Cybercrime and Cyberbullying Cases that Increased Significantly during COVID-19 Outbreak

The present outbreak of the Coronavirus from China to everywhere in the world has made people and the general society highly vulnerable in every way. During this current pandemic, people are being forced to stay at home. This has resulted in more people than ever before relying on their mobile devices, computer systems, as well as the internet for communication, work, shopping, sharing, and receiving relevant information. This dependence on the internet and internet-enabled devices have minimized the effects of the pandemic, such as social distancing and the stay-at-home order.

1). Types of Cybercrime and other related crimes that increased significantly.

While law enforcement agents and other security entities have reported a reduction in physical crimes due to the stay at home order, the opposite can be said about cybercrimes, cyberbullying, domestic violence, and other related crimes.

Some of the cybercrimes that have shot through the roof are:

(a). Fraud Schemes: Because of the pandemic, supplies such as hand sanitizers, face masks, and gloves. This had thrown the opportunity to online fraudsters to take advantage of the panicking public. They put up fake online stores that claim to be selling these products. And then people pay online. They will take the money but never send any supplies to the supposed buyers. Even when they do send through some supplies, it is either counterfeit or substandard.

(b). Governments of most countries, such as the USA and Canada, are promising to pay their citizens some money to help them through this period of economic inactivity. However, there are not enough programs established to assist in efficiently distributing this money equally to several citizens. This way, people have no idea how to get access to the money. So, in some countries like Canada, available reports suggest that there have been rounds of fraudulent messages in the form of texts promising those who receive the messages a link to the government funds. It is reported that this scam is meant to get bank account information from members of the public who are careless with their data.

(c). Cyberattacks through Ransomware: Some attacks are way more malicious than others. They are directed towards hospitals and testing centers, forcing some activities of already strained health systems to be stopped. Like a recent cyberattack that had targeted a hospital in the European country, Czech Republic. The attack had reportedly forced the hospital to postpone their surgeries, forcing them to send patients with acute illnesses to alternative hospitals nearby. In the attacked hospital, the whole IT department was shut down, thereby crippling the primary health care provider, just as the outbreak of the coronavirus increased.

(d). Phishing and Malware: Phishing Campaigns, as well as malware sent from websites or documents which seem genuine that appear to provide advice or information about COVID-19, are typically used in the infection of computers in an attempt to extract essential and confidential information from unsuspecting users.

(e). Interception of valuable company information: Cybercriminals have been able to target hacking into the systems of big companies. They have been able to do this by attempting to target employees of these companies who are working from home with verified company log-in details.

(f). Spreading of fake news: Bad information and fake news such as figures of victims, treatments for co-vid 19, and other supposed important information are being spread by malicious individuals to cause panic, instability in the society, as well as distrusts in governments. They also create fake news to counter the measures being taken by the government.

(g). Cyberbullying: This is one of the cybercrimes that had steadily increased during the viral outbreak. Cyberbullying generally means abusive actions that are being done through electronic communication mediums. Examples of cyberbullying include harsh text emails or messages, rumor sent through emails or posted on popular social networking sites, as well as embarrassing pictures, websites, videos, or fake online profiles.