Cyber-crime - Have you experienced it?

Every single time we use the Internet, we are actually opening ourselves to possible risks of becoming the next cyber-crime victim.

According to a new study carried out by Symantec consumer division Norton, revealed that 70% of Internet users in Singapore have fallen victim to cyber-crimes, including computer viruses, online credit card fraud and identity theft.

Despite the prevalance of cyber-crimes in the recent years, the study showed that about 71% of internet users do not expect cyber-crime criminals to be brought to justice. Many have experienced such cyber-crimes and choose to keep quiet about it. This is being termed as the silent digital epidemic.

Although cyber-crime can be prevented with security softwares, along with the use of multiple passwords and the regular updates of these passwords, we cannot be totally free from cyber-crime because many such criminals operate from other countries.

In 2007, one serious case of cyber-crime was being reported and the criminal was nabbed. The Singapore hacker, Lin Zhenghuang, 21, was charged with posting a fake bomb threat on a technology website after successfully hacking it, and 60 counts of illegally accessing nine wireless networks between July 2005 and February 2006. This resulted in 180 years in prison. To add on to that, he was fined US$6500 for each charge. He has been charged with violating Singapore's Computer Misuse Act.

From this case, we can see how serious cyber-crime can be. In fact, I feel that the Internet might be used by terrorists in the near future to recruit new terrorists and to change people's opinions and perspectives. This could result in serious wars. We might have anti-virus programs and softwares, but how are we going to fight against cyber terrorism?

Governments at all levels should require its contractors to have advanced security measures in place. This is because the federal government is usually the nation's largest consumer. If it steps up its cyber-security requirements, most companies will follow suit. This serves to enhance cyber-security of business and government networks online.