Digital Forensics: What is Cybercrime and its Different Types

Cybercrime is any illegal activity that is performed by the use of a connected device such as a computer, laptop, mobile, etc. This blog illustrates different types of cybercrime and also mentions its examples.

Different Types of Cybercrime

Internal Attack

When a cyber-attack is performed by an internal entity of an organization. e.g. deletion of the base code of the company's website by a disgruntled employee of that organization

External Attack

When a cyber attack is performed by an external entity by exploiting vulnerabilities in the IT system. e.g. defacement of the website by exploiting web-based vulnerabilities

Examples of Cybercrimes

Example	Description
Cyberwarfare	Try to get the secrets of an individual organization or nation from an attacker
Phishing/Spoofing	Clone the existing IT system/website to trick genuine users
Espionage	Data is deleted, updated, and viewed by an unauthorised entity
Cyberterrorism	Try all the combinations of strings to crack the secret of any IT system
Brute-force Attack	Use of cyber tools by terrorists against entity/organisation
Cyber Defamation	Defame the entity by using Internet technologies
Data Manipulation	Software turned into malware that is used by an employee
Intellectual Property Theft	Intellectual Property owned by an organization stolen by an attacker
Denial of Service Attack	Bombard IT system with useless requests to prevent access of genuine users
Trojan Horse Attack	The software turned into malware that is used by an employee