(ANS - Recife) - We often hear about internet crime and cyber-crime. However, not so many know exactly what they are and how to defend against them. To try to answer these questions and help parents protect their children, the head of communications of the Federal Police of Brazil, Giovanni Santoro, gave a lecture at the Colégio Salesiano in Recife on Wednesday 9 December, entitled "Cybercrime: Learn how to protect yourself."
Mr Santoro began b by saying that nowadays access to the Internet is essential, and yet, if we do not make proper use of it, it can end up becoming addictive and create, in his words "an era of shared solitude". Based on different definitions of cybercrime, he then explained that "any offence that has been committed through the use of a computer, a network or a hardware device can be considered a cybercrime."
He said that traditional crime has migrated to the virtual world, so becoming "cybercrime". It has taken many forms, depending on the skills and objectives pursued, and uses the deep web to commit crimes such as misappropriation, libel and slander, harassment, child abuse, extortion, blackmail, manipulation of markets, industrial espionage, and planning or execution of terrorist activities.
Mr Santoro assured his listeners that the Federal Police of Brazil have all the technical tools and skills to deal with these crimes.
Based on authors like Susan Greenfield, he then warned against the "alzheimer" effect of the internet, which makes people no longer able to distinguish the real world from the virtual world. He spoke about some cases where people have been killed because they were sentenced by social network courts.
Lastly, he offered some tips to protect oneself: Never put intimate details on the network; be careful not to divulge too much information on your profile on social networks; do not share too much on the network about your daily routine and never add strangers to your social networks.
Published 16/12/2015