Categories of Cyber Crime

Cyber crimes are broadly categorized into three categories, namely crime against

Individual
Property
Government

Each category can use a variety of methods and the methods used vary from one criminal to another.

Individual:

This type of cyber crime can be in the form of cyber stalking, distributing pornography, trafficking and “grooming”. Today, law enforcement agencies are taking this category of cyber crime very seriously and are joining forces internationally to reach and arrest the perpetrators.

Property:

Just like in the real world where a criminal can steal and rob, even in the cyber world criminals resort to stealing and robbing. In this case, they can steal a person’s bank details and siphon off money; misuse the credit card to make numerous purchases online; run a scam to get naive people to part with their hard earned money; use malicious software to gain access to an organization’s website or disrupt the systems of the organization. The malicious software can also damage software and hardware, just like vandals damage property in the offline world.

Government:

Although not as common as the other two categories, crimes against a government are referred to as cyber terrorism. If successful, this category can wreak havoc and cause panic amongst the civilian population. In this category, criminals hack government websites, military websites or circulate propaganda. The perpetrators can be terrorist outfits or unfriendly governments of other nations.