Cyber Crimes

Cyber crimes can be defined as any crime in which the computer is either the target or it is used as a tool. Technological progress has created new possibilities for illegal activities. The Internet is particularly vulnerable since it has no physical boundaries or restrictions. On the one hand, the Internet provides educational and informative material; on the other it may also be a transmitter of obscene or anti-social matter. Along with the traditional crimes of defamation, theft, forgery, etc, many new kinds of crimes have been reported which maybe harmful to individuals, organizations or the society at large.

Cyber crime maybe classified on the basis of against whom the crime is committed. Cyber stalking, defamation, email spoofing, fraud, etc are unlawful acts that are directed against people on an individual basis. Crimes like cyber stalking are particularly threatening to women. Then there might be crimes that are specifically directed against particular organizations. The Government is generally a popular target in this category. Transmission of obscene material comes in the category of those crimes that affect the society at large. Illegal substances are also sometimes sold through the Internet.   Cyber terrorism is the name of a new menace threatening to cause widespread destruction.  The motive for the various cyber crimes has changed with time. While earlier cyber crimes like hacking were committed by teenagers just for thrill and entertainment, nowadays the motives have become more serious. Economic motives are common due to possible abuse of ATM machines, credit cards, etc. Social and political motives are sought to be achieved by terrorist groups.

Cyber crimes may also be classified on the basis of whether they are the traditional wrongs known to criminal law or they are the new age crimes which have come to our notice with technological developments. Theft is probably the most common and oldest crime known to mankind. Ever since man has come into ownership of material things, other men have sought the same and if they can’t obtain them legally they try to steal them. The same is true for the virtual world also. The use of online banking has made cyber theft very common and almost easy if adequate safeguards are not taken. Similarly, by using slightly more sophisticated techniques, financial fraud has also become possible. However, apart from the traditional crimes like fraud, theft, defamation, whole new paraphernalia of crimes has opened up. The Internet has opened a Pandora’s box with an unlimited range of illegal and criminal activities. Hacking is the most basic kind of a cyber crime that can be committed by school going children also. Hacking is almost always done with the intention to cause some kind of damage or alteration to somebody’s data. Hacking involves unauthorized access, i.e. any kind of access to a computer or network without the permission of the authorized owner or user. Criminal law requires both mens rea and actus reus to constitute a crime. In other words, every wrongful act must also be accompanied by a guilty mind, i.e. intention or knowledge of wrong. In order to commit hacking, generally password cracking is also done. There are sophisticated tools available that assist in password cracking. Passwords can be cracked either by a simple dictionary attack or by a brute force attack. Denial of service attacks are launched to make the victim’s computer crash by sending more requests/commands than the computer can handle.

Data stored in computers is subject to all kinds of threats in the form of data diddling, worms and viruses. The difference between the two is that while a virus needs some kind of a host to attach itself to, worms can replicate themselves. Worms and viruses can be distinguished from Trojan attacks in which an unauthorized program can gradually gain control over another’s system by posing to be authorized.

Email spoofing, Phishing and Salami attacks are generally done to commit financial crimes. In email spoofing an email appears to originate from a particular source whereas it actually is from some other source. Phishing is a way of acquiring sensitive information like passwords, bank account details, etc by masquerading as a trusted entity. Thus, a lot of fraud maybe committed by these means.  In Salami attacks, the attack makes such minor alterations that nobody would notice them. For example, a very small sum of money maybe transferred into the perpetrator’s account from all the accounts in the bank. The amount in each case is negligible but the total earned by the perpetrator maybe millions! 

It can be seen from the above overview, that the Internet is not a safe place anymore. Regulation and monitoring has become a compulsion across the world. The range of crimes that can be committed is so vast and potentially dangerous, that we can’t afford to ignore them.