What is cybercrime?

Cybercrime is a collective term for illegal activities that either take place directly on the Internet or are initiated via the Internet. The spectrum ranges from digital attacks through malware, Trojans or DDoS, to the phishing of login and access data, to the dissemination of child pornography and the trafficking of weapons and drugs. Away from the publicly accessible Internet, a professional cybercrime industry has developed in the so-called darknet, through which illegal activities are controlled and even offered as a service.

In phishing, cybercriminals aim to capture valuable login information, which is then used for digital identity theft or sold for profit on the darknet. Among the most sought-after login data are logins for online banking and payment services - these are the most highly traded on online marketplaces on the darknet. The criminals mostly grab the data by means of spam e-mails that lure users to fake websites via links. These web portals are usually indistinguishable from the original platforms of the respective provider - resourceful phishers even copy the URL structure and use visually similar characters, which is also known as homographic attacks.

Malware that aims to extort ransoms is known as ransomware (derived from the English "ransom"). These extortion Trojans usually spread unnoticed in the background on the target's systems and begin encrypting data records as unobtrusively as possible. By the time the victim notices the attack, it is usually too late and large parts of the hard drive have already been taken hostage digitally. The locked content can usually only be recovered with the corresponding decryption keys, which attackers promise to send after payment of the demanded ransom. However, even if the ransom is paid, there is always the risk that the keys will fail or not be transmitted at all - you should not count on the honor of criminals on the Internet. Therefore, security authorities recommend not to respond to the attackers' demands and not to pay a ransom.

DDoS stands for "Distributed Denial of Service" and literally describes a distributed service blockade, which is one of the most widely used attack vectors today. DDoS attacks aim to bring the target's digital processes to their knees with many requests. he starting point is usually widely distributed botnets, which are set up by cybercriminals using Trojans and then misused as a weapon. Ambitious DDoS attacks can paralyze unprotected websites and other services for hours or even days.