What is a Cyber Threat and who are Cybercriminals?
Cyber Threat is the possibility of a malicious attempt to damage or disrupt a computer network or system like the internet. Cyber threat has become a major cause for concerns, because we are now so dependent on the internet to do so many important things daily, like banking, paying bills, communicating with friends and family, shopping, applying for a job, and a lot of other important things.
The internet has made so many things easier to do that businesses and people have flocked to it. Public information on the internet is accessible from anywhere in the world; even from outer space.
With the ever increasing number of people going online, scammers, phishers, malware creators and hackers have also flocked to it to carry out their malicious activities.
It is these scammers, phishers, malware creators and hackers we call cybercriminals. A cybercriminal is like any other criminal, they just commit their crimes on the internet or online.
When these cybercriminals carry out their malicious tasks, we call it a cyber attack. Cyber attaches are almost impossible or difficult to trace because the internet has no borders, making it is harder police.
With a few strokes of a button, cybercriminals can rob thousands of persons of their hard-earned money, cause havoc by shutting down government's or private sector's computer systems , steal personal/financial information or infect thousands of computers with a virus or spyware.
Now, because of all these potential cyber threats, countries around the world spend billions of dollars annually to improve their information technology network infrastructure, by hiring ethical hackers, updating security software regularly, educating persons about online safety and other vital things that are needed to protect against cyber threats.
Check the comment section for additional information, or share what you know or ask a question about this article, by clicking the 'View or Write Comment' button below.
Note: Some of the information in samples on this website may have been impersonated or spoofed.