An issue that has troubled the people since a long time is identity theft. Many people have fallen victim to these types of frauds, where they are impersonated, and various benefits are gained in their name and actually gotten by the criminal. The after math of these crimes is great, as the person impersonated is the one who is usually held accountable for a crime that they have not committed. In fact, they would be bewildered and probably never knew that they were impersonated.
And nowadays, with the use internet, identity theft is easier than ever. E-mails can be sent in someone else's name, for example, the person's bank, requesting personal information which would then be used to impersonate the victim. These types of online phishing take advantage of people's trust and claim to be legitimate businesses and organisations to obtain information. There are many different type of viruses that could infect your computer and steal your personal information such as keyloggers which would record your passwords.
The victims in cases of identity theft are twofold, the person whose identity was stolen, and the organisation or company who has been cheated of services or goods. As both sides have been tricked by the criminal, neither one is at fault and are both the victims.
As computer scientists, we can help by improving the security of computers and their usage. We can also help educate people what these cyber criminals can do over the internet and help them guard from future threats. An uneducated user will not know how dangerous it is to click on random links or give away personal information on the internet. Also, by developing better antivirus and anti spyware programs, we can help prevent and protect others from these types of threats.
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