Forensic Cyberpsychology in Pandemic Period
Pradeep Kumar Paul*
Amity Institute of Forensic Sciences, India
Submission:July 06, 2020; Published:July 14, 2020
*Corresponding author:Pradeep Kumar Paul, NO-64, Nabarun pally, Sodepur, North 24 parganas West Bengal 700110, India
How to cite this article:Pradeep K P. Forensic Cyberpsychology in Pandemic Period. J Forensic Sci & Criminal Inves. 2020; 14(3): 555887. DOI: 10.19080/JFSCI.2020.14.555887.
Abstract
The world has been fighting against an invisible enemy, we have quarantined ourselves from the outer world physically, but we are connected to others with the help of the internet and social media. Nobody knows when pandemic will end. The Covid-19 has taken numerous lives till now. it has spread it roots in the different countries affecting their economy. Cyber psychology is study of adverse effect on human mind and behavior due to its interaction with the Cyber Space, and its application in court of law for the administration of justice is called Forensic Cyber psychology. We are living in Digital Age where Information Is Wealth, we are moving towards the era where artificial intelligence will soon make our lifestyle more easier.Isolating ourselves in our home from the world physically, make us more active on the internet which increases the risk of cyber Crimes such as cyberbullying, cyberstalking identify theft, online jobs frauds phishing etc. leading to psychological effects on the people /victim. Increasing rates of cybercrimes have a profound impact on the minds of the people.
Keywords:Covid-19; Cyberspace; Lockdown; Cyber addiction; Cyber awareness; Infomania; Self-aggression; Stress
Introduction
An outbreak of novel corona virus was first reported in Wuhan, but still its origin is a real conspiracy, Corona virus came to India in January, from European countries, still there where many unknown facts about the virus transmission. Corona virus are large group viruses that are common among animals. Till date there are different stains of coronavirus have been reported to cause infection in humans, of which four -229E,NL63, OC43,HKU1.However the infections caused by newly reported strains human coronavirus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) [1]. In India, we have quarantined ourselves from the Outer World, Lockdown in the whole country where imposed to break the transmission chain of the virus, people have avoided a physical contact with others. We are using the internet, social media, to stay connected to others and stay updated during this pandemic. But it has led to a profound effects on the minds of the people using internet. Different social media platforms are present where people also highlight their skills and talent. We are living in the Era where Information is wealth. Our Smart phone has made our lifestyle too much easier, it consists of millions of data, all our personal information. Even our Biometrics such as Fingerprints, Face ID, signatures are stored in our mobile phone Social media platforms provide opportunity for different people to easily know about any other person. Cyber Criminals use this data to Commit Crimes Such as Identity theft, phishing, online jobs frauds, cyber terrorism, cyber bullying, pornography. According to online intelligence firms, A personal data 2.9Cr Indians has been leaked on the Dark Web [2]. Over 1lakh National IDs of Indians has been put on the on sale On the Dark Web [3]. People Always share their personal things on the Social media platform, their emotions and feelings, they want people should appreciate there post, people want to be quickly famous on the social media. Hence people accept any unknown follow or friend request on the social media platform. The social media platform has been also responsible in affect the minds of the young children below 18.The objective of this project is to known about the different psychological effects on the human and behavior due to interaction with cyber space during the pandemic period. How increasing rates of cybercrimes during the lockdown affect the psyche of the people.
Methodology
For this research a questionnaire in form of google forms where used and circulated among a large no of people of different age group who use social media and internet. The questionnaire included questions like are you stressed out staying at home, are you using social media to connect others, Do you take up the trending challenges like invisible filter, saree, bingo etc. on the social media, Are you attending on-line classes, Do you share your emotions and feeling on the social media, what is total time usage of the social media/ internet, Do share your personal data on the social media etc. The questionnaire had relevant questions related to the topic, the purpose of this was to know physical approach of the people towards the internet, whether they are well aware of the cyber-crimes. How they react towards the viral videos such as violence against the corona warriors, Animal killings, cyclone Amphan, Death news of a talented actor. whether people know the different between a fake and real website. Memes have been an integral part of our entertainment on different social media platforms. How memes affect the victim, online paid Sex inflict young minds. The generation Gap growing between parent and children. Increasing risks of infomania, lack of concentration at workplace. The fear of covid-19 can be also seen on the Internet. A sample size of n=100 is taken into consideration (Figure 1-8).
Discussion
The usage of internet/social media has increased to 20 hrs. approximately from 10 hrs. approximately during the lockdown and normal lifestyle respectively, as a result the chances of infomania, cyber-crimes, cyber addiction increases. People lose patience, quickly, the attention span of the people gets shorten leading to instability of the Mind. The Person is unable to concentrate at the workplace, anxiety, irregular sleep patterns, leading to in adequate diet. Short tempered attitude. It is found that 49 % of the people are stressed out staying at home during the lockdown period, this due to the lack of the freedom which they had, resulting in mood swing, emotional changes, resulting in irritability to changes in life, short tempered ness, lack of concentrations, anxiety, depression. During the lockdown,55 % of the people are using social media for connecting others which can be also done through the mobile calls, this increases the risks of cyber addiction, people constantly keep their phone nearby waiting for the messages and notification to come. The mind is totally pressured, the person thinks imaging of constant receiving notifications. People take up many trending challenges on the social media such as saree challenges, before and after 10 yrs., childhood photo challenges, and tag their friends, to accept the challenge, while it seen that photos are being used on the Dark Web For pornographic purposes. this can lead to the person in trauma where he might not get any kind of ways to live his life he/ she might think that they have lost the respect which they had in the society. Several youngsters use social media platforms some of them, which consists of several algorithm, promoting acid attacks, animal killing, abusing content that can inflict the young minds in the wrong direction. The invisible filter trending on social media, where children, dance Infront of camera nakedly, any criminal can remove that filter with the help of software and privacy of the person may be leaked. The children would get depressed, selfisolation he may be filled with anger, Anti- social behavior, suicidal tendency and self-Harm attitude are noticed. The use of social media also reduces our patience level. When people come across different viral videos on the social media, regarding violence against the corona warriors, cyclone Amphan.
A panic situation is created among their minds, stressful situation, as result a feeling of hatred is seen among the different section of the people, people think that they might be the corona carriers. The fear of covid-19 pandemic has so raised among the people that people blindly trust the spams, posing as health insurance for corona treatment. There were more than Six fake websites, posing as PM cares fund. Resulting in cybercrimes like Online frauds, vishing, identity theft. This results in loss of money, in the pandemic period where, the people are suffering financially, this leads to lowering the self- confidence, and turns into self- obsession, a stress is developed due to poor financial condition. The depressed victim can take it as self-aggression, suicidal tendency are also seen. E- learning platforms, used for online classes by different school affect the psyche of the children, it is seen that not all the parents can afford equipment needed such as a laptop, smart phones, good internet connectivity at their residence. This develops a mental pressure on the child where his self-esteem is lowered. He thinks that he can’t tell this problem to their friends, teachers who would make fun of them. This also creates a Generation Gap between the child and parent. It is seen that 46 % of the people are been followed by unknown on the social media, people, try to become famous on the social media, hence increase their followers and friends on the social media even without knowing about the person. This leads to cyber stalking; the cyber criminals can use this information for different crimes such as identify theft creating your fake accounts on the social media. It is seen that people who become the victim of cyberbullying, they are bullied upon their mistakes, weakness. It is also seen that the victim is also unable to defend himself [4-7]. A news of Bois locker room, realized people the need of parental awareness and control regarding the use of internet of below 18 aged children During the lockdown, the online harassment cases towards girls, has been reported. The news of online sexual harassment, in case of releasing the naked pictures on the social platforms of ex-girlfriend. The criminal does this as action of revenge, to defame her. while victim may lead in distress that a breakup could lead to such as action. In some conditions it is seen that the victim undergoes through a series of emotional fear. due to broken trust. the victim can try to harm herself; antisocial and suicidal tendency is seen. India is boycotting Chinese products, Indian government has put a ban on 59 Chinese applications including Tik Tok, and UC Browser, to maintain the cyber security, and integrity of data of Indian citizens. People who used Tik -Tok, on the regular basics and already had developed a name and fame on that social media platform, where really angry and where not satisfied with the government ‘s decision. it was found that Tik -Tok was found recording the clipboard, which means every sensitive information such as an password, OTP, PIN number no were recorded, which was stored in the phone and later passed on to their servers. We also have come across the cases of a Tik-Tok stars committing suicide. One of them received threat calls, while another due to leak of the personal video, which was mistakenly uploaded on the internet. Due to withdrawal of Tik- Tok from the lives of the people, they may lose a lack of concentration in their workplace, result in frequent mood swings and distraction. Online business on the different social media platforms also increase the risk of cybercrime, such as frauds, phishing etc. In a case it is seen that a person is committing a bluff of suicide, and upload it on its Profile pic, status to gain sympathy and care from that person who he loves and she supports her as friend, finally to gain access to friendship and care.
Conclusion
The cyber criminals use different kinds of apps, through which with the help of virus, worm’s malware and trojan horse get easy control to the data. People stay unaware that their device is been controlled. As we often allow any apps or websites to access our device. The need of cyber awareness is the utmost need. We have regularly monitored our social media accounts. We must not trust any blind news trending on the social media. we must try to use mobile calls to connect with our friends and relative. We must regular change the passwords of our Gmail and other social media accounts, we must not open our social media accounts on devices which belong to others. The time is very crucial cases of covid-19 are increasing day by day, we must be kept ourselves secure from all kinds of problems. We must use two-step verification for all our social media accounts. We must regularly scan our devices with a good anti-virus to stay protected from all kinds of malwares and viruses. We must report fakes accounts on the social media. we must keep our mobile data off; this reduces the risks of infomania. We must spend more time with our family to fill the generation gap that has grown till date. More than 40,000 cyber-attacks have been reported till now after relations with our subcontinent country become threaten. We must ensure to force shutdown, the applications that runs in background, we must not allow any application or website to access our content or to send us notifications, this would result in loss of personal information. We must have strong firewall protected network.
Acknowledgements
I acknowledge my dear mentor, Dr Amarnath Mishra and other colleagues for their valuable responses.
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