In the Internets 20 years in existence it has became a center of commerce, culture, and communication, a medium through which we stay connected with friends and the entire world. However, the anonymous environment of cyberspace has become a haven for many types of online criminals. The criminalization of the Internet has arisen in many distinct forms, including cyber bullying, identity theft and fraud.
Cyber bullying is a widely debated topic, controversial because of the pain and suffering it can anonymously insert and also the trend that it is almost purely mental abuse. There are many ways people can cyber bully, people can post compromising media: such as pictures, videos or audio clips that can spread like wildfire through the lightning quick ways of the Internet. So even though the saying goes, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” words are still very tormenting and the cause of great pain to many. There have been many suicides and murders linked to the internet, people have gotten tired of being cyber bullied and taken it to people face to face which has led to shootings and assaults. People feel more powerful when they are hidden behind the safety of the Internet, they do and say things that they would never think about doing non-anonymously.
Before the Internet, identity theft was a lot harder for people to do. There are various levels of identity theft. It ranges from people making fake accounts pretending to be someone they are not to people stealing every piece of private information they can get, and than using that to either threaten for ransom, or use it to gain access to more information like bank accounts and other personal web effects. Identity theft has left many people feeling very hopeless, it’s hard to argue that someone is not you when they have your social security number, your address and all your other personal information. Much like banks are a large cache of money and valuables, the Internet is a large cache of personal information ready for the taking. Many people who are not aware of the possibilities of the Internet and who are unaware of the danger it possesses end up getting their identity or valuable information stolen. Due to the ease of online banking and other accounts that can be set up for monetary transactions, many people use the internet to make account transfers and buy all types of things from websites like EBay or Amazon along with most big companies have website selling their products.
There are many types of fraud, but Internet fraud is by far the easiest and most efficient way. Again the anonymity of the Internet is a large factor along with the ability to reach masses of people with only a few clicks of a mouse. Fraud can be preformed in many various methods, people can have fake websites selling you items, but once you make your purchase all your information could have been stolen. People can also be tricked and not even know they have been had by fraud, there have been cases where access to peoples accounts have been gained and the clever criminals just siphon small increments of money out at a time so that the victims are unbeknownst as to what is happening, this act of fraud could be compared to slow and steady wins the race, rather than taking one large sum that’s very noticeable they slowly grow their fortune.
Cyber bullying, identity theft, and fraud are all cons of the Internet. Based on what has been written the Internet may be conceived as the worst thing to have hit the world ever, but along with all the bad the Internet has, it contains a lot of good and useful ways to do almost anything. Information on nearly anything is at your fingertips, connecting with people just about anywhere is easy, banking can be done whenever wherever, the aforementioned things and many others are the pros of the Internet. In closing the Internet can do great harm or be very helpful, so depending on how it is used it can be the greatest tool you have or the most dangerous.
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