Would You Agree That Social Networks Such as, Twitter, Facebook and Myspace Contribute Significantly to the High Increase of Cyber Crimes?
Would you agree that social networks such as, twitter, facebook and myspace contribute significantly to the high increase of cyber crimes?
The world of online social interactivity has undergone a sea of change which has been highlighted by the continued rise in the importance and increased usage of social networking sites on the Internet. Unfortunately, the increasing popularity of cyber communities, such as social networks, has been accompanied by an equivalent growth of cyber crimes. As social networking continues to modernize and change in nature, so to have cyber crime activities, adapted to this change. Cyber crime has become a deadly and silent epidemic across the globe and ranks as one of the top four (4) economic crimes ("Price waterhouse coopers"). The most intriguing aspect of modern cyber crimes is that most of them are not being newly created, but are in fact greatly adapting to today’s cyber society and virtual environments, which has however, contributed to the high increase of cyber crimes.
Social Networks such as Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumblr have grown at impressive rates with online usage statistics, providing powerful figures that suggests social networking is here to stay. Today 1.5 billion people across the world have their profiles in social networking sites (Das, and Sahoo). As of April 2012, Facebook has reached a capacity of 900 plus million active users (Touryalai) and it is reported that for every six minutes a user spends on the Internet, one of these minutes is spent on social networking (Nelms).
In tandem with this drastic social networking growth, so to have the attacks through social networking sites increased. Cyber criminals target and will continue targeting social networking to take advantage of the immense online user capacity which such sites encompass. Social networking sites have eclipsed web-based email for cyber crimes and these sites are now rated as the third most preferred medium of attacks.
The world of online social interactivity has undergone a sea of change which has been highlighted by the continued rise in the importance and increased usage of social networking sites on the Internet. Unfortunately, the increasing popularity of cyber communities, such as social networks, has been accompanied by an equivalent growth of cyber crimes. As social networking continues to modernize and change in nature, so to have cyber crime activities, adapted to this change. Cyber crime has become a deadly and silent epidemic across the globe and ranks as one of the top four (4) economic crimes ("Price waterhouse coopers"). The most intriguing aspect of modern cyber crimes is that most of them are not being newly created, but are in fact greatly adapting to today’s cyber society and virtual environments, which has however, contributed to the high increase of cyber crimes.
Social Networks such as Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumblr have grown at impressive rates with online usage statistics, providing powerful figures that suggests social networking is here to stay. Today 1.5 billion people across the world have their profiles in social networking sites (Das, and Sahoo). As of April 2012, Facebook has reached a capacity of 900 plus million active users (Touryalai) and it is reported that for every six minutes a user spends on the Internet, one of these minutes is spent on social networking (Nelms).
In tandem with this drastic social networking growth, so to have the attacks through social networking sites increased. Cyber criminals target and will continue targeting social networking to take advantage of the immense online user capacity which such sites encompass. Social networking sites have eclipsed web-based email for cyber crimes and these sites are now rated as the third most preferred medium of attacks.
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