EVOLVEESSENCE

Cybercrime in Canada

Even though the internet has clearly changed the way we live, there are some more negative sides of it that cannot be ignored. Cybercrime has been one of these. It makes sense that any location that houses sensitive data, including personal information, and serves as a conduit for payments would be vulnerable.

Cybercrime: Statistics

And so it has happened. An astounding 343,338,964 persons were impacted by 2,300 attacks that were reported to have occurred worldwide in 2023. About 16% of Canadian organizations were impacted by this, according to the 2023 Canadian Survey of Cybercrime and Cyber Security. Additionally, according to CSCCS data, companies spent an astounding $11 billion on preventative measures and $1.2 billion on recovering from the effects of cybercrime. Although it may seem that cybercriminals only threaten huge corporations, they are increasingly focusing on small and medium-sized firms, which may have less money available for preventative and security measures. More importantly, people frequently fall victim to cybercrime in the end.

Cybercrime: Recent victims

The larger organizations, whose clients and consumers they may be, are the ones that get this unwelcome publicity, even if the repercussions on individuals are typically unreported. For instance, a member of the HR staff at Activision, the company that publishes the Call of Duty video game series, fell victim to an SMS phishing assault in 2022. They published a plethora of employee data, including salary information and numerous private emails, since they thought the conversation was authentic. Regretfully, addressing this error was more difficult than resolving a glitch in their best-selling game.

Cybercrime: The Retailer Indigo

The retailer Indigo experienced a multi-day cyberattack in February 2023 that stopped all of its outlets from accepting debit or credit card payments. For almost four weeks following the original attack, the knock-on effect completely destroyed their internet sales.

Cybercrime: The Unwary Public

Of course, there is a much more sinister type of cybercrime that involves frauds that target the unwary public. For instance, there are a lot of phony websites that look quite authentic but never deliver the items or services that have been paid for.
iGaming is one industry that cybercriminals have previously targeted.

Fake Online Casinos

In order to intentionally mislead consumers, fake online casinos have been established. Therefore, it would be prudent for anyone wishing to register with a Canadian online casino to limit their options to those listed on reliable review websites. These will have been examined and confirmed to be authentic. Obtaining deposits and rental money for vacation houses that are essentially solely in the offenders’ fantasies is another common scam.

Cybercrime: Scamming both the clients and the business

Then there are frauds that affect businesses and their clients in two ways. When Air Canada experienced a distributed denial of service attack in 2023, it became a well-known victim of this. A DDoS assault occurs when hackers overload a website with requests, causing it to become inoperable. In this instance, it interfered with the airline’s scheduled departures and caused inconvenience to both business and leisure travelers by affecting check-in desks and electronic gates at several airports throughout the nation.

Cybercrime: Suggested remedies

Some cybercriminals are so skilled that it’s nearly hard to spot a phony website or fraudulent attempt. This is why so many individuals are tricked every year. There are steps that an individual can take to prevent being a victim. The first is to be informed on the types of fraud that were being used at the time.

For instance, fraudulent websites that sell absurdly low-quality goods are more common in the days leading up to the holidays. Therefore, if anything seems too good to be true, it most likely is. This is an excellent rule of thumb to follow. Another is to ensure that your devices’ anti-virus and malware software is up to date. Even in large organizations, it is typically an individual’s error that initiates the chain reaction by unintentionally allowing hackers and cybercriminals to enter. The hazards are just too high; therefore never open an attachment in an email from a dubious source.

Cybersecurity Companies

Nowadays, the majority of organizations use a cyber security company, and there are many available in Canada. Hopefully, their expenditure on expert counsel will significantly contribute to the safety of the rest of us. Ultimately, though, we must all assume a certain amount of responsibility. Therefore, it comes down to being vigilant, exercising caution, and, if at all possible, avoiding danger.

Drowning: What Do You Experience When Drowning?

In Short

All I can recall is that I felt as though I was gazing through a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors. I started to unwind after realizing that nobody could save me. I was unable and unwilling to move. Wow, this is a dumb way to pass away, I thought. What comes next, I wonder? And it seems like I lost all feeling the instant I relaxed. It was similar to meditation.

Continue reading “Drowning: What Do You Experience When Drowning?”

An Ancient Curse? Menstruation In Female Humans

Introduction

Menstruation is usually thought to be unique to primates, despite minor definitional differences across sources. There are differing opinions on the evolutionary benefits of shedding blood associated with rupturing the uterine lining as opposed to absorbing it, as most animals do, and the emergence of overt menstruation in humans and other species. Differences in the ovulation process are probably the cause.

Menstruation: Is it in Humans Only?

While it is entirely absent in strepsirrhine primates and perhaps weakly present in tarsiers, it is prevalent in simians (Old World monkeys, New World monkeys, and apes). Humans and close relatives like chimpanzees are the only animals that exhibit overt menstruation. This is defined as bleeding from the uterus via the vagina.
Only 10 monkey species, four bat species, the elephant shrew, and one species of spiny mouse have a menstrual cycle, but the majority of female mammals have an estrous cycle. Given the lack of close kinship between these taxa, menstruation most likely originated as a result of four separate evolutionary processes.

Menstruation, Other Species

At the conclusion of their reproductive cycle, females of other species of placental mammals go through estrous cycles, during which the animal totally reabsorbs the endometrium (covert menstruation). This is considered by many zoologists to be distinct from a “real” menstrual cycle. The physical indicators of an estrous cycle phase, which signal the animal’s readiness for insemination, are observed in female domestic animals utilized for breeding, such as dogs, pigs, cattle, or horses.

The Big Difference

Most mammalian females use pheromones, visual behavioral signals, or both to communicate fertility to males. Oestrus, “estrus,” or heat are the terms used to describe this proclaimed time of fertility. Females in estrous animals are often only open to copulation during periods of heat (dolphins are an exception). The uterus reabsorbs the endometrium in the estrous cycles of the majority of placental animals in the absence of conception. Sometimes, this endometrial disintegration without vaginal discharge is referred to as stealth menstruation.

Humans and close evolutionary cousins like chimpanzees are the only animals that exhibit overt menstruation, which is defined as blood flowing from the vagina. Some animals, such as household dogs, have mild vaginal bleeding when it gets hot. This discharge has a physiological reason other than menstruation.

Menstruation: A Gift From Evolution

How is mensturation even a gift? How is it an advantageous outcome of evolution? Well the answer lies in thickening of the protective wall around the uterus.
The uterine lining of the majority of female placental animals thickens when ovulation commences. It then continues to grow in thickness and blood flow following the successful implantation of a fertilized egg. Decidualization is the term for this last thickening step, which is often brought on by hormones the embryo releases.

In humans, hormonal cues from the ovaries cause decidualization to occur spontaneously at the start of each menstrual cycle. Thus, regardless of whether an egg is fertilized or implants successfully in the uterus, the human uterine lining thickens completely during each cycle. This is a defense against trophoblast invasion of the endometrial wall. By thickening the protective layer around the endometrial wall, menstruating animals essentially regard every cycle as a potential pregnancy. However, non-menstruating placental mammals do not initiate the pregnancy process. They wait until a fertilized egg gets implanted in the uterine wall.

Menstruation: The Advantage

Menstruation is thought to be a consequence of spontaneous decidualization, which developed in some placental animals because it was superior to non-spontaneous decidualization. Because spontaneous decidualization increases selectivity over the implanted embryo, it gives the mother more control over the maternal-fetal conflict. Given the disproportionately high prevalence of genetic illnesses in humans and other primates, this may be required.

Explanation

Evidence suggests that endometrial stromal cells in the uterus may identify some defects in the developing embryo. However, this is only after they differentiate into decidual cells. This results in epigenetic modifications that hinder placenta development, preventing the embryo from implanting and allowing it to be extracted during the subsequent menstrual cycle. In species whose decidualization is regulated by hormone triggers from the embryo, this failsafe mechanism is not feasible. This idea, commonly known as the “choosy uterus theory,” postulates that in species with high rates of aneuploidy and, consequently, a high percentage of “doomed” embryos, the benefits of menstruation exceed the drawbacks.