Welcome to the Dark Side

It is no question that the internet has done us many wonderful things. The web has brought people across the world together and has given us a new way of doing many basic things in life, such as reading the newspaper. Although these benefits are not questionable, it is also unquestionable that the internet also has a dark side. Many aspects of the internet fall into here, like trolls and explicit material. One major dark component of the internet are the forums that allow people to learn crimes. People can search for videos on how to do anything from making a bomb to breaking open a safe. This can give many people an easier access to learn and participate in crime. Not only can the internet teach crimes but it also allows a new front for crime as a whole. This is commonly known as cyber crime. Hackers can break into people's computers and steal money and their identities and do many things to screw up their lives. This is more than just an annoyance but an actual harmful aspect of this dark side of the internet.

The website of computer security company Norton posted an article about this issue that concerns millions around the world. According to the article, about half of their surveyed participants had been affected by cyber crime in someway in the past twelve months. This suggests that around one in two people in the developed world will have an encounter with a cyber criminal in the coming year. That is many tens of millions of people being affected. This same survey found that the number of people affected was up from the previous year, about a 20% increase. Finally they found that the total monetary losses of these affected people came to about $110 billion for the year. These numbers show the prominence of this crime and how it affects a very wide spread amount of people. It is clearly a large part of this internet dark side.

Along with these statistics, Norton's survey also found that the area where this crime happens is shifting more to social networks and mobile devices. Two thirds of their surveyed group reported that their mobile phones were their primary units for accessing the internet. Most were unaware of the growing number of malicious apps available for download and many were also unaware of software to help protect their devices. This puts many people's phones at risk along with their computers. The survey also found that cyber crime is shifting a lot to social networks. About 15% of people on social networks found their account hacked, up four points from the previous year. The total rate on social networks was around 39% as well. This is more than simple hacks too, it includes hacking to cyber-bully and scam.

With this internet crime growing it is becoming and increased worry for many people. Without this rampant cyber crime, this internet dark side would not be nearly as strong.