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The Most Common Forms of Cybercrime | Giving Old Tech a new Life


By Chandan Singh 0 Comment January 27, 2018

The Most Common Forms of Cybercrime | Giving Old Tech a new Life –

Cybercriminal is any criminal activity, where the object as a target and/or tool is a computer or network device.

Cybercriminal is any criminal activity, where the object as a target and/or tool is a computer or network device.In some cybercrimes, direct attacks are carried out on computers or other devices for the purpose of disabling.In others, computers are used to distribute malware, illegal information, images and other materials. 

To divide cybercrimes into separate categories is not so simple because there are many suppressions, but in general, the following types can be distinguished:

Financially-oriented cybercrime

No wonder that many cybercriminals use the Internet to obtain commercial benefits by carrying out the following types of attacks:


Cyber matters like to collect low-hanging fruit when it is possible to infect computers of unsuspecting victims.In such schemes, e-mail is a favorite means of cybercriminals.The essence of the method consists in forcing the recipient of the letter to go to a link on behalf of a legitimate organization (bank, tax service, popular online store, etc.).In such cases, the purpose, often, is the mastery of banking data.


Another popular method of financial-oriented cybercriminal is extortion. As a rule, at first the user or the company, after downloading the malware, blocks the files, and then receives a proposal for restoration in exchange for monetary compensation (usually in the form of bitcoins or another cryptocurrency).

Financial fraud

Most sophisticated schemes of financial fraud involve the hacking of computer systems of retail operators in order to obtain bank data about customers (so-called target attacks) or subsequent manipulation of the information received.Some types of financial fraud are extremely difficult to detect.

Cybercrimes associated with intrusion into privacy

There are several types of similar cybercrime, the purpose of which is the theft of personal confidential information.Although often the attackers are driven by a deeper motivation (for example, money or associated with a change in political sentiment), the focus is on circumventing laws and finding gaps in technologies that protect personal confidential information.

Theft of personal data

Theft of personal information usually occurs for the purpose of the subsequent substitution of the identity of a person or a group of people.Although some intruders steal passports or other ID cards for physical substitution of the person, basically the theft of personal data occurs exclusively on the Internet.

For example, someone who wants to get a bank loan can steal a person’s personal information with a good credit history.


The purpose of espionage, ranging from hacking individual computers or devices and ending with illegal mass surveillance, is the secret tracking of our personal lives.This can be both physical espionage (for example, using a web or CCTV cameras to monitor individuals or groups of people), and mass monitoring of various types of communications (reading mail, text messaging, SMS, and so on).

Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is one of the most common forms of cybercrime.First of all, this includes the laying out of music, photos, films, books, etc., in general, without the consent of the authors.


Spam is an extremely common and multivariate type of cybercrime.This includes mass mailing by e-mail, SMS, messengers and other communication channels.Any mailing without the consent of the recipients can be attributed to spam.

Social and politically motivated cybercrime

Some types of cybercrime are aimed at changing moods in the political environment or causing intentional harm or reducing the impact of individuals or groups of people.

Crimes of hate and harassment

Crimes in the mail of hatred towards a person or a group of people are usually committed on the basis of gender, race, religion, the nationality of sexual orientation and other signs.Examples: harassment and sending offensive messages and throwing in the false news about a certain group of people.

Anonymity and easy access to the Internet seriously hamper the fight against hate crimes.


Extremist groups and belligerent peoples are increasingly using cyberspace to intimidate, spread propaganda and sometimes inflict harm on IT infrastructures.Increasing the number of businesses, services, and devices available through the Internet will undoubtedly provoke new cases of cyberterrorism.


The use of computers and connected devices for harassment, humiliation, and intimidation of individuals falls under the category of cyberbullying.The boundary between cyberbullying and some forms of hate crimes is often blurred.Some forms of cyberbullying (for example, throwing naked photos) may be subject to illegal actions (for example, the exploitation of children).

Cybercrime related to unlawful actions

The Internet bad name also called “dark web” (or deep Internet) is used to commit various kinds of illegal actions.
(Cyberops, Cyberops Infosec, VAPT, Cyber Security, Ethical Hacking, Secured Application Development)

Illegal Pornography

The spread of pornography through the Internet in many countries is treated as a cybercrime, in others – only the prohibition of extremist content occurs.The distribution of images with child pornography is prohibited in most countries.


Network grooming is associated with sexual harassment before minors.In the process, various methods of communication can be used: SMS, social networks, e-mail, chats (for example, in online games) and forums.In many countries, grooming falls under the category of cybercrime.

Spread of drugs and weapons

Various IT solutions used to distribute legitimate goods and services can also be used by intruders.For example, the darknet markets that exist on the World Wide Web help smugglers sell weapons and drugs and at the same time remain out of sight of law enforcement agencies.

Ways to carry out attacks

There are four most common ways that cybercriminals use.The first, which many people are afraid of – the use of malicious programs.You probably understand that there are many methods of operating systems, and how important it is to use various security measures, for example, to install long passwords and make regular updates.This type of attack is based on the abuse of computers and networks.

The second way is DDOS attacks when an attacker uses a communication network protocol to create a huge number of requests to the server or service.In this type of attack, the main goal is to disable the object of influence.

The third way is a combination of social engineering and malicious code.The most well-known form of this type of attack is phishing, when the victim is forced to do certain actions (clicking on a link in an email, visiting a site, etc.), which subsequently leads to infection of the system using the first method.

The fourth way is illegal activities: harassment, distribution of illegal content, grooming, etc. In this case, intruders hide their tracks through anonymous profiles, encrypted messages, and other similar technologies.

As you can see, cybercrime includes a wide range of illegal acts, ranging from fraud and identity theft to hate crimes and the spread of drugs.Between these species, there are many intersections, and it is difficult to draw an exact boundary.For example, a phishing attack can be aimed at stealing personal information.At the same time, a fake person can later be used to get money, drug smugglers or even terrorists.It is important to understand that cybercrimes are not always associated with sophisticated schemes and do not always affect “deep Internet”.The best method of protecting against cyber attacks is to keep abreast of current threats.

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