When The Codes Play Foul, It is Mankind That Gets Affected The Most

Technology has transformed our lives to a great extent. Smart technologies today help students as well as scholars to extract information in almost no time for the purpose of their study, anybody in a new place could make use of GPS to track location and the problem of getting lost is no longer there, now the very process of diagnosis is enhanced to an extent that was probably not possible a few decades ago and also there are online shopping and banking facilities available, thanks to the technological advancements. 

The Growing Concerns

Looking at The Other Side of Digitisation

But there are some concerns which need to be addressed and the problems are proliferating with the time. 

• There are hackers and fraudsters who never miss an opportunity to commit crimes that hamper both the personal as well as the social lives of the victims.
• Hackers are capable of gaining control of cars and they can even cause a shut down of an entire electric grid, disrupting lives of many. 
• Next there are cyberthieves who never pause before illegally acquiring the personal details and empty bank accounts or even make online purchases by using credit cards. 

• There have been cases around the world which give us instances of fraudulent activities. Cars that were connected with the internet was a big thing 
• But the excitement faded when there came cases where hackers gained control of the cars leading to several mishaps and accidents. 

The Extent to Which Hackers can Go

Next in line, we have 

• The Internet of Things where there is a network and objects connected to each other. 
• This network of connected objects helps in the sending and receiving of different data which could include equipment meant for diagnosis purpose or any kind of home appliances like coffee makers and so on. 
• The connected environment creates new scope for cyber criminals and they get the golden opportunity to collect information and harm the users by means of various fraudulent activities. 
• Cases could revolve around immobilising devices by the use of malicious software and data could be encrypted and money could be demanded to get the decryption key back. 
• It is an  easy process as the security features that come in with the systems are not many and in absence of built-in security malicious attackers can get access without too much of a trouble.  

Some Real-Life Instances 

The number of vulnerable devices is increasing with the continuous expansion of the digitised world. 

• The malicious attackers never give a second thought before they commit the crimes. 
• There have been instances where hackers have shut down the systems meant for the purpose of diagnosis at the hospitals and had demanded ransom in return. 
• In western Ukraine, there had been a case where a power grid had been the target of the hackers and the result was that thousands of people were left without electricity. 
• In Germany, a steel mill had been the target, and that had led to enormous damage being done to the foundry. 

Cybercrimes are increasing in number because companies are going online and they are doing little to deal with cybersecurity issues.

• For instance, there had been a theft case of some millions of dollars from the central bank of Bangladesh and it was a big loss for a country like that. 
• Situations could arise where the global financial system could be adversely affected.

Looking The Economic Way

Study reveals the fact that the GDP of the countries where innovative inventions drive the economic growth could be affected to a great extent

• This also implies the fact that the economic health of the nation could be adversely affected. 
• This is driving the demand for cybersecurity measures whose value could reach up to several billion dollars in the coming years.

This was all about the global scenario of what had happened and what could happen as a result of the malicious activities of the hackers. The increase in the number of connected devices and the lack of in-built security features could add to the problem. Moreover in this world where digitisation is playing an active part and everything from business to shopping to payments is going online, a widened scope is being created for the cybercriminals. 

Final Note

We got a brief view of the past incidents, the present situation and the future occurrences that might take place as  result of the fraudulent activities of the cybercriminals. We should be more careful about the devices that are connected, that is to say the IoT devices and keep an eye out while handling the financial dealings, that could save the world to some extent.