The Dark Web (Part 1
Crime has always fascinated me. During the pandemic I
revisited Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. I would also look for crime
stories in the newspaper. In the last one-year cybercrime incidents have risen.
Coincidentally, I got the opportunity to enrol for a Cyber Crime Intervention
Officer (CCIO) training. It was very interesting. Being a Counsellor I had the
opportunity to explore the mindset behind such crimes- of that of the criminal
and the victim.
The cyber world is still mysterious to most of us. How much
do we even know about the Dark and Deep web? Like the poisonous legs of the
tarantula spider, the dark web can be fatal.
Being cooped up within the four walls, with no social interaction,
so many intelligent minds were diverted. With just a smartphone and the
Internet one can ‘do’ mindboggling stuff (legal and illegal). I learned that
ethical hacking is a paradox.
Children as young as the sixth graders are lured into coding
by corporate educational giants. Left unsupervised, the internet and the device
are deadly weapons of destruction.
During the pandemic online sale of narcotics and child pornography
reached an all-time high.
Senior citizens who are learning the ropes of the cyber
world have fallen prey to ‘innocuous’ messages and mails. Many have had their
bank accounts wiped off completely. Money earned over five decades gone away in
the blink of an eye!
What leads one to do such ghastly acts of crime?
Cyber-crime has several categories.
The most common is phishing mails. The sender sends
thousands of mails which would require an ‘urgent’ action, or the mail would
lure one to ‘click’ on a particular link for a reward. Here the motives are
either financial gain or to hack into computers. Hacking into computers could
be politically motivated too. There are many groups who are very conservative
or ideologically motivated. They manipulate young or vulnerable minds using
religion/conspiracy theories. It is very interesting to note how a person can
be manipulated. Consistent doses of the ideology/conspiracy theory invade the
victim’s mailbox or social media page and eat into the logical mind.
Cybercrime also involves trolling, bullying
via memes etc. The intentions can vary from bullying/ ideological differences
and ‘just for fun’. The last factor is very common amongst the idle young
populace. Most youngsters want to be popular and receive a huge number of
‘likes’. One person casually remarked
that if a person puts himself/herself on social media then his/her life is no
longer private.
It is fascinating to note how we become victims.
·
That dopamine rush on seeing the words- gift/
reward/ you can be the lucky winner…
·
The consumerist behaviour- greed to make quick
money and live up to the Joneses.
·
The overconfidence that we would not get cheated
blinds us to errors.
·
That desperation to be recognised or be part of
a ‘group’.
Unfortunately, being a grey world of crime, here the
criminals get away as it is extremely difficult to nab them. They are after all
in the ‘cloud’. This makes them bolder and creative. Being sinister behind the
veil of the ‘cloud’ empowers the wicked mind.
What are the consequences faced by victims and how do we
protect ourselves?
To be continued….
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