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1 Cybercrime Prevention Guide Sarah Byrd University of Phoenix AJS/525: Cybercrime And Information Security Dr. Frank Kardasz March 6, 2023

2 Cybercrime Prevention Guide With cyber threats and cybercrimes, the city of Charleston would like to offer the community a cybercrime prevention guide. The cybercrime prevention guide will address cybercrimes that can compromise an organization, discuss signs that a crime is occurring, provide an analysis of how to protect yourself from cybercrime, and discuss preventive measures. “Internet-related crime, like any other crime, should be reported to appropriate law enforcement investigative authorities at the local, state, federal, or international levels, depending on the scope of the crime” (United States Department of Justice, 2021). It is very crucial for businesses, corporations, self-owned businesses, and families to understand the importance of preventative measures. Everyone should have the opportunity to educate himself or herself on preventive measures not to become a victim of cybercrime. Unfortunately, many organizations become a victim of cybercrime due to the lack of education on cybercrimes. “Cybercrime violates individuals' privacy and the security of their data, particularly hacking, malware, identity theft, financial fraud, medical fraud, and certain offenses against persons that involve the revealing of personal information, messages, images, and video and audio recordings without individuals' consent or permission” (UNODC, 2019). If an organization becomes a victim of cybercrime, this can be highly damaging to the business. Cybercrimes can increase costs, disrupt operations, destroy reputations, a loss of revenue, and a loss of intellectual property. The biggest losses come from reputational damage. Companies that have lost control of their customers' data have paid millions to settle claims. One example of cybercrime that can affect organizations is phishing emails. “Phishing has been the number one attack vector for over five years, and it is important that your entire workforce knows the signs of a phishing email” (Cofense, n.d.). Phishing emails usually look

3 like a company that you know or trust. Once you click on the link or open a website, you become a victim of cybercrime. Once the hacker is on your computer, they can retrieve personal information, business information, and many more. A phishing email will have a generic greeting, state that your account is on hold or another issue and invite you to click on the link (Federal Trade Commission, n.d.). If you are unsure of the email, always report the email as phishing or fraud and notify your supervisor immediately. If it is a personal email, call the company first before clicking on any links. As an organization or business, it is important to teach employees the signs of cybercrime or cyber threat. “Given the number and intensity of data breaches in recent years, there is a wealth of information available to phishers to use when honing their prose, making it even tougher to spot signs of a phishing email and discern fact from fiction” (Cofense, n.d.). It is key to have regular training in order to provide the latest information regarding phishing emails. There are many signs to look for within a phishing email: an unfamiliar tone or greeting, grammar and spelling errors, inconsistencies in email addresses, threats or a sense of urgency, suspicious attachments, unusual requests, request for credentials, and personal information (Cofense, n.d.). Educating and protecting yourself from phishing emails can be simple. Usually, emails filter out a lot of spam emails. “But scammers are always trying to outsmart spam filters, so extra layers of protection can help” (Federal Trade Commission, n.d.). Having security software on your computer will provide a great deal of protection. Security software should be updated automatically to make sure you have the latest software. Not only should you worry about your computer security software, but you should also pay attention to your cellphone’s software security. Using multifactor authentication with logging in can be beneficial. “Multi-factor

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4 authentication makes it harder for scammers to log in to your accounts if they do get your username and password” (Federal Trade Commission, n.d.). Also, keep all your important information backed up on a hard drive or on the cloud. That way, if you lose your information, you have another copy of important information. This is vital for organizations and businesses that have private information that should not be released. Unfortunately, someone might click the link without verifying the information. When this happens, it is crucial to catch it before it is too late. “Organizations need to promote phishing awareness and condition employees to report signs of a phishing email – it’s the old age of “If you see something, say something,” to alert security or the incident response team” (Cofense, n.d.). Once IT or HR are notified, they will be able to immediately block the hacker or keep a close watch on the information. However, if you think the hacker has attacked personal information, such as social security or bank information, you need to go to identitytheft.gov. IdentityTheft.gov will give you step-by-step instructions on what to do. “If you think you clicked on a link or opened an attachment that downloaded harmful software, update your computer’s security software. Then run a scan and remove anything it identifies as a problem” (Federal Trade Commission, n.d.). Security software is necessary for any computer because the software can detect many viruses and protect the computer. Another way of trying to prevent an employee from engaging in a phishing email is to test them. Have IT or HR send out a bogus phishing email to see how many employees will mark it as a scam. This can show administration who would need more training on phishing emails. Due to the increase of cybercrimes and phishing emails, there have been many resources that were created to report phishing emails. If you got a phishing email, forward it to the Anti- Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org ; If you got a phishing text message,

5 forward it to SPAM (7726); Report the phishing attempt to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. (Federal Trade Commission, n.d.). Each law enforcement agency has headquarters in Washington, DC that specializes in cybercrimes. Depending on what category cybercrime is in, it will determine which law enforcement agency is appropriate. This information can be printed out and given to all employees within the organization. Not only is this information good to have in the workplace, but personally as well. Always double-check an email's credentials before clicking or replying to anything. Scammers are becoming more and more creative when it comes to phishing emails. They can make the emails look exactly like real emails. One will have to pay attention to the sender and any grammatical errors within the body of the email. If you suspect you are a victim of cybercrime, notify IT or a supervisor immediately. If it is on a personal computer or phone, notify one of the resources above immediately. As quickly as one is aware of a phishing email, the faster security protocols can get in place to stop the scammer.

6 References Cofense. (n.d.). 10 Signs of a Phishing Email. https://cofense.com/knowledge-center/signs-of-a- phishing-email/#:~:text=Grammar%20errors%20and%20misspelled%20words,ACT %20NOW%2C%20IMMEDIATE%20ACTION%20REQUIRED Federal Trade Commission. (n.d.). How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2019). Cybercrime that compromises privacy. https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/cybercrime/module-10/key-issues/cybercrime-that- compromises-privacy.html United States Department of Justice. (2021). Reporting Computer, Internet-related, Or Intellectual Property Crime. https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ccips/reporting-computer- internet-related-or-intellectual-property-crime

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