Ejercicio Exercise B.2 · Inglés PAU Aragón Ordinaria 2022

CYBERCRIME

Interested in becoming an expert in the scientific study of crime and criminals? If you are, welcome to the world of criminology! Although this science arose a long time ago, in the mid-18th century, when social philosophers decided to give thought to crime and concepts of law, they could hardly have imagined that three centuries later criminologists would be studying something called cybercrime. In these modern times, people may use computers as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography, stealing identities, or violating privacy. Cybercrime, especially through the Internet, has grown in importance as commerce, entertainment, and even government have become more and more dependent on the computer. At first, because of the early and widespread adoption of computers and the Internet in the United States, most of the earliest victims and villains of cybercrime were Americans. Later, 22 years into the 21st century, hardly a firm, town or home remains in the world that has not been touched by cybercrime.

Ransomware and phishing are examples of the new forms of crime covered by cybercrime. The former is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's personal data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid.

Phishing is a cybercrime in which targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as banking and credit card details, including passwords. The information is then used to access important accounts and can result in identity theft and financial loss.

EXERCISE B.2: Answer the following questions according to the information given in the text. Use your own words. (2 points)

a)

What has made cybercrime become one of the most important concerns of present-day criminology?

b)

What are the typical objectives of ransomware and phishing?