Exploring The Dark Side of Technology

Feelings are hurt and lives are ruined on a daily basis because criminals are taking advantage. They’re taking the very tools and technologies we have thought of as good, and using them to do great evil. Unfortunately, as the world’s reliance on technology grows, the dark side of technology grows along with it. In 2009 alone, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 336,655 complaint submissions, which was ultimately a 22.3% increase from the previous year and a 571% increase over the previous nine years when the IC3 was first created. Just as bad, the monetary damages are increasing as well: nearly 560 million dollars worth, which is over well over a 200% increase from the previous year. Crime does pay, after all. But increased crime alone is not particularly shocking, especially when considering that the Internet is constantly growing. The thought that crime is easily transitioning to the Web and is appealing to would be criminals, however, is fairly eye opening stuff. But before we delve deep into the issues with serious crime on the Web, why not take a look around today’s Web communities to see the type of behavior we see on a regular basis. It’s quite telling.

Anonymity

It’s ironic, really. If there is one thing we can attribute a growing tendency of bad behavior on the Web to, it would have to be anonymity. The very thing that allows journalists in media-censored countries to deliver us the truth is also the reason why you see a slew of expletives-loaded comments on most YouTube videos. It is quite disheartening to visit flourishing online communities and realize that even a handful of people that are up to no good can ruin it for everyone. One recent and memorable example is when Engadget turned off commenting for their entire blog simply because a few people insisted on attacking the authors and other users — thus punishing everyone for the actions of a few. Why does this happen? Some have argued that it is a process of deindividualization. Meaning that this is a result of a user being less likely to act the way of the social norm on the Internet because they have a lesser sense of their own identity. Then again, perhaps it is merely the thought of security — meaning that some people believe that anything they say online can’t possibly come back to haunt them in the future. Regardless of the cause, which will not likely be resolved anytime soon, it is the result of this behavior that should have people concerned — people are more likely to be jerks on the Web. But being a jerk isn’t a crime, at least in most cases. But it is this very tendency that I believe will fuel the fire for technology-related crime in the future. However, something must be said with the development of social networks like Facebook and Twitter, which promote public interaction with peers. Facebook, in particular, because of its requirement for users to use their real names. And Twitter because it gives people a public identity that requires a bit more responsibility — that is, if you tick enough people off, your follower count and influence will possibly drop. So maybe these social networks will promote better mannerisms on the Web. But I feel that many should be skeptical. In the end, however, some people are brave enough to do even far worse things that have far more consequences:

Fraud

Fraud is the most popular crime to occur on the Web, according to IC3’s most recent report (PDF). Overpayment fraud, advanced fee fraud, credit card fraud, auction fraud, and the typical e-mail fraud is all stuff we have to watch out for. This type of activity is more likely to be effective against older people and those less tech-savvy than most, although anyone is susceptible to this crime.

Identity Theft

Something else we hear about so often is identity theft. In a digital age when you are asked to hand out your personal information more often than ever before, it is no wonder why people can sometimes slip up and hand their information over to people who might abuse it. Sadly, it has been coming to the point where identity thieves are coming after users: be it an e-mail, a phone call, a text message, or a website that is trying to get you to hand over personal information.

Non Delivery/Payment

Bought something cool on a new website and anxiously waiting for it to arrive — bought it a month ago and still waiting? Might be time to file a claim. Nearly 12% of all claims that come to the IC3’s attention involve non delivery or payment of a purchase or sale. So you might want to rethink what you are buying and who you are buying it from.

Piracy

Regardless of what you think about piracy, there is something wrong about someone that creates a piece of content and doesn’t get compensated for it. After all, some of the things people produce require weeks, months, or years to develop. While the damage claims of piracy are widely debated, there can be no arguing the fact that piracy has serious financial impacts on certain industries. The problem is that it is seen as no big deal for someone to jump on Limewire and download that latest Timbaland track that everyone’s playing. There is, for the most part, no consequence for doing it (unless someone receives a letter in the mail from a lawyer).

The Rest

Of course, there are far worse crimes that take place online. Some even lead to deaths, which is truly sad. Then there are other crimes that are growing in popularity but we don’t hear about too often. Finally, there are minor crimes that take place all the time that have little or no repercussions at all. What it all comes down to is the fact that technology is being abused at a growing rate. Thousands are out to do evil. Millions are unprepared. Billions eventually will be affected. And everyone has to be willing to accept the fact that things will get worse before they get better. But it just has to make you wonder who is going to take up the task of handling all these crimes? Will a true international Internet-based police force ever be created who’s sole activity is to monitor illegal activity on the Internet? Who would fund such a project? Who would maintain it? How would other countries comply? How will privacy be impacted? Interestingly, as technology-related and virtual crimes increase, violent crimes in the real world continually decrease. Violent crimes has been decreasing consistently since the early ‘90s. Yet one must wonder if one violent crime is worth the potential for hundreds (even thousands of virtual crimes) by the same person. So while it might be a bit safer to walk down that dark alley at 2 AM in the morning, be sure to watch out for the numerous opportunities that bad people on the Web have to do bad things. It will still hurt, regardless.