Cyber Crime
-Given the use of the internet by terror groups to recruit fighters and spread propaganda, would you advocate greater government control over internet content, granting agencies a free hand to shut down websites? Would the government use this new power for something other than controlling terror?
-Cyber Crime
Briefly discuss efforts to control various forms of cyber crime
Student identified efforts to control various forms of cyber crime.
-This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Cyber terrorism
Student presented their opinion on whether or not the government should be granted authority to shut down websites facilitating terrorism. The student also discussed the possibility of the government using this power for reasons other than combating terror.
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Cyber Crime
I would advocate for greater government control over internet content in the fight against terrorism. This because the government would have an upper hand in combating terrorism before it actually happens. The government would get prior info on terror rings through intelligence which would be gathered online. It would therefore, reduce terrorism related activities such as recruitment of new members, planning of terrorism related activities and also help in investigations and with increased investigation the government would have access to information that establishes the motive of this organized crime.
The government should grant agencies a free hand to shut down websites. Prior to shut down of these websites however, investigations need to be carried out and if evidence is found that the websites are a potential threat, then they need to be shut down. These agencies could also offer intelligence to government that can help it in solving cyber crime which would otherwise be cumbersome to investigate in the absence of the bodies.
The government should also use this new power to combat other crimes. In the recent past, there has been a steady rise in internet based crimes. Therefore, there is need to put more emphasis on fighting these crimes. The crimes include online impersonation which is the use of another person’s identity without their consent and using this identity to make a recipient that the message is actually coming from the individual who is impersonated (Cleaveland, 2020). Cyber bulling is another crime which has been on the rise. In this form of crime, a person uses the internet especially social media to harass another individual. The power can also be used to fight child pornography, children trafficking rings and online solicitation rings. Government involvement in other cyber crimes apart from terrorism would mean expanding the government’s scope of investigation as well as ensuring the fight on these crimes is efficient since the government gets to know about these crimes in real time.
The fight against cyber crime can be divided into two; individual efforts in the control of cyber crime and government effort in the fight against cyber crime. Individual effort includes the use of an internet security suite that provides real time protection from malware such as viruses. The suite prevents access to your financial and private info when you are online (Buono, 2014, p. 2). Use of strong passwords prevents access to individual information such as email addresses. Keeping software updated reduces exploits and flaws in your system which would otherwise be exploited by cybercriminals to access to your system. An individual should also take note of security breaches in their system. If a system breach happens to occur, the individual should find out what information was accessed and take mitigation actions such as changing passwords. Finally, an individual should always avoid sharing personal information over the internet. This information could be used by an identity thief to access your information.
Government efforts in combating cyber crime involve using government bodies. In the United States for instance, the government uses the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). The bodies conduct research and training on existing cyber crime to establish methods being used by the criminals and in the long run curb their operations (Buono, 2014, p. 5). Possible risk areas include computer malware, financial frauds and telecommunication scams. The government bodies also come up with cyber security frameworks. The aim of this is to come up with effective and flexible protection solutions against cyber crime for individuals, corporations and government.
References
Buono, L. (2014). Fighting cybercrime through prevention, outreach and awareness raising. ERA Forum, 15(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-014-0333-4
Cleaveland, P. (2020, June 18). What is the government doing to counter cybercrime? Enterprise IoT Insights. https://enterpriseiotinsights.com/20180924/channels/fundamentals/what-is-the-government-doing-to-counter-cybercrime
