Almost every aspect of daily life may be conveniently accessed with a few simple touches, but with cybercrime numbers climbing, convenience comes with serious risks.

Cybercrime is crime conducted through the internet or another computer network, and rapid global interconnectivity has opened the door for crooks trying to take advantage of those who are a part of it. But law enforcement agencies and information technology specialists are working to help inform the group most at risk for becoming a victim – everyone.

Over 600 million people worldwide have fallen victim to some sort of cybercrime, Lisa Bock, assistant professor of computer information technology at Pennsylvania College of Technology, said.

“Everyone is at risk of being a victim of cybercrime,” she said. “Cyberthreats are becoming more aggressive, complex and sophisticated.”

The two most common elements of cybercrime in Pennsylvania are computer theft and child pornography, according to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

“Cyberattacks have resulted in massive amounts of sensitive data (being exposed) such as credit cards, medical data, intellectual property, passwords and exposure of state secrets,” Bock said. “This has been an issue for decades.”

Bock is a security ambassador who has spent 20 years in the information technology field and has observed the steady then sudden increase in cases. “It’s seen a recent spike.”

Sudden spike

Reported hacking activity began as early as 1971 when John Draper, also known as Captain Crunch, developed blue box phone “phreaking,” Bock said.

The method used frequencies or tones from a whistle he found in a cereal box to manipulate telephone hardware in order to make long-distance phone calls without being charged.

“Cybercrime has grown ever since,” she said. “From 2006 to 2015, there has been a 1,300-percent increase in security incidents.”

Like Draper’s blue box phone phreaking method, cybercriminals are constantly evolving methods and becoming more ingenious.

“We have multiple cases a week and they are all different in nature,” city police Agent Jason Bolt said.

The city has seen an increase in people taking advantage of those using dating apps and websites.

“They will establish a relationship and give the victim a situation where they need money,” Bolt said. “They’ll either tell the victim to come visit, that they’ve been arrested and need bail … anything that will make that person feel sorry for them to give them money.”

Blackmailing scheme

Bolt said there’s also been an increase in a blackmailing scheme in which someone gains access to photos or videos of a compromising nature and threatens to leak them if the victim doesn’t give them money.

Incidents like those tend to be reported less because of the sensitive material, Bolt said.

Ransomware, a form of malware, is becoming a major contemporary cybercrime issue, Bock said.

“Over the years, different types of ransomware have evolved. However, all of them have the same outcome,” she said.

The attacker will take over a person’s computer remotely and hold it hostage until the owner offers some type of payment or ransom.

Ransomware spreads like many other types of malware, and the consequences of not paying could be serious.

“The attacker may unleash malware that can destroy all the files on the system,” Bock said. “It can block you from accessing your system, encrypt files so you can’t use them and stop applications from running.”

‘Knows no bounds’

Cybercrime is a transcending issue with the ability to impact every demographic.

“The fact that any group of people is more at risk than another was an early preconception of cybercrime,” Bolt said. “It can hit every single person … whoever is unsuspecting. It really knows no bounds.”

Attackers also come from ages, races and genders spanning every possibility as individuals or as groups.

“Attackers can range from the disgruntled employee to crime rings and nation states,” Bock said.

Between 2012 and 2015, the state saw 1, 461 convictions for cybercrimes committed by 250 people, according to InfoShare Pa. courts.

But the number of convictions only partially reflects the seriousness of cybercrime because of how common incidents go unreported.

The reason many go unreported varies based on each case.

“Some, because the victim doesn’t know they have been a victim of an attack or they may be too embarrassed to report the crime,” Bock said.

Contact law enforcement

If someone believes they have been the victim of an online scam or cybercrime, the first thing they should do is report the criminal activity to their local law enforcement agency.

Until authorities have arrived, resist the temptation to look through the data because it could contaminate the evidence, Bock said.

After making the report, a complaint should be filed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

As crimes become reported more frequently on a shared space such as the FBI center, it would make finding the attacker easier, Bolt said.

“If there is a high number of the same type of scam in a certain area, it would be easier to focus resources there,” he said.

Because technology is quickly evolving, investigators have to keep methods up to date. But as law enforcement agencies make advancements in investigating crimes, so do cybercriminals.

“Luckily as their skills become savvy, so do ours,” Bolt said. “But as we learn and adapt … so do the bad guys.”