The cybercrime combating platform

Abstract

In recent years, cybercrime has become one of the most rapidly growing areas of crime. The emergence of new technologies has presented new cybercrime opportunities that are becoming more sophisticated. As a result, imdividuals, corporations and government find themselves faced with many cybercrime threats that range from data breaches to ransomeware. Some of the criminals responsible for these acts operate from the Deep Web, a segment of the Web that an ordinary person has no access or even knowledge of its existence. That is because the Web is segmented into Surface Web, where search engines such as Google or Bing have and the Deep web is where normal search engines have no access. The Deep web also contains a small portion called the Dark Web that is hidden from standard web browsers. Access to this portion of the web requires specialized privacy tools with complex encryption and channeling techniques. This portion of the web is where cybercriminals perform illegal e-commerce businesses, transnational money laundering, sell compromised banking information, specially crafted , malware, leaked personal information and intellectual property. The trading of malware payloads, phishing toolkits and exploits by cybercriminals is also making it easier for anyone without comprehensive techncal skills to participate in online illegal activities. South Africa has seen a rapid increase in cybercrime due to the growth and improvement of broadband connectivity and ICT infrastructure in both the private and public sectors. The platform aims to address the cyber threat posed by these cyber activities that are taking place in the suraface web and the dark web targeting the South African environment. The platform also includes multifaceted cybercrime combatting features, such as detecting and proactively identifying cybercrime activities, preventing and minizing cybercrime through information sharing and protecting users and relevant stakeholders against emerging cybercrime activitiesin using proactive techniques.