Cllr. Hanif Khan presents a live programme in English, discussing contemporary social issues with a panel of experts. Discussion in this episode is on Cyber Crime. This is the 5th episode in the series.

If we look back 20 years it was easier to identify who might be a villain.  We might guess it was someone with a knife, a gun or simply out to make trouble because they thought they are tougher than you and determined to pick a fight.   Now the world has changed, and so has the world of the criminal.  Once they might have come from a relatively poor background, a difficult childhood or where violence at home was an everyday thing.

Today, villains look just like you or  me, .... smartly dressed, wearing a suit, driving impressive cars or with the latest handheld gadgets. Today  the computer keyboard has replaced the gun.  A computer keyboard can threaten, intimidate and steal from any of us at anytime.  This is the world of cyber crime.

How can you protect yourself and not become a victim. How can you become more aware? And what legislation is out there to keep you safe.

ILLUSTRATIONS CREATED FOR THE PROGRAMME

 POLL QUESTION RESULTS

FINAL THOUGHTS

Yes, the world of Cyber Crime is dark and scary.   Cyber crime can affect any of us at any time. Many people think that on internet they are anonymous.  They think that there are no laws that apply to the internet. Well, they are wrong.   Absolute anonymity is a myth.  Just as there are clever internet criminals there are others just as clever who can find them and bring them to justice.  We all have to be very careful when operating on the world wide web so that we do not to become a victim of a cyber crime.

The most common threat today  isn't the man who owns a missile.   Today's threat is the man 2000 miles away who has the password to fire it.   Because crime has gone Cyber we now face a new enemy, the Cyber criminal even the cyber terrorist.

The world has now become wired.  Every country and every culture is connected through the internet.   Even in the smallest of places the virtual world of PCs, laptops and tablets seems more real than the world we actually live in. There are new laws now along with government sponsored organisations that are dedicated to monitoring the world of computer communication and safeguarding those who might be victims of crime, hatred and prejudice.  The penalties for cyber crime can be very severe.