Sociology

CYBER CRIME

Cybercrime is a kind of crime that happens in “cyberspace”, that is, happens in the world of computers and the Internet. Although many people have limited knowledge of “cybercrime,” this kind of crime has the serious potential for severe impact on our lives and society because our society is becoming an information society, full of information exchange happening in “cyberspace.” Thus, it is necessary to introduce cybercrime details. While several textbooks talk about cybercrime but focus on the statutes and laws relevant to this new breed of crime, few papers or textbooks focus on the “computer science” itself. In other words, most of the materials talk about the “crime” of “cybercrime,” but here, let us discuss more “cyber.”

The term cybercrime is a misnomer. This term has nowhere been defined in any statute/Act passed or enacted by the Indian Parliament. The concept of cybercrime is not radically different from conventional crime. Both include conduct, whether act or omission, which causes a breach of rules of law and is counterbalanced by the sanction of the state.

Before evaluating the concept of cybercrime, it is obvious that the concept of conventional crime is discussed, and the points of similarity and deviance between these forms may be discussed.

The history of cybercrime is short compared with traditional crimes. The first published cybercrime report occurred in the 1960s when computers were large mainframe systems. Since mainframes were not connected with others and only a few people could access them, the cybercrimes were always “insider” cybercrimes, which means employment allowed them to access mainframe computers. In the 1960s and 1970s, cybercrime, which was “computer crime,” in fact, was different from the cybercrime we face today because of no Internet in that era.

At the same time, cybercrime was not only restricted in target cybercrime but expanded into tool cybercrime and computer incidental. This process is similar to the process of learning one language. In childhood, we learn the language itself; then, when we grow up and are good at it, we will use it to communicate with each other, but it is not a prime element. In general, cybercrime has three categories:

1. Target cybercrime: 

The crime in which a computer is the target of the offense.

2. Tool cybercrime: 

The crime in which a computer is used as a tool in committing the offense.

3. Computer incidental: 

The crime in which a computer plays a minor role in committing the offense.

Definition of Cyber Crime

1. A generalized definition of cybercrime may be “unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or target or both.”

2. Cybercrime can be defined as “Any criminal activity that uses a computer either as an instrumentality, target or a means for perpetuating further crimes comes within the ambit of cybercrime.”

3. At the onset, let us satisfactorily define “cybercrime” and differentiate it from “conventional Crime.” Computer crime can involve criminal activities that are traditional in nature, such as theft, fraud, forgery, defamation and mischief, all of which are subject to the Indian Penal Code. The abuse of computers has also given birth to a gamut of new age crimes that are addressed by the Information Technology Act 2000.

4. Defining cybercrimes as “acts that are punishable by the Information Technology Act” would be unsuitable as the Indian Penal Code also covers many cybercrimes, such as email spoofing and cyber defamation, sending threatening emails, etc. A simple yet sturdy definition of cybercrime would be “unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both.”

Development of computer crime and cybercrime

The criminal abuse of information technology and the necessary legal response are issues that have been discussed ever since the technology was introduced. Over the last 50 years, various solutions have been implemented at the national and regional levels. One of the reasons why the topic remains challenging is the constant technical development and the changing methods and ways in which the offenses are committed.

1. The 1960s: 

In the 1960s, the introduction of transistor-based computer systems, which were smaller and less expensive than vacuum-tube-based machines, led to an increase in the use of computer technology. At this early stage, offenses focused on physical damage to computer systems and stored data. Such incidents were reported, for example, in Canada, where in 1969, a student riot caused a fire that destroyed computer data hosted at the university. In the mid-1960s, the United States started a debate on creating a central data-storage authority for all ministries. Within this context, possible criminal abuse of databases and the related risks to privacy were discussed.

2. The 1970s: 

In the 1970s, computer systems and data use increased further. At the end of the decade, an estimated 100000 mainframe computers were operating in the United States. With falling prices, computer technology was more widely used by an administration, businesses, and the public. The 1970s were characterized by a shift from the traditional property crimes against computer systems that had dominated the 1960s to new forms of crime. While physical damage continued to be a relevant form of criminal abuse against computer systems, new forms of computer crime were recognized. They included the illegal use of computer systems and manipulating electronic data. The shift from manual to computer-operated transactions led to another new form of crime – computer-related fraud. Already at this time, multimillion-dollar losses were caused by computer-related fraud. Computer-related fraud, in particular, was a real challenge, and law enforcement agencies were investigating more and more cases. As applying legislation in computer-crime cases led to difficulties, a debate about legal solutions started in different parts of the world. The United States discussed a draft bill designed specifically to address cybercrime. Interpol discussed the phenomena and possibilities for a legal response.

3. The 1980s: 

In the 1980s, personal computers became more and more popular. With this development, the number of computer systems and hence the number of potential targets for criminals again increased. For the first time, the targets included a broad range of critical infrastructure. One of the side effects of the spread of computer systems was an increasing interest in software, resulting in the emergence of the first forms of software piracy and crimes related to patents. The interconnection of computer systems brought about new types of offenses. Networks enabled offenders to enter a computer system without being present at the crime scene. In addition, the possibility of distributing software through networks enabled offenders to spread malicious software, and more and more computer viruses were discovered. Countries started updating their legislation to meet the requirements of a changing criminal environment. International organizations also got involved in the process. OECD and the Council of Europe set up study groups to analyze the phenomena and evaluate possibilities for a legal response.

4. The 1990s: 

The introduction of the graphical interface (“WWW”) in the 1990s, followed by rapid growth in Internet users, led to new challenges. Information legally made available in one country was available globally, even in countries where the publication of such information was criminalized. Another concern associated with online services that turned out to be especially challenging in investigating the transnational crime was the speed of information exchange. Finally, the distribution of child pornography moved from the physical exchange of books and tapes to online distribution through websites and Internet services. While computer crimes were local crimes, the Internet turned electronic crimes into transnational crimes. As a result, the international community tackled the issue more intensively. UN General Assembly Resolution 45/121, adopted in 1990, and the manual for the prevention and control of computer-related crimes issued in 1994 are just two examples.

5. The 21st Century: 

As in each preceding decade, new trends in computer crime and cybercrime continued to be discovered in the 21st century. The first decade of the new millennium was dominated by new, highly sophisticated methods of committing crimes, such as “phishing” and “botnet attacks,” and the emerging use of technology that is more difficult for law enforcement to handle and investigate, such as “voice-over-IP(VoIP) communication” and “cloud computing.” It is not only the methods that changed but also the impact. As offenders became able to automate attacks, the number of offenses increased. Countries and regional and international organizations have responded to the growing challenges and prioritized high cybercrime.

Causes for Cyber Crime

A social thinker like H. L. A. Hart, in his work ‘The Concept of Law,’ has pointed out that human beings are highly vulnerable to fraud and cheating, and the rule of law is necessary to protect them. In the same way, computers are also vulnerable to abuse and require the rule of law to protect and safeguard them against cyber crime.

1. The computer system can store data in a comparatively small place: 

This gives crooked-minded people chances to either destroy or steal the information stored in it. Crimes of this kind are increasing nowadays.

2. Easy access to information because of complex technology: 

The problem is guarding the computer system against unauthorized access because of its complex technology. Important data, confidential reports and secrets stored in it are often stolen or meddled with by means of secretly implanted logic bombs, key loggers, advanced voice recorders, retina imagers, etc.

3. Computer system is complex, and hence the possibility of a mistake by way of operating the system through millions of codes cannot be ruled out: 

Since the human mind is fallible, there is always the possibility of a lapse taking place at any stage in its operation. Cybercriminals take advantage of these lacunas and penetrate them to fulfill their secret agenda.

4. Negligence in protecting the computer system: 

Negligence is a part of human conduct. It is, therefore, very probable that while protecting the computer system, there might be any negligence which in turn provides a chance for cybercriminals to gain access and control over the computer system.

5. Loss of evidence: 

Since much of the data stored in the computer system is routinely destroyed, the needed evidence might get lost along with them. This problem paralyzes the system of crime investigation.

Types of Cyber Crimes

Cyber crimes are committed in various ways, and as shown in figure 1 as cybercrime evolves with the invention of the new modern technique itself. They may broadly be classified under four broad groups –

Figure 1. Types of Cyber Crime (from Kaur, 2018)

1. Crimes against individuals:

Crimes of this kind are will discuss in the following below:

1. Email spoofing: 

This technique is a forgery of an email header. This means that the message appears to have been received from someone other than the genuine or actual source. These tactics are usually used in spam campaigns or phishing because people will probably open an electronic mail or an email when they think it has been sent by a legitimate source.

2. Phishing: 

Phishing means trying to fool people into parting with their money. Phishing refers to the receipt of unsolicited emails by customers of financial institutions requesting them to enter their username, password or other personal information to access their account. The criminal then has access to the customer's online bank account and the funds in that account. The customers click on the links on the email to enter their information, so they remain unaware that the fraud has occurred.

3. Spamming: 

Spam is using electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately.

4. Cyber Defamation: 

It is an act of imputing any person with the intent to lower the person in the estimation of the right-thinking members of society generally or to cause him to be shunned or avoided or to expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule. For example, the mail account of Sunil was hacked and some emails were sent from his account to some of his batch mates regarding his affair with a girl who intended to defame him.

5. Cyber-stalking: 

Cyber stalking involves following a person’s movements across the Internet by posting messages (sometimes threatening) on the victim's bulletin boards, entering the victim's chat rooms, and constantly bombarding the victim with emails, etc.

6. Salami Attack: 

A salami attack is when small attacks add up to one major attack that can go undetected due to the nature of this type of cybercrime. It is also known as salami slicing. For example, the attacker uses an online database to seize the information of customers that as bank/credit card details deducting very small amounts from every account over a period of time. The customers remain unaware of the slicing and hence no complaint is launched, thus preventing the hacker from detection.

7. Computer sabotage:  

The use of the internet to halt the normal functioning of a computer system through the introduction of worms, viruses, or logic bombs is called computer sabotage.

8. Malware: 

Malware is any software that infects and damages a computer system without the owner's knowledge or permission and takes control of any individual’s computer to spread a bug to other people’s devices or social networking profiles.

2. Crimes against property:

Let us discuss in detail the following below:

1. Intellectual Property crimes: 

Any unlawful act by which the owner is deprived completely or partially of his rights is a crime. The most common crimes are software piracy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, computer source code theft, etc.

2. Cyber Squatting: 

It involves two persons claiming for the same Domain Name either by claiming that they had registered the name first. For example, two similar names i.e. www.yahoo.com and www.yahhoo.com.

3. Cyber Vandalism: 

Vandalism means damaging the property of another. Thus cyber vandalism means destroying or damaging the data or information stored on the computer when a network service is stopped or disrupted.

4. Hacking Computer System: 

Hacking, in simple terms, means an‖ illegal intrusion into a computer system and/or network. Hacking attacks include Famous social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogging platform by unauthorized access/control over the computer. Due to the hacking activity, data and computer systems will be lost. Also, research especially indicates that those attacks were not mainly intended for financial gain too and to diminish the reputation of a particular person or company.

5. Altering in an unauthorized way: 

This requires little technical expertise and is a common form of theft by employees altering the data before entry, entering false data, or entering unauthorized instructions or using unauthorized processes; Altering, destroying, suppressing, or stealing output, usually to conceal unauthorized transactions.

6. Logic bomb: 

A logic bomb is a piece of code intentionally inserted into a software system that will set off a malicious function when specified conditions are available. For example, a programmer may hide a piece of code that starts deleting files should they ever be terminated from the company.

7. Trojan horse: 

Trojan horses are email viruses that can duplicate themselves, steal information, or harm the computer system.

3. Cyber crimes against organizations:

Crimes that could be included under this category are as follows:

1. Hacking: 

It means unauthorized control/access over a computer system and hacking completely destroys the whole data and computer programs.

2. Denial of service attacks: 

The criminal floods the bandwidth of the victim‘s network. The attackers typically target sites or services hosted on high-profile web servers such as banks, credit card payment gateways, mobile phone networks, and root name servers. Denial of service attacks is designed to consume resources so that other users cannot use the resources and are therefore denied service. In a Computer network environment, the key resources are CPU, memory, and bandwidth.

3. Password sniffing: 

Password sniffers are programs that monitor and record the name and password of network users as they login, at site.

4. Virus attack: 

A computer virus is a malware program that, when executed, replicates by inserting copies of itself (possibly modified) into other computer programs, data files, or the boot sector of the hard drive; when this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be “infected.”

5. E-mail bombing/mail bomb: 

Refers to sending a large no of emails to the victim to crash the victim's E-mail account or server crash.

Impact of cyber crime in India

Cybercrime has had a significant impact on India, both in terms of its society and youth. Here are some key impacts of cyber crime in India:

1. Impact of Cyber Crime on Society: 

1. Crime as an evil factor of Society: Cyber crime is a form of criminal activity that has a detrimental impact on society as a whole. It undermines trust, disrupts social order, and creates a sense of insecurity among individuals. Cybercrimes such as hacking, identity theft, online scams, and cyber fraud not only result in financial losses but also erode public confidence in online platforms and digital transactions.

2. Cyber-pornography: The proliferation of cyber-pornography is a significant concern. It involves the distribution and consumption of explicit sexual content online, including child pornography. Cyber-pornography contributes to the objectification of individuals, exploitation, and the spread of harmful and illegal content. It can have long-lasting psychological effects on both the victims and the individuals engaging in such activities.

2. Impact of Cyber Crime over Youth:

1. Friendships: The digital age has transformed how young people form and maintain friendships. While online platforms provide opportunities for connectivity, cybercrime can impact the trust and authenticity of these relationships. Cybercriminals may exploit social media and online platforms to deceive and manipulate young people, leading to emotional distress, loss of personal information, and potential harm.

2. Cyber Bullying: Cyberbullying refers to the use of digital platforms to harass, intimidate, or harm individuals, often through social media, messaging apps, or online forums. It can have severe consequences on the mental and emotional well-being of young people. Cyberbullying can lead to increased levels of anxiety, depression, social isolation, and even incidents of self-harm or suicide. Efforts are being made to raise awareness about cyberbullying and promote measures to combat it.

3. Sexual Solicitation: Online platforms can expose young people to sexual predators who engage in sexual solicitation. These predators may manipulate or coerce young individuals into sharing explicit content, engaging in inappropriate conversations, or even meeting in person for exploitation. This can have severe psychological and physical consequences, including trauma, abuse, and long-term emotional damage.

Addressing the impact of cybercrime in India requires a multi-faceted approach, including strengthening cybersecurity infrastructure, enhancing law enforcement capabilities, promoting digital literacy and awareness, enforcing strict legal frameworks, and fostering international cooperation to combat cyber threats. It is crucial for individuals, businesses, and the government to prioritize cybersecurity and adopt best practices to protect against cyber threats.

Prevention of Cyber Crime

Prevention is always better than cure. It is always better to take certain precautions while working on the net. One should make them a part of his cyber life. Sailesh Kumar Sarkar, technical advisor and network security consultant to the Mumbai Police Cybercrime Cell, advocates the 5P mantra for online security: Precaution, Prevention, Protection, Preservation, and Perseverance.

Any person who makes use of the internet facility must always keep in mind the following things:

1. Identification of exposures through education will assist responsible companies and firms in meeting these challenges.

2. One should avoid disclosing personal information to strangers, the person they don’t know, via e-mail or while chatting on any social networking site.

3. One must avoid sending any photographs to strangers online as misusing or modifying photographs incidents are increasing daily.

4. An update Anti-virus software to guard against virus attacks should be used by all the netizens and should also keep back up volumes so that one may not suffer data loss in case of virus contamination.

5. A person should never send his credit card number or debit card number to any site that is not secured to guard against fraud.

6. Parents always have to watch the sites their children are accessing to prevent any kind of harassment or deprivation of children.

7. Website owners should watch traffic and check any irregularity on the site. It is the responsibility of the website owners to adopt some policy for preventing cybercrimes as the number of internet users is growing day by day.

8. Public site web servers must be physically separately protected from an internal corporate network.

9. It is better to use a security program by the body corporate to control information on sites.

10. Strict statutory laws need to be passed by the legislatures keeping in mind the interest of netizens.

11. IT department should pass certain guidelines and notifications for the protection of computer systems and should also bring out more strict laws to break down the criminal activities relating to cyberspace.

12. As Cyber Crime is a major threat to all countries worldwide, certain steps should be taken internationally to prevent cybercrime.

13. A complete justice must be provided to the victims of cybercrimes by compensatory remedy and offenders to be punished with the highest type of punishment so that it will anticipate the criminals of cybercrime.

Cybercrime is essentially connected with the human mind. The capacity of the human mind is immeasurable. It is almost impossible to eliminate cyber crime from cyberspace. However, it is possible to check them. No legislation has been successful in totally eliminating crime from the globe. The only possible step is to make people aware of their rights and duties and further make the application of the laws more stringent to check crime. The act is no doubt a historical step in the cyber world. Still, there is a need to bring changes to the ‘Information Technology Act’ – 2000 to make it more effective in combating cyber crimes. A word of caution is necessary for the pro-legislation school. It should be kept in mind that the provisions of the cyber law should not be made so stringent to prevent all types of cyber crimes that retard the growth of the cyber industry.