INTRODUCTION
Research indicates that with the increase in the implementation of technology in all organizations around the world, there is a new wave of crime on the rise. The incorporation of technology in the homes of individuals also contributes to the new wave of crime. This new form of crime involves the utilization of the very technology that the members of the workforce use daily. Crimes that incorporate technology come in a variety of forms, but the most costly and detrimental to the organizations and even the employees are spear phishing attacks (Theohary & Rollins, 2011) . Cyberbullying, identity theft, and credit card fraud are also other inclusions of cybercrimes. Phishing attacks are the most dangerous cybercrime because of the difficulties surrounding how to address it as well as the ease of utilization by cybercriminals. Phishing attacks, more especially spear phishing involves the utilization of social engineering to trap victims. Therefore, even the most tech-savvy or information technology specialists struggle to identify the threats and succumb to the attacks (Thomas, 2018) . With these aspects in consideration and the continued incorporation of computerized systems in numerous aspects of the daily lives of the human society is a new avenue through which crime can be orchestrated.
The literature indicates that there are numerous issues in relation to addressing the most prevalent form of cybercrimes. Furthermore, the damage that results from the outcomes of these cybercriminals has been proven to be significantly detrimental. For instance, ransomware propagation and identity theft are the two common outcomes of phishing attacks. Ransomware continues to cause companies losses amounting to billions of dollars each year, and thus the need to address it in the most effective way possible (Richardson & North, 2017) . Cyberbullying could lead to suicidal tendencies when symptoms such as depression, a change in personality or withdrawal from the rest of society. Furthermore, when credit card fraud occurs, the victims stand to lose scores of monies and in some instances, it could be their life savings thus living them stranded. Identity theft would result in the loss of control and thus a negative effect on the investments of the individual ranging from savings, mortgage, retirement funds, and even the education of children.
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I was incapable of finding research that points into the direction of the most effective way to prevent the occurrence of the variety of cybercrimes. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to determine the most effective strategies to implement to prevent the penetration of cybercriminals through the numerous forms of technology that is utilized daily in the society (Thomas, 2018) . I would particularly focus my paper on the benefits that would arise from the creation of awareness regarding the identification of the means in which crime has penetrated technology and the detrimental outcomes of cybercrimes. The users are the focus of the study because they are the first line of defense between the cybercriminals and the various technological entities that they utilize. The study will seek to inform the users on the knowledge and tools that they could utilize in resisting attempts made by cybercriminals, as well as the outcomes of falling victim to the attacks such as ransomware, sexual harassment, credit card fraud, cyberbullying and identity theft. I expect that the creation of awareness is the most effective strategy in addressing the rise in cybercrimes. My focus of the study would be a variety of commonly occurring cybercrimes within the current technological society. Therefore, my hypothesis is that cybercrimes would reduce in an instance where the users are well educated in relation to cybersecurity.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Outcomes of Cybercrime
The most detrimental outcome from spear phishing and phishing attacks ransomware. Ransomware is a malware attack that aims to extort money from companies. Ransomware is a significant problem because of its rapid increase in the world of IT, and the fact that it affects both professionals in information technology and the users of computers in the workplace (Torrance, 2012) . The ease of access through which ransomware is spread via phishing and spear phishing attacks is one of the contributing factors as to why it is such a widespread problem in society. For instance, all the attackers need to do is to send enticing messages via mail or place malicious links in a site that are regularly utilized by the various users thus easily trusted. One of the most prominent ransomware attacks on a worldwide scale was orchestrated by WannaCry, that was able to affect 100,000 organizations (Thomas, 2018) . Ransomware attacks result in some of the biggest instances of data loss. Critical access systems are inaccessible by the businesses during the time when the malware is holding the IT infrastructure captive.
Other literature indicates that cyber crimes such as identity theft could result in the emotional distress of an individual. The initial emotional reactions due to identity theft are inclusive of anger and shock. There are other long-term effects on identity theft (Zhu, Caprenter, & Kulkarni, 2012) . For instance, the information stolen could be used for other crimes thus affecting the reputation of the individual. Furthermore, it is difficult to remedy the outcomes of identity theft. Therefore, an individual would find it extremely difficult to find a job because any background check would bring up crimes that were orchestrated by cybercriminals that stole their identity (Zhu, Caprenter, & Kulkarni, 2012) . The individual would also be affected in relation to how they value themselves. From the victims of cyber attacks, sixty-nine percent of them indicated the feeling of fear when it came to their personal safety because, in instances where the identity of the individual continues to be utilized, it could lead to being arrested because of the resulting confusion. Studies indicate that 8 percent of the victims of identity theft feel suicidal (Theohary & Rollins, 2011) .
Prevention of Cybercrime
The prevention of cybercrimes involves the incorporation of a variety of techniques and adherence to certain principles of self-protection. For instance, given an increase in the utilization of social media, many users put out too much information regarding themselves and their family members (Theohary & Rollins, 2011) . Therefore, make the job of cybercriminals much easier, for instance, identity thieves would easily create a profile of another individual through the information they avail regarding themselves and their families on a social media platform. Therefore, a prevention strategy would involve the exercising of caution with respect to the information that individuals put out on social media platforms. Individuals, especially minors should be receiving education in relation to cyberbullying because most of the cyberbullying occurring on the internet are among minors and teenagers (Theohary & Rollins, 2011) . The minors should also be cautioned against the provision of too much information regarding their daily activities because such information could be utilized by kidnappers to track and hold the children ransom.
The currently utilized strategies in combating against phishing attacks are inclusive of behavioral training thus allowing the employees to identify when cybercriminals are making phishing attempts, they are encouraged to report phishing attempt incidents, mechanisms installed in the computers the notify the users in an instance where phishing attempts have been identified, and for the e-mails, those that intend to trap users are automatically removed before the users can open them (Richardson & North, 2017) . Various studies have concluded that users do not benefit from the provision of crime and modern technology literacy in a rule-based format. The avenues that the researcher have indicated to have a greater impact on informing the user were inclusive of making it known to the users the outcomes that result from their susceptibility to the attacks by the cybercriminals (Richardson & North, 2017) . The researchers came to this conclusion through the observation that the users were more protective after falling victim to a phishing attack.
METHODOLOGY
The study will attempt to comprehend the reasons why cybercrimes occur and the most effective solutions to address these problems. The structure utilized to address the study needs would be a single qualitative study that is explanatory. Phishing attacks are the avenue through which cybercriminals gain access to the information systems within the society to carry out crimes such as ransomware, identity theft, credit card fraud and even cyberbullying (Richardson & North, 2017) . Ransomware is the most detrimental of the cybercrimes and would consequentially cost the company millions of dollars in losses through extortion and recovery from the attack. Cybercrimes result in the psychological damage of the individuals thus increasing their chances of suicides and other psychological disabilities. The study involved the interviewing of various information technology security professionals from ten SMEs in the state as well as three officials from the police department. The format of questioning would be mostly open-ended to allow for the gathering of the maximum amount of information.
The kind of information that the interviews intend to give rise to are inclusive of the reasons as to why the individuals in society continue to fall prey to cyber attacks. Furthermore, the experts would also be questioned on the best strategies that could be implemented to create resistance to the cyberattacks. The information collected from the interviews would be analyzed critically and thus utilized in two ways. The initial use of the information would be the identification of common trends in relation to why individuals fall prone to the attempts of cybercriminals. The next use of the information would be to deduce the most effective strategy to help employees resist crimes that incorporate technology. The study would encourage further research in relation to the tools and mechanisms that would be useful in preventing users from falling prey to the cybercriminals.
CONCLUSION
The paper will fill in the gap in modern information technology when it comes to the reasons as to why current preventative measures to cybercrimes are not entirely effective. The study will also highlight and recommend better strategies in relation to helping users create resistance to the crimes that would involve incorporation of technology. Nonetheless, there are some limitations to the study. For instance, it is not possible to tell for certain whether information gotten from the experts in modern technology is scientifically backed or it is simply their opinion regarding modern technology and crime. During the conducting of the interviews, the capture of information would be half-hearted as the reliance of information heard would be based on what is recalled. Furthermore, there is uncertainty on whether all the experts would show up for the interview. There is also a possibility of bias when it comes to the collection of data from the interview. The generalization of the research is not possible due to the small sample size and shortcomings.
The research indicates that if the cybercrime issue is not addressed as soon as possible it would result in the continual rise in crimes that would incorporate modern technology such as identity stealing, ransomware, credit card fraud, cyberbullying, and ransomware. It has been deduced that ransomware is the most dangerous of cybercrimes because of the power it holds once effective and the losses that a company must deal which are extensive. The best way to address the continual rise in cybercrime is to educate the users of the outcomes of falling prey to cyber-attacks. This strategy is likely impactful because the awareness of the detrimental outcomes creates awareness among the employees.
References
Richardson, R., & North, M. (2017). Ransomware: Evolution, mitigation and prevention. International Review, 13 (1), 10-21.
Theohary, C., & Rollins, J. (2011). Terrorist Use of the Internet: Information Operations in Cyberspace. Congressional Research Service , 5 (1), 5 - 10.
Thomas, J. (2018). Individual Cyber Security: Empowering Employees to Resist Spear Phishing to Prevent Identity Theft and Ransomware Attacks. International Journal of Business and Management, 13 (6), 1-24.
Torrance, H. (2012). Triangulation, respondent validation, and democratic participation in mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 54 (2), 111-123.
Zhu, F., Caprenter, S., & Kulkarni, A. (2012). Understanding identity exposure in pervasive computing. environments. Pervasive and Mobile Computing, 8 (5), 777-794.
