Title: The difference between cybersecurity and cybercrime, and why it matters
Headings: The difference between cybersecurity and cybercrime, and why it matters
The difference between cybersecurity and cybercrime, and why it matters
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Victims of confidence fraud and romance scams
Understanding the differences
Differences between cybersecurity and cybercrime
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Content: But most advice for avoiding online dangers – like having long passwords, using two-factor authentication and encrypting data – wouldn’t have helped Amy. The crime that befell her has nothing to do with cybersecurity. It’s cybercrime, a human-centered crime committed in a digital environment. There are more of these each year: In the U.S. in 2016, 298,728 complainants reported losing more than $1.3 billion in various types of cybercrimes, including romance scams but also involving fraudulent online sales, extortion, violent harassment and impersonation scams, among others. As a social scientist who studies online behavior and as the program coordinator for one of the few cybercrime undergraduate programs in the United States, I find it unfortunate that problems like Amy’s get relatively little national attention, especially compared to cybersecurity. Victims of confidence fraud and romance scams
Victims of confidence fraud and romance scams
In 2015, the number of U.S. victims of online confidence fraud, including romance scams, skyrocketed. And in 2016, the number went even higher. 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Number of victims
The Conversation, CC-BY-ND
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
Understanding the differences
Cybersecurity is not merely a set of guidelines and actions intended to prevent cybercrime.