Laws for Cyber Crimes in India

Abstract

Generally for protecting secrecy of information of parties while sharing information through internet via computer or any other electronic device forms an agreement about the procedure of handling of information and to not to disclose such information to third parties or use it in such a way that it will be disclosed to third parties. Many times party or their employees leak such valuable information for monitory gains and causes breach of contract of confidentiality. Special techniques such as Social Engineering are commonly used to obtain confidential information. In other words, information is changed from the way it should be entered by a person typing in the data, a virus that changes data, the programmer of the database or application, or anyone else involved in the process of having information stored in a computer file. It also includes automatic changing the financial information for some time before processing and then restoring original information.

Introduction

Cyber crimes are unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both. Cyber crimes can involve criminal activities that are traditional in nature, such as theft, fraud, forgery, defamation and mischief, all of which are subject to the Indian Penal Code. The abuse of computers has also specified origin to a scope of new era crimes that are concentrated on by the Information Technology Act, 2000 which is the primary legislation in India which deals with cybercrime and electronic commerce. The Act provides for the establishment of quasi-judicial bodies, namely adjudicating officers to hear disputes (offences of a civil nature as well as criminal offences). The adjudicating officer has the power to both award compensation as damages in a civil remedy, as well as impose penalties for the contravention of the Act, and therefore has powers of both civil and criminal courts. The first appellate body is the Cyber Appellate Tribunal, consisting of a Chairperson and any other members so prescribed by the Central Government. A second appeal may be filed before a High Court having jurisdiction, within 60 days from the date of communication of the order of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.

Categories of Cyber crimes: Cyber Crime regulated by Cyber Laws or Internet Laws

1. The Computer as a Target: Using a computer to attack other computers e.g. Hacking, Virus/Worm attacks, etc.
2. The computer as a weapon: Using a computer to commit real world crimes e.g. Cyber Terrorism, IPR violations, Credit card frauds, EFT frauds, Pornography etc.

Technical Aspects Technological advancements have created new possibilities for criminal activity, in particular the criminal misuse of information technologies such as:

Unauthorized access & Hacking

Access means gaining entry into, instructing or communicating with the logical, arithmetical, or memory function resources of a computer, computer system or computer network. Unauthorized access would therefore mean any kind of access without the permission of either the rightful owner or the person in charge of a computer, computer system or computer network. Every act committed towards breaking into a computer and/or network is hacking. Hackers write or use ready-made computer programs to attack the target computer. They possess the desire to destruct and they get the kick out of such destruction. Some hackers hack for personal monetary gains, such as to stealing the credit card information, transferring money from various bank accounts to their own account followed by withdrawal of money. By hacking web server taking control on another person’s website called as web hijacking.

Trojan Attack

The program’s act like something useful but do the things that are quiet damping. The programs of this kind are called as Trojans. The name Trojan horse is popular. Trojans come in two parts, a Client part and a Server part. When the victim (unknowingly) runs the server on its machine, the attacker will then use the Client to connect to the Server and start using the Trojan. TCP/IP protocol is the usual protocol type used for communications, but some functions of the Trojans use the UDP protocol as well.

Virus and Worm attack

A program that has capability to infect other programs and make copies of itself and spread into other programs is called virus. Programs that multiply like viruses but spread from computer to computer are called as worms.

E-mail & IRC related crimes

• Email spoofing Email spoofing refers to email that appears to have been originated from one source when it was actually sent from another source. Please Read
• Email Spamming Email spamming refers to sending email to thousands and thousands of users - similar to a chain letter.
• Sending malicious codes through email E-mails are used to send viruses, Trojans etc through emails as an attachment or by sending a link of website which on visiting downloads malicious code.
• Email bombing E-mail bombing is characterized by abusers repeatedly sending an identical email message to a particular address.
•  Sending threatening emails
• Defamatory emails
• Email frauds
• IRC related Three main ways to attack IRC are: attacks, clone attacks, and flood attacks.

Denial of Service attacks

Flooding a computer resource with more requests than it can handle. This causes the resource to crash thereby denying access of service to authorized users.

 Pornography

The literal mining of the term 'Pornography' is “describing or showing sexual acts in order to cause sexual excitement through books, films, etc.” This would include pornographic websites; pornographic material produced using computers and use of internet to download and transmit pornographic videos, pictures, photos, writings etc. Adult entertainment is largest industry on internet. There are more than 420 million individual pornographic web pages today. Research shows that 50% of the web-sites containing potentially illegal contents relating to child abuse were ‘Pay-Per-View’. This indicates that abusive images of children over Internet have been highly commercialized. Pornography delivered over mobile phones is now a burgeoning business, “driven by the increase in sophisticated services that deliver video clips and streaming video, in addition to text and images.” Effects of Pornography Pornography and its messages are involved in shaping attitudes and encouraging behavior that can harm individual users and their families. Pornography is often viewed in secret, which creates deception within marriages that can lead to divorce in some cases. In addition, pornography promotes the allure of adultery, prostitution and unreal expectations that can result in dangerous promiscuous behavior.

Pornography Addiction Dr. Victor Cline, an expert on Sexual Addiction, found that there is a four-step progression among many who consume pornography.

1. Addiction: Pornography provides a powerful sexual stimulant or aphrodisiac effect, followed by sexual release, most often through masturbation.
2. Escalation: Over time addicts require more explicit and deviant material to meet their sexual needs.”
3. Desensitization: What was first perceived as gross, shocking and disturbing, in time becomes common and acceptable.
4.  Acting out sexually: There is an increasing tendency to act out behaviors viewed in pornography.

Forgery

Counterfeit currency notes, postage and revenue stamps, mark sheets etc can be forged using sophisticated computers, printers and scanners. Also impersonate another person is considered forgery.

IPR Violations

These include software piracy, copyright infringement, trademarks violations, theft of computer source code, patent violations. etc.

Cyber Squatting

Domain names are also trademarks and protected by ICANN’s domain dispute resolution policy and also under trademark laws. Cyber Squatters registers domain name identical to popular service provider’s domain so as to attract their users and get benefit from it.

Cyber Terrorism

Targeted attacks on military installations, power plants, air traffic control, banks, trail traffic control, telecommunication networks are the most likely targets. Others like police, medical, fire and rescue systems etc. Cyberterrorism is an attractive option for modern terrorists for several reasons.

1. It is cheaper than traditional terrorist methods.
2. Cyberterrorism is more anonymous than traditional terrorist methods.
3. The variety and number of targets are enormous.
4. Cyberterrorism can be conducted remotely, a feature that is especially appealing to terrorists.
5. Cyberterrorism has the potential to affect directly a larger number of people.

Banking/Credit card Related crimes

In the corporate world, Internet hackers are continually looking for opportunities to compromise a company’s security in order to gain access to confidential banking and financial information. Use of stolen card information or fake credit/debit cards are common. Bank employee can grab money using programs to deduce small amount of money from all customer accounts and adding it to own account also called as salami.

E-commerce/ Investment Frauds

Sales and Investment frauds: An offering that uses false or fraudulent claims to solicit investments or loans, or that provides for the purchase, use, or trade of forged or counterfeit securities. Merchandise or services that were purchased or contracted by individuals online are never delivered. The fraud attributable to the misrepresentation of a product advertised for sale through an Internet auction site or the non-delivery of products purchased through an Internet auction site. Investors are enticed to invest in this fraudulent scheme by the promises of abnormally high profits.

Sale of illegal articles

This would include trade of narcotics, weapons and wildlife etc., by posting information on websites, auction websites, and bulletin boards or simply by using email communication.

Online gambling

There are millions of websites hosted on servers abroad that offer online gambling. In fact, it is believed that many of these websites are actually fronts for money laundering.

Defamation

Defamation can be understood as the intentional infringement of another person's right to his good name. Cyber Defamation occurs when defamation takes place with the help of computers and / or the Internet. E.g. someone publishes defamatory matter about someone on a website or sends e-mails containing defamatory information to all of that person's friends. Information posted to a bulletin board can be accessed by anyone. This means that anyone can place Cyber defamation is also called as Cyber smearing.

Cyber Stacking

Cyber stalking involves following a person’s movements across the Internet by posting messages (sometimes threatening) on the bulletin boards frequented by the victim, entering the chat-rooms frequented by the victim, constantly bombarding the victim with emails etc. In general, the harasser intends to cause emotional distress and has no legitimate purpose to his communications.

Pedophiles

Also there are persons who intentionally prey upon children. Especially with a teen they will let the teen know that fully understand the feelings towards adult and in particular teen parents. They earns teens trust and gradually seduce them into sexual or indecent acts. Pedophiles lure the children by distributing pornographic material, and then they try to meet them for sex or to take their nude photographs including their engagement in sexual positions.

 Identity Theft

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in countries like America. Identity theft occurs when someone appropriates another's personal information without their knowledge to commit theft or fraud. Identity theft is a vehicle for perpetrating other types of fraud schemes.

Data diddling

Data diddling involves changing data prior or during input into a computer.

Theft of Internet Hours

Unauthorized use of Internet hours paid for by another person. By gaining access to an organization’s telephone switchboard (PBX) individuals or criminal organizations can obtain access to dial-in/dial-out circuits and then make their own calls or sell call time to third parties. Additional forms of service theft include capturing 'calling card' details and on-selling calls charged to the calling card account, and counterfeiting or illicit reprogramming of stored value telephone cards.

Theft of computer system (Hardware)

This type of offence involves the theft of a computer, some part(s) of a computer or a peripheral attached to the computer.

Physically damaging a computer system

Physically damaging a computer or its peripherals either by shock, fire or excess electric supply etc. Breach of Privacy and Confidentiality: Privacy Privacy refers to the right of an individual's to determine when, how and to what extent his or her personal data will be shared with others. Breach of privacy means unauthorized use or distribution or disclosure of personal information like medical records, sexual preferences, financial status etc. Confidentiality It means non disclosure of information to unauthorized or unwanted persons. In addition to Personal information some other type of information which useful for business and leakage of such information to other persons may cause damage to business or person, such information should be protected.

Conclusion

Information Technology Act, 2000 applies to the whole of India. Persons of other nationalities can also be charged if the crime involves a computer or network located in India. If an online resource (servers, computers, networks) is based in India, i.e. is physically within the territorial limits of India, it would fall under the purview of the Information Technology Act, and any individual accessing this resource would, regardless of their own geographical location or nationality, be subject to India's cyber laws. This primarily reflects India's prescriptive jurisdiction, but may not address the limits which international law places on its jurisdiction. The laws could only be meaningful if backed with provisions recognizing orders and warrants for information issued by competent authorities outside the jurisdiction as well as measures for cooperation between law enforcement agencies.