Cyber Crime Awareness Among Youth in Udupi District

Cybercrime is emerging as a very serious threat in today’s world. The internet brings happiness to our lives but at the same time, it has some negative sides too. The cybercriminal is always in a search to find out the new ways to attack the possible internet victims. The new generation is growing up with computers and most important is that all the monetary transactions are moving onto the internet.

So, it has become very important for us to be aware of the various cyber crimes being committed with the help of computers. Cybercrime is defined as the “illegal activity done using the computer system and the internet” which is punishable by law. With increasing internet penetration, cyber crimes have also increased in the last few years. Between 2011 and 2015, the number of cyber-crimes registered in the country has gone up to 5 times. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh alone encountered 1/3rd of these crimes.

Cyber-crime in India is registered under three broadheads, the IT Act, Indian Penal Code(IPC) and other State Level Legislations(SLL). With increasing mobile and internet penetration in the country, cyber-crimes have also increased proportionately. Between 2011 and 2015, more than 32,000 cyber-crimes were reported across the country. More than 24,000 cases were registered under IT act and the remaining under the various sections of IPC and other State Level Legislations. Any criminal activity that uses a computer either as a tool, target or means for perpetuating crimes comes within the range of cyber-crimes. The first cyber-crime was recorded in 1820 in France. The cyber-crime has been a problem as early as the late 1970s. The first spam e-mail took place in 1978 and the first virus was installed on the Apple computer in 1982. In 2006, about 2000 complaints relating to cyber-crime were received and the major reasons for such complaints were financial fraud, viruses, and hackers. It has also been found that there has been a constant increase in the number of children being exposed to unwanted pornography, internet harassment and bullying.

Cybercrime also called computer crime, the use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, child pornography, stealing identities, violating privacy. Cybercrime, especially through the internet, has grown in importance as the computer has become central to commerce, entertainment, and government. Cybercrime mainly consists of unauthorized access to computer systems, data alterations, data destruction, theft of intellectual property. Most cybercrime is an attack on information about individuals, corporations or governments. Although the attacks do not take place on a physical body, they do take place on the personal or corporate virtual body, which is the set of information attributes that define people and institutions on the internet. Cybercrime also includes non-monetary offenses such as creating and distributing viruses on other computers or posting confidential business information on the internet.

Types of Cyber Crime

When any crime is committed over the internet it is referred to as a cybercrime. There are many types of cyber crimes and the most common ones are: HackingThis is a type of cybercrime wherein a persons computer is broken into so that his personal or sensitive information can be accessed. In India, hacking is classified as a felony and is punishable. This is different from ethical hacking, which many organizations use to check their internet security protection. In hacking, the criminal uses a variety of software to enter a persons computer and the person may not aware that his computer is being accessed from a remote location. Theft This crime occurs when a person violates copyrights and downloads music, videos, movies, and games. There are even peer sharing websites which encourage software piracy and many of these websites are now being targeted by the government.

Cyber StalkingThis is a kind of online harassment wherein the victim is subjected to a barrage of online messages and emails. Typically, these stalkers know their victims and instead of resorting to offline stalking, they use the internet to stalk. Identity TheftThis has become a major problem for people using internet for cash transactions and banking services. In this cybercrime, the criminal accesses data about a persons bank account, credit cards, social security, debit card and other sensitive information to get money or to buy things online in the victim's name. It can result in major financial losses for the victim and even spoil the victim's credit history. Malicious SoftwareThese is internet based software or programs that are used to disrupt a network. The software is used to gain access to a computer system to steal sensitive information or data or causing damage to software present in the system. Child Soliciting and AbuseThis is also a type of cybercrime wherein criminals solicit minors via chat rooms for the purpose of child pornography. The government has been spending a lot of time monitoring chat rooms frequented by children with the hopes of reducing and preventing child abuse and soliciting. Spam and PhishingSpamming and Phishing are two very common forms of cyber crimes. It is not much you can do to control them. Spam is basically unwanted emails and messages. Phishing is a method where cybercriminals offer a bait so that you take it and give out information they want. The bait can be in the form of a business proposal, the announcement of a lottery to which you never subscribed and anything that promises you money for nothing or a small favor.

Social Engineering is a method where the cybercriminals make a direct contact with you using emails or phones- mostly the latter. They try to gain your confidence and once they succeed at it, they get the information they need. This information can be about you, your money, your company where u work or anything that can be of interest to the cybercriminals. Characteristics of Cyber Crime Physical presence is required No territorial boundaries Wider outcome Low risk- high rewards Anonymity and openness Lack of awareness among victims Victims refrain from reporting cases No violence is involved Lack of tangible evidence Lack of high technical skills. Duties of Cyber Expert Identifying the peculiarity of cyber evidence Understanding of cyber evidence Discovery of cyber evidence Preservation of cyber evidence Search, seizure, and collection of cyber evidence Protection of cyber evidence Electronic surveillance General Awareness Don’t delete harmful communications(emails, chat logs, posts).

These may help provide vital information about the identity of the person.l Remember that all other internet users are strangers. You do not know who you are chatting with.l Be extremely careful about how you share personal information about yourself online.l Be aware of all e-mails and SMS from any stranger regarding lottery prize, jobs in the UK and huge wealth.l Be sure that your WIFI network is secured, use a strong password.l Never share your passwords with anyone. Change the password frequently using a combination of letters, numerical and special characters.l Do n’t forget to sign out of your e-mail or any other account.l Never reveal your personal information to any stranger in online chatting.l Never make online transactions in unsecured sites.l Never follow links to your banking websites from another website or e-mail, type it by yourself in the address bar.l Never open spam emails as they contain either virus or spyware. Enable spam filters in your mailboxes.l Never post sensitive information in social networking and marriage sites.l Don’t reply to calls that ask credit card details. Suggestions For Better Security Use strong passwords. Choose passwords that are difficult or impossible to guess.give different passwords to all other accounts.l Make a regular backup of critical data. Back up must be made at least once each day. At least once a month, the backup media should be verified.l Use antivirus software and update regularly.

l Use a firewall. Firewalls are usually software products. They are essential for those who keep their computers online through the popular broadband and cable modem connections.l Do not keep computers online when not in use. Either shut them off or physically disconnect them from the internet. Prevention of Cyber Crime Children should not give their identifying information such as their name, home address, school name, phone number in the chat room. They should also be advised not to give their photographs to anyone, not to respond to the messages which are obscene, threatening or suggestive. l Parents should use content filtering software on their computers so that their child is protected from the pornography, gambling drugs, and alcohol. The software can also be installed to establish time records i.e. blocking usage after a particular time. Parents should also visit the sites visited by their children. l Keep backup volumes so that one may not suffer data loss in case of virus contamination. l Always use latest and update anti-virus software to guard against virus attacks. l Never send your credit card number to any site which is not secured. l Do not panic if you find something harmful. If you feel any immediate physical danger, contact your local police. Moreover, avoid getting into huge arguments online during chat and discussions with other users. l Be cautious about meeting the online introduced person. If you choose to meet, do so in a public place along with a friend. Try to keep a record of all your communication for evidence.

Organizations should implement access control system using firewalls, which allow only authorized communications between the internal and external network. l The use of a password is most common for the security of network system. Mostly all the systems are programmed to ask for username and password to access the computer system. The password should be changed after regular interval of time and should be alphanumeric and should be difficult to judge. l System managers should track down the holes, bugs, and weaknesses in the network before the intruders do.

The literature review is the information found in the selected area of study. This review of literature contains aim of the study, authors of that study, what is the study about and factors related to that study. The related study can be extracted from newspaper, internet, articles or any other media.

Ritu Dhanoa has conducted a study on “Cyber Crime Awareness” which was published in Shiv Shakti International Journal in Multidisciplinary and academic Research (SSIJMAR) Vol. 2, No. 2, March-April. The study focuses to provide a glimpse of various types of cyber-crime prevalent in modern technological society and what steps can be taken to protect ourselves from these cybercrimes.

A study was conducted on “Cyber Crime Awareness amongst Students of Government Law College, Trivandrum- A Legal Survey” by Bijoy Saima. The study aims to examine the level of ethical and security awareness among law students. A questionnaire-based survey method on cyber-crime was used among students of government law college, Trivandrum in the state of Kerala. The study was completed by 89 respondents from 10 classes. The sample was obtained from random selection. The questionnaire was designed in such a manner that the respondents can complete the questionnaire in an average minimum time of 4 minutes. There is no gender differentiation in this survey. The overall findings indicate satisfactory awareness all the students, only 40 percent of the students were able to exhibit a firm theoretical knowledge of the common types of cyber-crimes enlisted under section 43 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The findings of this study could be useful for the college management to understand the mentality of the students while setting up policies and regulations to effectively reduce the instances of cyber-crime in the student community.

“Cyber Crime and Security – A Study on Awareness among Young Netizens of Anand” (Gujarat State, India) conducted by Dr. Archana Chanuvai Narahari and Vrajesh Shah, which was published in International Journal of Advanced Research and Innovative Ideas in Education(IJARIIE), Vol 2, Issue 6 2016. The study is focused on a conceptual model explaining how to uphold and implement the awareness programmes among internet users regarding cybercrimes. The study is based on both qualitative and quantitative research analysis. In the first stage, In-depth Interviews are conducted with two ethical hackers. The purposive sampling method was selected. For interviewing structured open-ended schedule was adopted. In the second stage, a survey is conducted on 100 young internet users of Anand. The age of the respondents falls between 17 to 35 years. The simple random sampling method was adopted. The study proves that internet users in Anand are not thoroughly aware of cyber crimes and cyber security that are prevailing.

A study on “Perception and Awareness of Young Internet Users towards Cybercrime: Evidence from Malaysia” was conducted by Md Shamimul Hasan et al, published in Journal of Social Sciences 2015. The study examines the relationship between perception and gender, age, and knowledge as well as the relationship between awareness and gender, age, and knowledge towards cybercrime. The study was conducted among 342 students in the faculty of accountancy of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) with a structured questionnaire. This study concludes that gender, age, and knowledge have significant influences on the level of perception and awareness of cybercrime.

Anil Kumar and Jane Shah conducted the study on “The Threat of Advancing Cyber Crimes in Organizations: Awareness and Preventions” published in International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science Volume 5, No. 8, Nov-Dec 2014. This study focuses on awareness and prevention of cyber crimes in organizations. The study provides development of proper mitigation strategies.