Thanks to cybercrime, do we need a new internet?

CREATED BY PRITESH GANATRA Published: 21/04/2026 @ 09:01AM #CyberCrime #CyberSecurity #OnlineSafety #DataProtection #DigitalResilience #TechPolicy

I wonder whether the rise in cybercrime means scrapping the Internet entirely or rebuilding trust with smarter design. We need accountable platforms, stronger standards and better habits. Let's make the net safer without losing its soul ...

Cybercrime is a growing threat, raising the question: do we need to rethink and rebuild the internet to combat it?

I've been asking myself whether we've let the internet drift so far that cybercrime now sets the rules. I see friends' parents fooled by slick scams, fake investment gurus promising easy wins, and deepfakes muddying the truth until we doubt our eyes.

It's tempting to hit 'delete all' and start again!

I think a better question is how we can rebuild trust through design, incentives and accountability. We can keep the good, reduce the harm, and make online safety normal rather than a specialist skill.

I don't believe people are suddenly careless; the systems are optimised to exploit human attention and emotion. When trust signals - blue ticks, follower counts, glossy adverts - can be rented or forged, even sharp minds get caught.

Good cybersecurity shouldn't ask everyone to become a cryptographer. It should minimise the need for heroics by making the safe path the easy path, and the risky path visibly inconvenient.

I'd start with proof, not vibes. Platforms should adopt built‑in provenance for media so you can see if an image, video or voice clip was captured on a device, edited, or AI‑generated, and by whom. That gives citizens a context layer to evaluate claims before they spread. Pair that with clear data protection defaults and rapid takedown of impersonation and payment fraud, and you measurably cut the oxygen to the grifters.

Payment gateways, ad networks and app stores must
stop being neutral conduits for scams!

If a platform consistently allows fraud to pay for reach, regulators should be able to levy fines proportionate to the harm and force restitution. Aligning incentives beats pleading for better behaviour. The entities profiting from the attention economy should bear the cost of cleaning their gutters.

We also need identity without mass surveillance. Verifiable credentials can prove I'm over 18, a UK resident, or the genuine owner of an account, without handing my entire passport to every website. That reduces social engineering and makes coordinated cyber attacks less trivial, while preserving privacy. The technology exists; the missing piece is consistent standards and cross‑platform adoption.

Education remains essential, but it must be practical, not preachy. Teach people to verify payment requests through 2FA, to freeze and reissue cards quickly, to use password managers and passkeys, and to check domain names before transferring money. These habits form the bedrock of digital resilience, but they only scale if the tools are simple, free and pushed by default across devices and services.

The government has a role beyond slogans!

Mandate secure‑by‑default configurations, require rapid incident reporting for large platforms, and enforce transparent risk assessments for new features that affect online safety. If a feature increases the likelihood of exploitation, ship it with guardrails or don't ship it at all. Safety should be a product requirement, not a retrospective apology.

So do we need a new internet? Maybe not a replacement, but a renovation with stricter building codes. Stronger authentication, end‑to‑end encryption with recoverable account access, content provenance, and auditable algorithms can harden the structure without erasing openness.

We should expect platforms to fund victim support and cooperate on cross‑border takedowns, because cybercrime thrives on jurisdictional gaps and delay.

We should normalise pausing before sharing, treating extraordinary claims like street magic, which is entertaining until verified. We should celebrate companies that choose friction for safety, such as cooldowns on large transfers or prominent warnings around high‑risk content. A little friction can prevent a lot of grief, and signal whose side the platform is on.

In the end, I don't want a sterilised web, just one where trust is earned and checked, and where the cost of harm is borne by those who enable it.If we align incentives, upgrade the plumbing and keep humans in the loop with clearer signals, we won't need a torch‑and‑pitchfork reboot.

We'll have an internet that shrugs off cybercrime rather than succumbing to it

Until next time ...

PRITESH GANATRA
Your technology problem solver

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About Pritesh Ganatra ...
The word 'Technology' has too many connotations in today's world! Where do we start? Simple terms like 'IT' and 'Telecoms'? or terms that appear NOT to have an actual meaning at all!, e.g. 'Internet of Things (IoT). Technology also encompasses specialist products and services like 'Rugged' and 'Tough' android devices, Lone Worker Software, panic alarm devices, smart energy devices, low energy lighting, credit card terminal (PCI DSS) security, indoor/ outdoor Wi-Fi systems, Ultrafast Gigabit internet connectivity, access control systems, industrial IoT circuit controllers. BTS UK can consult from simple solutions to the most complex, provide some of the products through a wholesale channel, bring together a multi-disciplined 'Task Force' to deliver and implement complete Technology 'projects'. I am your technology problem solver and I look forward to helping you.

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