The rise and evolution of social media has changed the definition of communication and social interaction. Cybercrime has breached social media networks thanks to both increased users and increased use. Hackers look for opportunities to gain access to peoples accounts personal or financial information typically through suspicious links or downloads different social media platform such as: Facebook twitter have brought a revolutionary change in the way internet is used for both personal and professional purposes. Every good this has some drawbacks and loopholes and it is advised to be aware about those loopholes before getting trapped inside of those loopholes. The term cyber crime is confirmed as the official crime term as criminals have been more aggressive over the internet and become a threat to millions of internet users who consider social media as part of their lives. These paper will focus on the effects.
Firstly, identity theft is the key threat to many social media users as millions of online users use their personal information in order to get registered with one or more social media platforms. Such huge information with personal data of so many people is one of the easiest targets for many cyber criminals. Many users are also provided information about their credit or debit card and use those cards to purchase different products items or services through these social media platforms and thus have to pay the price after being victims of cyber crime at different social media platforms .many people have then been forced to deactivate their various accounts.
Secondly businesses also suffer from cyber crimes. All businesses that operate online have to deal with cyber-crime one way or another. For businesses with complex or sensitive operations this often involves hiring a cyber-security consultant to develop a customized solution. not only are the upfront costs of protection expensive but the systems must be tested and monitored regularly to ensure that they are still effective against emerging cyber-attacks. these costs are often passed on to the customer through higher prices of goods and services. Businesses can be deliberately attacked because they have a high profile and posses valuable data or there is some other publicity benefit in a successful attack.
To add social media accounts are sometimes hacked with the sole intention of using it as a way to generate fake accounts to ensnare even more web users. Once they set up a fake account they can then ask users to send them money perhaps with the goal of winning a prize or getting free cryptocurrency deposited into their account.
Social media users usually post their personal activities for example they are having dinner or going somewhere for vacations. Criminals look for this type of information to find easy targets where they find large time frame to burgle the property and therefore leave the victims with nothing. Social media provides a great platform for spreading viruses and malware. Developers of malware and viruses hide their destructive programs in links attachments and messages which is a normal task in any social networking website. Once users respond to them the malware infects their computers without them even knowing.
The stalking inside the cyber world by using the social media or any other online medium which may cause feelings of irritation abuse and emotionally anxiety to the victim is cyber-stalking. in the U.S.A one woman out of twelve and one man out of forty-five will be stalked in their lifetime. Moores article reflected upon the fact that female of ages between 18 and 29 are mainly the victims of cyber-stalking but females in general are not always the target. a survey at the university of Pennsylvania shows that 56 of cyber-stalking victims are male. according to the bureau of justice statistics bjs [24] every 14 out of 1000 persons at the age of 18 are victims of stalking and around 1 out of 4 victims complaints about some sort of cyber-stalking in form of e-mail and instant messaging. according to [25] one out of ten Americans has experience of online harassment and 7 of American adults have faced cyber-stalking.
Disaster fraud is a criminal activity in which criminals deceive private organizations individuals or the government bodies after a disaster. it can be done in many forms by a single person or a group of people. common examples of disaster fraud include homeowners increasing damage estimates for personal gain against insurance or government fund. millions of people are affected in natural disaster such as earthquake tornado hurricane flood or man-made terror attacks worldwide. people lose their property home or blood relatives and friends. in the aftermath of these disasters organizations such as red cross united nations and world health organization provide their services to help victims as much as they can. unfortunately criminals see these disasters as an opportunity for their personal gains. they make forge insurance claims and seek for financial assistance.
In conclusion cyber crime has brought various effects on the social media platforms as these have been the arena where several businesses take place and thus huge losses have been incurred since various businesses accounts have been hacked and confidential information obtained. individuals also have had to deactivate their accounts after being victims of identity theft. private organizations have also incurred losses due to disaster fraud by individuals who have done it for personal gain.
