With the increasing usage of the internet, the incidences of cybercrimes have also been increasing exponentially.

What is Cybercrime?

Cybercrime is the act of attacking the functions of the computer, assess to a computer or the internet. Examples of cybercrime include hacking into computers and sending viruses and worms to others

However, Cybercrime can also be simply defined as an illegal activity committed on the internet. With this definition, Cybercrime can be divided into 3 categories:

Cybercrime against people

Cybercrime against property

Cybercrime against government

cybercrime related news in singapore includes online piracy

Although we know that downloading movies and music on the internet without paying is illegal, we still continue to practice intellectual property theft (article)

Another cybercrime related news is regarding ATM scams, where the personal information of individuals are misused. Recently, it was reported that 8 Romanians were jailed for using blank and cloned atm cards to withdraw money from UOB and OCBC. (article)

Another credit card fraud involved bogus credit card orders from Singapore to the US (article)

So how can we protect ourselves from cybercrimes and protect our personal information?

~keep your computer current with the latest updates

~choose strong passwords and keep them safe

~protect your computer with security software such as anti-virus programs and a good firewall

~protect your personal information

~online offers that are look too good to be true usually are

~review bank and credit card statement regularly

~not responding to suspicious looking email attachments or advertisements