In this post, I want to draw additional parallels between the real world and the virtual world within the context of safety. Applications like second life, lively and social networking apps such as Face book and MySpace along with their foray into popular media has shown that the virtual world is fast carving its own identity.
What it leads me to believe is that traits of the real world will continue to manifest themselves in the virtual world. Unfortunately, this includes crime.
I came across a news report in the Independent. The report says that there is clear evidence that the recession is causing an increase in offences. The report is titled “Britain unprepared for recession crime wave …”
If the virtual world mirrors the real world, the above article begs the question: How prepared are we for the online crime wave caused by the recession?
Figures from the article show that robberies and burglaries doubled in some areas. Violent robberies were on an increase as well.
A Reuters article states that in the US, “crime has increased during every recession since the late 1950s” This article further states that police departments all over are cutting their budgets due to lower funding. These budget cuts will result in fewer police out there.
So, not only does crime go up but we can expect fewer forces out there protecting us from crime.
Now, lets translate this into the virtual world.
I am assuming that the virtual world is increasingly mirroring the physical world. I am also assuming that a recession impacts the virtual world in the same way as it does the physical world. I will also go ahead and state that crime might actually increase at a higher rate in the virtual world. I believe this to be true because
1) There is no real police in the virtual world.
2) People might not be as conscious about the dangers in the virtual world or be aware of how to protect themselves in such online situations.
Assuming the above assumptions are true, I think online crime is going to go up. As the existing revenue streams for the malware economy dry up, I expect attackers to go all out in their attacks to increase the reach and potency of their malware.
The silver lining in this problem is that the solutions of the real world also translate as solutions for safety problems in the virtual world.
In the virtual world, we, the people, are our own police. The virtual world does offer us capabilities and tools to protect ourselves. However, we are the ones that have onus of protecting ourselves.
In the virtual world, since we are the our own police, our personal “budget cuts” such as cutting down on awareness of online safety or cutting down on time spent on protecting our interfaces with the virtual world or cutting down on financial resources or effort spent on protecting ourselves and our families, should be avoided.
If not more, we should remain as vigilant as we were in protecting ourselves as we were before the recession began.
What do you think?
