank Statements
Check your bank statements regularly.
If you see any unfamiliar statement you should have to take action against that immediately . Catching Fraud early allows you to act quickly and reduce the risk of financial loss.
- Protect Your personal information online
Protecting your personal information online is key to reducing your exposure to cybercrime. Oversharing on social media or exposing sensitive data can give cybercriminals the clues they need to launch spear phishing attacks, guess your security questions, or break into financial and social media accounts.
To stay safe, limit what you share publicly and take steps to remove personal information from the internet, such as old addresses, phone numbers, or other data that criminals could use to impersonate you.
- Don’t click on Suspicious links
To protect against phishing , avoid clicking on the suspicious link , especially from unknown senders . You should be particularly wary of messages with generic greetings or urgent language, as these are common tactics for tricking people into giving up personal information.[2]
Why Digital Crime Is Increasing
Digital Crime increase because of use of the internet . In today life every single person use internet in there daily life even for small work . Take a example of students . students use Ai or Internet for there school work but they don’t know how to properly use it which is harmful . On other hand we can take example of youth and teenager’s they want to earn money and they use online platforms for that and give all access to that platforms just in sake of money without knowing all information and got scammed . There are the main problem is that everyone use internet but no one know how to properly use internet. There are 68% to 74% of the world population use the internet in 2024-2025. But when a survey done in America there are 80% of Americans couldn’t correctly explain how the internet works . So the main reason of increasing of the digital crime is that the many people who use internet didn’t know how to properly use it .
CONCLUSION
Digital crime has become a part of our everyday life, and most of the time, we don’t even realize how close these threats are. We use the internet for studying, working, shopping, talking to friends — it’s connected to almost everything we do. But the same technology that makes our life easier can also cause serious harm if we are not careful.
Many people fall into online traps just because they don’t fully understand how the internet works or how their information can be misused. That’s why staying alert is not optional anymore — it’s necessary. Simple habits like using strong passwords, checking bank statements, thinking before clicking a link, and keeping our accounts private can protect us more than we realize.
At the end of the day, staying safe online is not about being scared, but about being smart. When we learn how to use the internet responsibly and help others do the same, we create a safer digital world for ourselves and for everyone around us. The more aware we are, the harder it becomes for digital criminals to harm us.