In the 21st century, cybercrime has become one of the most widespread forms of crime in the world. It is a cowardly criminal act that can be carried out by anyone in the world. It is estimated that cybercrime could cost businesses around the world more than $5.2 trillion over the next five years. However, this is an estimated figure because finding exact dollar amounts in cybercrime is very difficult because many thefts go unreported. One of the largest forms of theft in cybercrime comes in the form of identity theft, which “uses an individual's personally identifiable information by someone else (often a stranger) without that person's permission or knowledge. individual. This form of identity theft is often used to commit fraud, which typically results in financial harm to the individual and financial gain to the impersonator. “Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay Identity theft is usually targeted at a specific individual. Criminals usually target someone and try to obtain any type of public information from online and social media accounts, such as a person's phone number or address, and, if possible, sensitive information, such as a person's Social Security number, credit card numbers that they can help the offender take your identity more easily. Criminals have a lot of interest in social security cards, because social security numbers are not updated, criminals can wait years before using them to steal someone's information. By gaining access to that information, an identity thief can impersonate someone else to commit fraud. Most forms of identity theft revolve around financial gain, some gaining access to personal accounts and then using them to. obtain a ransom in exchange for restitution. In 2017, 7 million people experienced some form of identity theft according to a survey conducted by Harris Poll in 2018, and it happens regularly, every 2 seconds a person was a victim of some form of identity theft. The theft of people's personal information has made enormous strides since the turn of the millennium. The oldest and easiest way for criminals to steal information included techniques such as stealing mail, dumpster diving for information, eavesdropping on conversations (which some people call "shoulder surfing"), or simply stealing through illegal theft. People even went as far as taking information from deceased people by collecting information plaques. With the huge strides made in technology over the past 20 years, more and more people are relying on phones and computers to carry out daily tasks, and cybercriminals have grown with it. Instead of searching dumpsters for information or wiretapping people looking for information, criminals can simply take someone's personal data without leaving their home. Criminals have become very smart now using techniques such as skimmers which are essentially photocopiers that are placed on ATM card readers which collect all the information. of your card details when you use the ATM. Other methods include spam which can take the form of a banking website or shopping website that usually asks you to update information and collects your data that way. Personal computers are also a big target for cyber criminals who can access all your files and personal information without.