ABSTRACT
In the new era of technology, cybercrimes have increased, and this crime is committed by using computer as an instrument and it is done by individual or group of people for fulfilling their needs.The researcher has begun with the introduction wherein he has explained as what cyber-crime is and what are the various modes and manners through which these cyber-crimes are committed. The researcher further has talked about the classification of cyber-crime wherein he has discussed four categories under which cybercrime can be classified such as Cybercrime which are committed against individuals, organization, society, and property. The researcher further has talked about the Cyber Law wherein he has discussed what is cyber law, what aresome of the key points of IT Act 2000 and what is cyber law in India. The researcher eventually has concluded by saying which law governs cybercrime in India and what an individual should do in order to protect themselves from being the victim of cybercrime.
INTRODUCTION
Cyber crime is a crime which is committed by using computer as an instrument and it is done by individual or group of people for fulfilling their needs. The act done by them is an illegal act in the eyes of law and there are laws made for such crime and it is governed by Intellectual Property Act, 2000 and Indian Penal Code, 1860. There are various modes and manners through which these cyber-crimes are committed such as getting an unauthorized access to a computer system or network which is also known as hacking, denial of service attack, theft of information which are stored in electronic form, salami attack, logic bombs, email bombing, virus/worm attack, internet time thefts. Cyber-crimes take place over information system or electronic communication and this type of illegal activities involve computer and a network as their medium. The unusual characteristics which can be seen in cyber-crime is that the offender and the victim may never come into direct contact. Cybercriminals often choose to operate from countries with weak or non-existent cyberlaw in order to reduce their chance of being prosecuted or detection. It is myth among the people who thinks that cyber crimes can be committed only over the internet or cyberspace, as it not necessary all the time that involvement of internet or cyberspace for committed the cyber-crimes is requires, as we can from an example where these are not required like software privacy.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF CYBER CRIME
There are four categories under which cybercrime can be classified. They are as follows:
a) Cybercrime which are committed against individuals
Crimes that the cybercriminals are committing against a person, or an individual is known as cybercrime committed against individuals. Some cybercrime which are committed against individuals are:
i) Email spoofing
Under this technique the cybercriminals are doing forgery of an email header. In other words, under email spoofing sender sends message to receiver making him believe that the message has been delivered from the person which they know or which they can trust. This technique is used as phishing and spam attacks to trick the users. So, here the receiver will open the email thinking and believing that the email has been sent a legitimate source.
ii) Cyber Defamation
Under this technique the cybercriminals will be using cyberspace for publishing a false statement about an individual that can demean or injure the reputation of that individual. In other words, the purpose of publishing this defamatory statement is to degrade the reputation of that individual.
iii) Spamming
Under this technique the cybercriminals send unsolicited messages multiple times to a large number of recipients and the purpose behind this is that of simply sending the same message over and over to the same user, for the purpose of non-commercial proselytizing, for the purpose of commercial advertising, or for any prohibited purpose. And here for the spammer for creating a spam distribution list uses spam bots.
iv) Phishing
Under this technique the cybercriminals try to gain information such as account’s information or login information by masquerading as an entity or as a reputable individual in email or in various communication channels.
Some other cybercrime which are committed against individuals are internet relay chat crime, indecent exposure, net extortion, posting, hacking, trafficking, etc.
b) Cybercrime which are committed against property
These types of crimes include Intellectual property crimes like patent, trademark, copyright, etc., or vandalism of computers, or online threating etc.
c) Cybercrime which are committed against society
Cybercrime which are committed against society includes:
i) Web jacking
“When a Web application improperly redirects a user’s browser from a page on a trusted domain to a bogus domain without the user’s consent, it’s called Web Jacking.” So, the cybercriminals use this method to attack the users, and this is done so as to get access and control or get entrance on the site of another.
ii) Forgery
Forgery means making of false currency, documents, revenue stamp, signature, etc.
d) Cybercrime which are committed against organization
Cybercrime which are committed against organization are as follows:
i) Copying or reading of confidential information unauthorizedly, but the data are neither being deleted nor changed.
ii) Unauthorized deleting or changing of data.
iii) Email bombing
Under this technique the cybercriminals try to flood the server of the receiver by sending huge number of emails in his email address. This is a type of net abuse.
iv) DOS attack
Under this technique the cybercriminals try to flood the servers, networks, or systems with traffic in order to attack the resource of the victim and make it difficult or infeasible for the users to use them.
CYBER LAW
Cyber laws were enacted to control the crimes which were committed by the cybercriminals through cyberspace, or internet, or through the use of computer resources. Cyber laws are important because it will protect the victim from the new epoch of technology. In India Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted by Parliament in order to deal with cyber-crimes, or digital crimes, and electronic commerce.
Some key points of IT Act 2000 are:
i) E-mail is now considered as a legal and valid form of communication.
ii) After the enactment of this Act, government can now use e-governance to issue notices on internet.
iii) Legal validity has been given to the digital signature.
iv) The communication between government and companies or between companies can be done through internet.
v) After the enactment of this Act, companies can now issue digital certificate.
Cyber Laws in India
Section 65 to 69 are the major provisions that governs cyber law in India under IT Act.
Section 65 of the Act talks about the crimes which is committed knowingly or intentionally to change, destroy, or conceal any computer’s source code that is used for a computer program, computer, and computer network or computer system. And the punishment for this crime is 3 years imprisonment or a fine of 2 lakhs or both.
Section 66 talks about the crime, which is done through hacking with data alteration, computer system with an intention to cause damage, loss, or to delete, destroy, or alter any information that resides in any person’s or a public computer. And the punishment for this crime is imprisonment for 3 years or a fine which may extend upto 2 lakhs or both.
Section 66A talks about the crime, which is done by the cybercriminals by sending offensive messages through any communication services. And the punishment for this crime is imprisonment for 3 years along with a fine.
Section 66B talks about receiving stolen communication devices or computer’s resources dishonestly. And the punishment for this crime is imprisonment for 3 years or 1 lakh fine will be imposed or both.
Section 66C talks about doing an identity theft which can be in the form of one’s digital, or one’s password, or digital signature or can include any other unique identification theft of any person other than mentioned in this section. And the punishment for this crime is imprisonment for 3 years along with fine upto 1 lakh can be imposed.
Section 66D talks about a crime which are committed by cheating in personation and it can be done through any computer resource or communication device. And the punishment for this crime may extend upto imprisonment for 3 years along with fine upto 1 lakh can be imposed.
Section 66E talks about a crime which is committed with an intention of capturing, publishing, or transmitting image of private areas, or parts without the consent of that individual. And the punishment for this crime shall be imprisonment for 3 years or a fine which may not exceed 2 lakhs or both.
Section 66F talks about cyber terrorism and whoever commit this crime shall be punished with imprisonment for lifetime.
Section 67 talks about a crime which is committed for publishing or transmitting obscene materials in electronic form. Then the punishment for this crime may extend upto imprisonment for 5 years along with fine upto 1 lakh can be imposed (for first time convict) and if subsequent crime is committed by the cybercriminal, then the punishment for this crime may extend upto imprisonment for 10 years along with fine upto 2 lakhs can be imposed.
Section 67A talks about a crime which is committed for publishing or transmitting materials that contains sexually explicit acts or contents. Then the punishment for this crime may extend upto imprisonment for 5 years along with fine upto 10 lakhs can be imposed (for first time convict) and if subsequent crime is committed by the cybercriminal, then the punishment for this crime may extend upto imprisonment for 7 years along with fine upto 20 lakhs can be imposed.
Section 67B talks about a crime which is committed for publishing or transmitting materialsin any electronic form that depict sexually explicit acts or contents of any children. Then the punishment for this crime may extend upto imprisonment for 5 years along with fine upto 10 lakhs can be imposed (for first time convict) and if subsequent crime is committed by the cybercriminal, then the punishment for this crime may extend upto imprisonment for 7 years along with fine upto 20 lakhs can be imposed.
Section 67C talks about preservation and retention of information by intermediaries. And the punishment for this crime may extend upto imprisonment for 3 years along with fine.
Section 69 gives power to the officer which is appointed by the Central or State government to issue direction for interception, decryption, or monitor of any information through computer’s resources.
CONCLUSION
To conclude we can see that in the new epoch of technology, cybercrimes have increased and to punish the cybercriminals various countries around the world have made cyber law. In India IT Act, 2000 governs cybercrime committed by the cybercriminals and punishes them if they are found guilty. To protect yourself from being the victim of cybercrime keep operating system and software updated, use strong passwords, install anti-virus in your computer, in spam mails never open the attachments, etc.