WHAT IS CYBER CRIME ?

👉INTRODUCTION :

                    

          Cyber crime is a new type of criminal activity that started raising its ugly head in the early 1990s as the internet became a common place for online users worldwide.computer criminals now have the opportunity to gain access to sensitive information if they have the necessary knowhow.this generally causes huge problems in the economic sphere and results in companies and individuals having to take costly steps to ensure their safety and reduction in commission of cyber crime.

                                                    

      case law:👉    First major cyber crime which had come to the public notice is the citibank rip off US $10 million were fraudulently transferred out of the bank and into a bank a/c in switzerland.A Russian hacker group led by valdimir kevin a renowned hacker ,perpetrated the attack.the group compromised the bank's security systems .valdimir was allegedly using his office computer at AO saturn, a computer firm in st.petersburg ,Russia to break into citibank computers.He was finally arrested on heathrow airport on his way to switzerland.

         

Most pepole think of internet as being synonymus with the world wide web but it is not .The internet is a network of computer networks. the very name internet comes form the concpet of inter-networking,where multiple computer networks are joined together. In the business arena ,elctronic mail{e-mail},file transfer ,and chat rooms take place through the world wide web.together,they comprise  a world of cyberspace ,where important legal issues -i.e.cybercrimes -have been already raised.

2.Cyber law and Cyber Crime:

   The term 'cyber law' in general refers to all legal and regulatory aspects of internet.It means that anything concerned with ,related to,or emanating from any legal aspects or issues concerning any activity of netizens and others in cyberspace comes within the ambit of cyber law. more specifically, cyber law can be defined as a law governing the use of computer and the internet .Namely, it focuses on a combination of state and federal statutory,decisional and administrative laws arising out of the use of internet.

The information technology Bill(1999) has defined the cybercrimes as:

'whoever knowingly or intentionally conceals,destroys,or alters or intentionally or knowingly causes another to conceal,destroy,or alter any computer source document used for a computer , computer programme,computer system,or computer network, when computer source code is required to be kept or maintained by law for the time being in force [shall be punishable with a fine which may extend up to rupees two lakhs or with imprisonment up to three years, or with both].

3.Classification of Cyber Crimes:

    Computer crime mainly consists of unauthorized access to computer systems data alteration ,data destruction,theft of intellectual properly. Cyber crime in the context of national security may involve hacktivism, traditional espionage,or information warfare and related activities.

           pronography,threatening email,assuming someone's identity,sexual harassment,defamation,spam and phishing are some examples where computers are used to commit crime, whereas viruses,worms and industrail espionage,software piracy and hacking are examples where computers become target of crime.

Broadly there are two classes of cyber crimes

 {a}: Computer Assisted cyber crimes:computer is instrumental in committing the crime.

    .selling nonexistent,defective,substandard or counterfeit goods,theft of credit card,bank fraud,fake stock shares, intellectual property offences including unauthorised sharing of the copy content of movies,music digitised books.

      .Selling obscene and prohibited sexual representations.

     

   2.Computer oriented Cyber Crimes: Computer is the target of the crime

     .Malicious software:viruses,Trojans

      .Cyber terrorism:

       .Child pornographylders

       .Violent and extreme pornography

       .Internet inspired homicides and suicides

       .Worm: self replicating programmes,spread autonomously without a carrier.

        .Trojan :installed during downloading some programme as a background activity causing irreparable damage.

       .Spyware:parasitic software invades privacy-divulging details-through tracking cookies.

        

NOTE-Even though our basic understanding about cyber crime is that computer is necessary as one of the components of the offence ,a student of this course shall know that a crime committed by using any digital device is covered under the ambit of cyber crime. for ex.casio digital diary ,washing machine ,mobiles calculators ,pen drives,CDs.