What is Cyber Crime?
Before starting our discussion first we must know what
“Cyber crime” is and what are the impacts and the benefits the “Cyber
Criminals” gain from such activities.
Definition of Cyber Crime:
“Any crime that involves a computer and a network is called
a "Computer Crime"
For this purpose a computer may have been used to commit
such crime or simply a computer may be the target.
Another term called “Internet crime” refers to criminal
activities for exploiting the internet. These crimes include and are not
limited to identity theft, threatening a nation’s security, copyright
infringement and child pornography. These crimes have become a threat to
individual privacy, where confidential data, individual’s identity or photos
and videos etc. is stolen or intercepted by the attacker.
In “Cyber Crime” such as identity theft, financial theft,
espionage mostly non-state agents and government organizations are involved.
For example, in the latest turn of events the National
Security Agency (NSA) of the United States was held responsible for
intercepting and spying on millions of online users.
Or in another example, the Chinese hackers were involved in
constantly hacking into Big US organizations and agencies like the latest
attack on the New York Times in January 2013.
Such criminal activities carried out online involving
nations and state missionary is known as “Cyber Warfare”.
Types of Cyber Crimes
1. Cyber Crimes against Persons
2. Cyber Crimes against Persons Property
3. Cyber Crimes against Government
4. Cyber Crimes against Society
The following are the description of all the types of Cyber
Crimes.
1. Cyber Crimes against Persons
There are certain offences which affect the personality of
individuals can be defined as:
1. Harassment
via E-Mails: It is very common type of harassment through sending letters,
attachments of files & folders i.e. via e-mails. At present harassment is
common as usage of social sites i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc. increasing day by day.
2. Cyber-Stalking:
It means expressed or implied a physical threat that creates fear through the
use to computer technology such as internet, e-mail, phones, text messages,
webcam, websites or videos.
3. Dissemination
of Obscene Material: It includes Indecent exposure/ Pornography (basically
child pornography), hosting of web site containing these prohibited materials.
These obscene matters may cause harm to the mind of the adolescent and tend to
deprave or corrupt their mind.
4. Defamation:
It is an act of imputing any person with intent to lower down the dignity of
the person by hacking his mail account and sending some mails with using vulgar
language to unknown persons mail account.
5. Hacking:
It means unauthorized control/access over computer system and act of hacking
completely destroys the whole data as well as computer programmes. Hackers
usually hacks telecommunication and mobile network.
6. Cracking:
It is amongst the gravest cyber crimes known till date. It is a dreadful
feeling to know that a stranger has broken into your computer systems without
your knowledge and consent and has tampered with precious confidential data and
information.
7. E-Mail
Spoofing: A spoofed e-mail may be said to be one, which misrepresents its
origin. It shows it’s origin to be different from which actually it originates.
8. SMS
Spoofing: Spoofing is a blocking through spam which means the unwanted
uninvited messages. Here a offender steals identity of another in the form of
mobile phone number and sending SMS via internet and receiver gets the SMS from
the mobile phone number of the victim. It is very serious cyber crime against
any individual.
9.Carding:
It means false ATM cards i.e. Debit and Credit cards used by criminals for
their monetary benefits through withdrawing money from the victim’s bank
account mala-fidely. There is always unauthorized use of ATM cards in this type
of cyber crimes.
10. Cheating
& Fraud: It means the person who is doing the act of cyber crime i.e.
stealing password and data storage has done it with having guilty mind which
leads to fraud and cheating.
11. Child
Pornography: It involves the use of computer networks to create, distribute, or
access materials that sexually exploit underage children.
12. Assault by
Threat: refers to threatening a person with fear for their lives or lives of
their families through the use of a computer network i.e. E-mail, videos or
phones.
2. Cyber Crimes against Persons Property:
As there is rapid growth in the international trade where
businesses and consumers are increasingly using computers to create, transmit
and to store information in the electronic form instead of traditional paper
documents. There are certain offences which affects person’s properties which are
as follows:
1. Intellectual Property Crimes: Intellectual property consists of a bundle of
rights. Any unlawful act by which the owner is deprived completely or partially
of his rights is an offence. The common form of IPR violation may be said to be
software piracy, infringement of copyright, trademark, patents, designs and
service mark violation, theft of computer source code, etc.
2. Cyber
Squatting: It means where two persons claim for the same Domain Name either by
claiming that they had registered the name first on by right of using it before
the other or using something similar to that previously. For example two
similar names i.e. www.yahoo.com and www.yaahoo.com.
3. Cyber
Vandalism: Vandalism means deliberately destroying or damaging property of another.
Thus cyber vandalism means destroying or damaging the data when a network
service is stopped or disrupted. It may include within its purview any kind of
physical harm done to the computer of any person. These acts may take the form
of the theft of a computer, some part of a computer or a peripheral attached to
the computer.
4. Hacking
Computer System: Hacktivism attacks those included Famous Twitter, blogging
platform by unauthorized access/control over the computer. Due to the hacking
activity there will be loss of data as well as computer. Also research
especially indicates that those attacks were not mainly intended for financial
gain too and to diminish the reputation of particular person or company.
5. Transmitting
Virus: Viruses are programs that attach themselves to a computer or a file and
then circulate themselves to other files and to other computers on a network.
They usually affect the data on a computer, either by altering or deleting it.
Worm attacks plays major role in affecting the computerize system of the
individuals.
6. Cyber
Trespass: It means to access someone’s computer without the right authorization
of the owner and does not disturb, alter, misuse, or damage data or system by
using wireless internet connection.
7. Internet
Time Thefts: Basically, Internet time theft comes under hacking. It is the use
by an unauthorized person, of the Internet hours paid for by another person.
The person who gets access to someone else’s ISP user ID and password, either
by hacking or by gaining access to it by illegal means, uses it to access the
Internet without the other person’s knowledge. You can identify time theft if
your Internet time has to be recharged often, despite infrequent usage.
3. Cyber Crimes against Government:
There are certain offences done by group of persons
intending to threaten the international governments by using internet
facilities. It includes:
1.Cyber
Terrorism: Cyber terrorism is a major burning issue in the domestic as well as
global concern. The common form of these terrorist attacks on the Internet is
by distributed denial of service attacks, hate websites and hate e-mails,
attacks on sensitive computer networks etc. Cyber terrorism activities endanger
the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.
2. Cyber
Warfare: It refers to politically motivated hacking to conduct sabotage and
espionage. It is a form of information warfare sometimes seen as analogous to
conventional warfare although this analogy is controversial for both its
accuracy and its political motivation.
3. Distribution
of pirated software: It means distributing pirated software from one computer
to another intending to destroy the data and official records of the
government.
4. Possession
of Unauthorized Information: It is very easy to access any information by the
terrorists with the aid of internet and to possess that information for
political, religious, social, ideological objectives.
4. Cyber Crimes against Society at large:
An unlawful act done with the intention of causing harm to
the cyberspace will affect large number of persons. This offence includes
1.Child
Pornography: It involves the use of computer networks to create, distribute, or
access materials that sexually exploit underage children. It also includes
activities concerning indecent exposure and obscenity.
2. Cyber
Trafficking: It may be trafficking in drugs, human beings, arms weapons etc.
which affects large number of persons. Trafficking in the cyberspace is also a
gravest crime.
3. Online
Gambling: Online fraud and cheating is one of the most lucrative businesses
that are growing today in the cyber space. There are many cases that have come
to light are those pertaining to credit card crimes, contractual crimes,
offering jobs, etc.
4.Financial
Crimes: This type of offence is common as there is rapid growth in the users of
networking sites and phone networking where culprit will try to attack by
sending bogus mails or messages through internet. Ex: Using credit cards by
obtaining password illegally.
5.Forgery:
It means to deceive large number of persons by sending threatening mails as
online business transactions are becoming the habitual need of today’s life
style.
What is a Hacker?
“A hacker is someone who breaks into computer or a computer
network”.
Hackers are motivated to commit such crimes either for
financial gains, protesting against any political activity or just to challenge
the limits of his skills and expertise in the field. Not all hackers show
theirs skills in performing criminal activities. Some hackers look for loophole
& backdoors in software and websites, and if any vulnerabilities are found
they report back to the owner or the authorities. One such example happened
recently when a young Palestinian hacker found a bug in Facebook and he
reported that bug to the authorities. But unfortunately he wasn’t given any
credit or reward for showing his skills and good intentions.
That’s how experts distinguish Hackers from Crackers. A
hacker is someone who carries out such activities with good intentions and a
cracker do the same but his main objective is to cause harm.