The Best Way to Keep Your Children From the Threat of Cyber Crime

In this article, you will learn the best way to keep your children from the threat of cyber crime. You'll also discover about protecting your children from cyber crime. The internet can be regarded as a two sided blade. It can be used for positive things, but on the other side, the internet could cause users to get caught by cyber crime. Crime on the internet is increasingly dangerous if it threatens the children. Because they are still too young to monitor suspicious things around them. So it is your duty as a parent to always keep an eye on the children. Let's begin by discussing what you should do to keep children from the threat of cyber crime.

How to Keep Children From The Threat Of Cyber Crime:

* Encourage children and their friends to look after each other - this way will drastically reduce the possibility that they were used as targets.

* Put the family computer with internet connection and toys in the middle of the house to facilitate the supervision of children online activities.

* Ask children what they were doing when you are online, and try to get a detailed answer. Ask them to give 'tour online' on the sites they visit frequently, and other online activities in which they participate.

* Make in-depth discussion about cyber crime with older children, who may access the internet at different places, including outside the home, where they are not always supervised.

* Make sure children feel comfortable reporting crimes they experience to you, promise you will report any incidents, if they want - and do it. For example, the parents approached the crime perpetrators, teachers, or any other person who has the potential to make things worse. Think about the best strategy to train your child.

* Give a clear picture of the children, about the things they will face when the crime's involvement in the virtual world with other people.

To prevent your children from becoming a victim of cyber crime keep in mind these 5 basic tips, be vigilant and conscious of the information you and your children share through the intranet connection.

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Focus on Physical Computer Crime - Not Just Cyber Crime

It isn't just computers but the integral components that thieves will focus upon. Computer crime is on of the UK's fastest growing crimes, according to the Association of British Insurers; in 1995 a third of all commercial claims were computer crime related. It isn't just the loss of a computer or related equipment that represents the biggest loss; it is the costs of business interruption and important or sensitive data loss.

There is a simple solution; prevent thieves from having access!

When budgeting for IT security we need to ensure the expenditure is appropriate to the value of the IT assets at risk, not just the replacement value but also other losses incurred.

A simple risk analysis can be deployed by calculating the harm to your business as a result of theft or damage to such assets. Create a 'what if' scenario and ensure you calculate every aspect from loss of business, interruption to services and compensation to clients including farming out work or bringing in other contractors for damage limitation.

Then take this figure and consider the real likelihood of it happening; taking on board prevailing threats and current climate.

This information shouldn't be taken lightly and should be used to build an IT Security Policy Document. So in the event of such an incident, there is a chain of command from top managers down the ranks, a contact list of 24 hour telephone numbers and individual responsibilities so that there is no room for 'I thought he was doing that!' Each individual on the IT Security Policy Team should have his or her own copy and a signed as read and understood copy filed.

There should be a list of suppliers and back up systems including all identification markings and asset control numbers. This can only be achieved through formal training.

This could be a good time to call in your local CPO (Crime Prevention Officer).

Commercial premises that maintain large numbers of computers clearly face a disproportionate risk from crime. If IT equipment is spread out or scattered throughout the premises, it is more difficult to establish a secure perimeter, than if the 'IT' area was concentrated in secure pockets.

Let's take a look at the physical security of the actual building.

No matter how good the locks are on Entry/Exit Doors, if the door and frame cannot withstand a violent attack, your premises are vulnerable.

Often Health & Safety and security don't mix, for example; Regulations state that when the building is occupied, fire exit doors must be able to be opened quickly in the direction of escape without the use of keys. A perfect escape rout for thieves too!

· Fire exit doors must not be overlooked. Regulations state that when the building is occupied, these doors must be able to be opened quickly in the direction of escape without the use of keys. Look at alarming these doors so they comply with regulations but notify the appropriate individuals that access has been made. Perhaps CCTV cameras could be fitted too. When the premises are empty, however, these doors can be secured like any other.

· If you occupy offices of multiple tenancies then the landlord and appropriate tenants should address the security of communal doors No one benefits if this area is deemed the responsibility of the other.

· Look out windows, check either side for potential access points, and look for flat roofs. Internal grilles should be considered for all accessible windows, don't overlook skylights.

· If there is no reason for goods lifts to be used after working hours they should be disabled at the end of the day. Perhaps taking them to the top and switching them off.

· Talk to your Crime Prevention Officer about installing an intruder alarm system linked to a central monitoring station. This should be fitted in accordance with Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) policy and Association of British Insurers (ABI) guidelines.

· Be mindful that nominated key holders must be able to get to the building within 20 minutes of being notified of alarm activation. This allows police to check the premise if a forced entry is not apparent. Consider using a reputable key-holding company if you cannot meet this requirement.

· Keep the number of people able to arm and disarm the alarm system to an absolute minimum and make sure that they are issued with individual 'pin' numbers that can be monitored and their activity is logged. This will facilitate better management of the system and minimise in-house mischief or activity from disgruntled ex-employees.

· If employees work during periods of reduced occupation, for example, overnight or weekends then personal attack buttons will need to be incorporated into the alarm system. In these circumstances, staff should never work alone always insure there is more than one person on the premises in order that someone can raise an alarm.

· Consider revising name signs that might advertise the presence of computers and never leave computer related boxes in public view. Empty or otherwise, these cartons inform all passers-by that you have new IT equipment on the premises..

Thieves rarely rely on guesswork when selecting a commercial building to break into. This isn't about 'walk-in' crime. Companies have had new computers stolen the very same day as they have been delivered, it not not pure coincidence or extreme bad luck! It is obvious that intelligence is gained before the event inside information or poor security measures. It cannot be over-stressed how important it is to control access during office hours as well as when closed.

If possible, restrict access to the building to one entrance/exit, with all other access points being controlled.

Is your front of house staff, whether it be security or receptionist, fully aware of staff that have left - voluntary or otherwise? All personnel should be identifiable. This begins at the reception point where a visitor should be registered and supervised by an authorised member of staff. It extends to the active vigilance of employees - fully aware of the defined procedure for challenging strangers.

If visitors sign in or are issued with security tags, does anyone check to see that they actually leave the premises? Is anyone tasked with an end of the day procedure for checking the building to ensure that no one is hiding in it?

We mentioned at the beginning about creating a perimeter for access control. If that perimeter is breached, look at the measures below will help to reduce your losses.

· House your IT equipment carefully, away from the perimeter and behind obstacles that slow and frustrate the intruder, in locked rooms for example.

· Mark property with your full postcode in a permanent and prominent way. Heat branding or chemical etching can do this.

· Anchor equipment to solid furniture and building fixtures with an enclosure unit designed to resist dismantling. Choose a product that has been certified to Loss Prevention Standard 1214.

· If an enclosure unit is not in use, special security screws are available that replace the standard back cover screws and help, to some extent, to prevent quick entry to the computer's interior.

· Safes and security cabinets can be obtained which allow the computers to be used during the day and locked away at night.

· Smoke generating devices, activated by the intruder alarm system, work to create conditions where intruder penetration is severely hampered.

· Computer alarms that detect tampering can be fitted to units. These are suitable for buildings either during office hours or when an on-site response can be generated at night.

· Lap-top computers need to be locked away when they are not being used. Security instructions should be issued to personnel for care of equipment when used away from the office.

· Key security - keys to security devices should be kept in the custody of authorised personnel only and either removed from the premises when they are left unattended or put in a locked safe.

· Asset control - make sure that an up-to-date inventory is in existence so that full details of any equipment that is stolen can be given to the police and insurance companies.

Digby Farquart is a leading UK security consultant and crime prevention advisor. He writes articles for top sites such as Computer Crime Prevention and UK Crime Prevention.

Cyber Crime

There is a very old and correct saying that goes on to say that a coin has two sides. Like a coin, almost every aspect of life has two sides. For example, take the advancement of technology and the crime associated with it. With the improvements in technology, computers have formed an integral part of the working world. Computers along with them have brought greater work and time efficiency in the working circle of the world as a whole. However, there is a dark side to this as well. Along with all the benefits that computers and technology comes the rising and alarming threat of cyber crime.

Thanks to the crimes committed by the hackers and predators, the good bring the evil. The dangers that cyber crime is posing to computers and information stored in the computers is real. The affects have been felt by almost all the countries. Serious concerns are rising against the growing threat of cyber crime. This potential threat to the information possessed in the computers is alarming. The reason that cyber crime is posing a serious threat is because most countries around the world have no existing laws against it. This leaves us all at the mere mercy of the same technology that we use for good and they use for destruction.

One resort that you can take against cyber crime is installing ant-virus, spyware, and security programs. This is still unfortunately; it is not a full proof step. Hackers can easily hack through the computers of others you know and work with. This makes the data stored in the computer more open to these attacks.

One reason why cyber crime has been gathering so much of attention, is the fact that cyber crime has no boundaries. Cyber crime is breaching national barriers with ease. This is jeopardizing the political and the defense strategies of the country. It is reported that after committing the crimes the hackers reap rewards. They sell the information they stole to other countries and businesses for large sums of money.

There is another reason why cyber crime is becoming so common. Hackers operate together from different places. This makes it harder for law enforcement to track and find them. Hackers usually operate from different countries and through multiple networks making tracking them almost impossible.

It is time for national bodies and governments too operate together. Making a legal framework and structure through which no hackers can slip through before committing these cyber crimes.

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The Economy Fuels Cyber Crime

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), cyber crime was up in 2008, and if the first few months of 2009 is anything to go by, this trend is not only continuing, it is accelerating.

As the country slides into recession, early indicators for 2009-February to March 2009-shows an additional 50% increase in reported Internet fraud complaints.

"These numbers are shocking, but given that the vast majority of incidents go unreported, the threat of identification theft is actually much more serious than even these figures would lead us to believe," says Justin Yurek, President of ID Watchdog, Inc. Common wisdom says that only one cyber crime in seven-or about fifteen percent-is actually reported.

Internet fraud includes everything from bogus sales on auction sites such as eBay and classified sites like craigslist.com, to smaller scale version of the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by disgraced New York financier Bernard Madoff.

As an example, a scam recently surfaced via e-mails that masquerade as originating from the FBI and other federal agencies seeking the recipient's bank account information in order to "help with illegal wire transfer investigations." Sweet.

The Recession Impact

Many observers put the continued surge in cyber crime down to the recession, and for several reasons.

As reported by the TechArena Forum , McAfee for one, in their annual McAfee Virtual Criminology Report-which examines emerging global cyber security trends, with input from leading academics, criminal lawyers, law enforcement authorities and security experts across the world-identified the following challenges:

The Cyber Credit Crunch - The cyber criminal is now trying to cash in on consumer anxiety to profit from old-fashioned "get rich quick" scams.

Meaning, that there are now people who voluntarily sign up to add malicious code to their websites, lured by the promise of easy money. At the same time, desperate job seekers are being recruited as "money mules" to launder cybercriminal gains under the guise of "international sales representatives" or "shipping managers."

In addition, with the economic downturn driving more people to the web to seek the best deals, opportunities for cybercriminals to attack are on the rise as people are more easily drawn in.

Governments are distracted - As governments grow more and more preoccupied with the economic downturn, their fight against cyber crime slides down their agenda, inviting more and more audacious individuals onto the cyber crime field.

The Cybercop Shortage - It is a known fact that police forces on the cyber crime front line often lack the specialist skills required to effectively fight these criminals.

Furthermore, the lack of dedicated and ongoing training, sufficient remuneration, or even a clear career path, is causing cyber crime specialists to be lured into the more lucrative private sector or even into underground economies.

Criminality Concealed - Eastern Europe, Russia and China have become key safe havens for cybercriminals while Brazil has become one of the fastest growing scapegoat countries for cybercrime. Traffic is often re-routed (and often via Brazil) as a decoy causing considerable misdirection in the origin of attacks.

Information Silo - While law enforcement is bound to physical national boundaries, cybercriminals are free to cooperate across borders.

Law enforcement communication between countries remains inconsistent and limited. Local issues and priorities take precedence over global efforts and international laws are being implemented with regional variations that impede the ability to negotiate jurisdiction and extradition between countries.

This is an environment that plays right into the hands of the cyber criminal, much to the frustration of cyber police.

Microsoft's Take

As reported by RedOrbit Microsoft shares McAfee's view that the global recession could prove to be a starting point for an influx of more cyber criminals seeking to use their computer skills to earn extra money.

"Today these (cyber) attacks are no longer about vandalism, they are about cash," says Roger Halbheer, Microsoft's chief security advisor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"Cyber crime has gone from cool to cash. And this will definitely grow in the future," he told AFP (Agence France-Presse) during a recent international conference on terrorism and cyber security in Spain. "At the moment we are still at the cool side. But I'm expecting it to move to the cash side."

He then went on to add that it is, "one of the things that scare me about the economic downturn because I expect cyber crime to grow."

Also, the current economic crisis is causing a large number of layoffs, many of them from tech firms, meaning that more and more computer experts will have a lot of time on their hands, but no money. Tempting.

Fixing any and all security issues in software, does not solve the problem for, "Unfortunately the bad guys don't give up and go away. Instead they increasingly focus on crimes of deception that prey on human vulnerabilities rather than software vulnerabilities."

A Law Enforcement Perspective

Lt. Rocky Costa, who until recently headed up the Southern California High Technology Task Force agrees. "In fact, law enforcement has always seen a rise in all sorts of theft crimes when the economy goes south. The crooks look to fraud as the best way to separate folks from their money. People are most vulnerable when money is tight and they are looking to save their homes, savings, retirements, and often, their families.

"They become easy prey to the con-artist who has no sense of right and wrong, but knows how to capitalize on human weaknesses. You see the con artist makes a living studying people and their behaviors. They know their success rate will increase as the economy tumbles and/or the recession climbs. Since a vast number of folks use technology daily, it is only natural to expect technology to be another weakness and another method for exploitation.

"Historically, the number of street robberies goes up, along with shoplifting, and burglaries as the money becomes scarcer. Although we have not yet seen these increases at the lab, we fully expect them. However, with the current economy, even government must begin to cut back. When they do, technology based crimes slide down the priority list in favor of these more visible types of theft.

"People need to stay vigilant in the face is despair, holding onto their values and good judgment will be the only way they will be able to fully protect what they have left, until we all see around the corner."

A Call to Action

According to the RSA Press Release of Tuesday, April 21, 2009:

During the opening keynote at RSA Conference 2009 Art Coviello, President of RSA, The Security Division of EMC, cautioned that the global cyber-threat continues to escalate and online fraudsters are more organized, collaborative and effective than ever. He addressed major forces such as the economy and emerging technologies that are driving the information security industry to evolve and adapt-and how these forces provide an opportunity for "inventive collaboration" to effectively restructure the information infrastructure.

"To combat the cybercriminals requires far more purposeful collaboration on the part of the industry and a strong security ecosystem built around a common development process focused on risk," said Coviello. "Today's security technologies are applied as independent applications cluttering the information landscape and leaving perilous gaps of risk."

Coviello cited three major forces driving the information security industry to evolve and adapt, including:

o the challenge posed by the criminal threat;

o the demand upon enterprises and governments to achieve unprecedented levels of productivity to restore value to the faltering economy; and

o the opportunity to rethink the approach to security based upon emerging technologies and trends such as virtualization, cloud computing and social networking.

According to Coviello, "We must embrace a common development process that allows us to create a more secure infrastructure today. Then with an eye on the future we can ensure that the new technical infrastructure is designed around that process, rather than forcing a process around a collection of technologies.

"We must develop a stronger and healthier ecosystem than the fraudsters and ensure the fluid and frictionless exchange of information on which our global economy depends. It's not about changing the game; it's about winning the game," said Coviello.

Educating the Individual

However, it does not matter of safe our hardware and software becomes, if the individual citizen, desperate for money-and reaching for digital straws, as it were-believes that perhaps this Nigerian Prince really does exist and really does want to spit his $2 Million 50/50 if only he were to help him.

And by the same token, scouring the Internet for the best deal, and finding some that are (in fact) too good to be true, he may pounce on them, not only losing his money in the process, but also his credit card number and other private information.

The same holds true for many "work-at-home" opportunities that only require a small $300 payment for the material you will need to make "thousands a week from your kitchen." You've seen them. Well, as often as not, you will not even receive the material, and by the time you've wised up, your card has been charged, your money gone.

The time to wise up is now.

Internet Commerce Made Safe

As we all know, at least during some of our more rational moments-the "too good to be true" deal is often precisely that. But that is not to say that there are no good deals out there. In fact, the Internet is probably the marketplace that to a large extent will pull the economy out of its slump, precisely because it is replete with good deals and true opportunities.

But how to tell the good from the bad?

According to the IC3, the best way to guard against Internet facilitated scams is to stay informed. Keeping informed of the latest scams on the Internet may enable Internet users to recognize and report these scams instead of losing money or their identity information in one of them. To learn about the latest scams, they recommend periodically checking the IC3, FBI, and the FTC websites for the latest updates.

Additionally, the IC3 and its partners have launched a public website, "www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com," which briefs the consumer about various consumer alerts, tips, and fraud trends. Pay it a visit. Make it a habit.

Also, when it comes to online auctions, and the potential of non-delivery of goods that you've paid for, the IC3 makes these specific recommendations:

o Make sure you are purchasing merchandise from a reputable source. As with auction fraud, check the reputation of the seller whenever possible, including the Better Business Bureau.

o Try to obtain a physical address rather than merely a post office box and a phone number. Also, call the seller to see if the number is correct and working.

o Send them an e-mail to see if they have an active e-mail address. Be cautious of sellers who use free e-mail services where a credit card was not required to open the account.

o Investigate other websites regarding this person/company. Do not judge a person/company by their fancy website; thoroughly check the person/company out.

o Be cautious when responding to special offers (especially through unsolicited e-mail).

o Be cautious when dealing with individuals/companies from outside your own country. Remember the laws of different countries might pose issues if a problem arises with your transaction.

o Inquire about returns and warranties on all items.

o The safest way to purchase items via the Internet is by credit card because you can often dispute the charges if something is wrong. Also, consider utilizing an escrow or alternate payment service after conducting thorough research on the escrow service.

o Make sure the website is secure when you electronically send your credit card numbers.

Bona Fide vs. Fraudulent Online Escrow Companies

If you have found a good online deal and are now ready to purchase, it would serve you very well to take IC3's recommendation and engage an online escrow service.

The problem is that while there are several bona fide online escrow sites, they are nowhere near as many as there are fraudulent ones.

So, how can you be sure that the escrow company you're considering using is in fact what it says it is?

You must research it. First, do a WHOIS search on the domain. This will show you how long the site has been up, where it is being hosted, how many times the site has been taken down. These are clues. If it smells fishy at all to you, go elsewhere.

Then Google the name of the escrow company to see what gives. This will lead you to forums and other articles. Study them well.

Then, when you have found a site that appears legitimate, travel the extra mile and take one of several additional steps:

o Firstly, while fraudulent sites can buy the necessary certificate to make it a secure site, they seldom do;

o Secondly, you can check at escrow-fraud.com to see if the site you have decided on is listed as a fraudulent site by them; they also maintain a list of bona fide sites;

o Thirdly, you can call the site's customer service department to make sure they are based in the United States. If you have any doubts about that, ask them to call you back, and check the caller ID-if it is an international call, beware. Also, if the site does not have a customer service department, again, beware;

o Once you know that you're talking to a U.S. based service department, ask any questions you can think of to ensure they are legitimate, such as which bank are they using for their escrow accounts, and who is their main contact at that bank (whom you can then call to verify that this online escrow company does in deed have an escrow account there);

o If the answer is a well-known American bank, and if the customer service rep can supply contact information at the bank, you are 99% there. Then, if you want to reach 100%, make that final call to the bank to rule out any vestige of doubt.

Now you have found an online escrow company you can trust; register with them and enjoy your purchase.

Here's to good and safe Internet deals.

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho-based Ulf Wolf writes about cybercrime for Escrow.com.

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To quote the biggest online auction site of them all, eBay: "Pay safely - beware of fake escrow services when you consider using them to pay for your eBay item.

"For eBay transactions, you should use eBay's only approved Escrow Company: http://www.escrow.com."

Escrow.com, the major oneline escrow company is licensed to to provide services across the United States.

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Title Transfer
Inspection Service
Vehicle Title Insurance
Vehicle and Motorcycle Transport
Vehicle History

Sleep well at night, use the online escrow service with proven record.

The Danger of Cyber Crimes

Computers and internet are the most common tools we use in our daily life. All the important and useful information are found in the computer and internet which can help everyone in any case. However, certain knowledge in this electronic field can also cause some people from becoming the victims of cyber crimes.

Cyber crime is also called computer crime, high tech crime or electronic crime. This type of crime is generally referred to the criminal activity which is caused by the computer or network.

In a broader term, cyber crimes can be divided into THREE main categories:

o Cyber crimes against persons

These illegal activities include transmission, distribution, posting and dissemination of obscene materials such as child pornography and indecent exposure.

o Cyber crimes against property

These criminal activities are referred to computer vandalism. It includes transmission of harmful programs, such as viruses and booby traps that area able to destruct others' properties. These crimes also cover the unauthorized damaging and deletion of computer data.

o Cyber crimes against government

These high tech crimes are the most dangerous threats to all the governments around the world. They are commonly referred to cyber terrorism. These criminal activities are carried out by the brilliant criminals who crack into the government or military maintained websites to obtain private and confidential data.

In order to detect, prevent and overcome all these computer crimes, computer forensics facilities are established. Its unique services and equipments have become more and more important to ensure that the tracking and handling of electronic evidence processes are done in a precise manner.

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Know About Cyber Crimes and Protect Yourself From Hackers

In the world of cyber crimes, one has to be very vigilant to prevent loss of highly sensitive information from their system. If you wish to protect yourself from online scams, it is essential to have knowledge about hackers and various cyber crimes.

Hackers

Hackers are individuals who intrude into others system without permission in search of information (hacking). They can be categorized into three groups depending on the degree of their ability to commit cyber crimes. Beginners are generally kids, who intrude for fun. The other two groups include intermediate and advanced where the advanced hackers are difficult to trace.

Cyber crimes

Hacking: Hacking means intruding into other's system without permission and this is the most common cyber crime we come across.

Process of Hacking:

To intrude into a system, the hacker follows the following steps:

·Identifies system that is vulnerable to hacking. In case of large corporations, hackers keeps dialing the extensions associated with that office to find out a phone that is connected to the computer. He uses that system for hacking sensitive information about the company.

·After identifying a vulnerable system, he makes attempts to break the password. If he succeeds in his attempts, he will have all the files of the company under his custody.

·To protect from being identified, the hacker deletes the log file of the system every time he intrudes the system.

In addition to hacking, there are many other cyber crimes that cause huge losses if unidentified.

Phishing cyber crimes:

These crimes are committed by setting up a site that is identical to a genuine bank site or sites like PayPal. Then, the phishing site sends out a mail requesting for bank or credit card details with link to the bank website. If the user clicks on this site, he will be directed to a phishing site which grabs all the details he enters. The hacker can make use of this information to carryout transactions.

Another phishing crime is to request the customers to purchase articles from a phony online store. The offender collects few orders and disappears without delivering the goods.

Trojan Phishing is a phishing scam in which the criminal sets up a connection with Trojan infected systems and continues to obtain information from the systems. He may even install software such as keylogging software, which provides information about each and every keystroke. This sort of cybercrime involving the keylogging software is highly dangerous.

The above cyber crimes can be prevented by practicing the below given two simple measures:

·Proper identification of the URL of the site before logging into the site.

·Use of updated versions of firewall, spyware, browsers and the operating system.

Last note, beware of hackers and avoid becoming victims of cyber crimes. Government bodies throughout the world are working together to identify solutions for cyber crimes.

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Cyber Crime Definition

Today, definitions for cybercrime cross over multiple spectra. The following information is a collaboration of definitions built to answer your questions about this growing threat to individuals and organizations.

Many of the cyber crime articles available on the Internet today can appear outdated as they fall short of a uniform categorization or specific steps on methods for fighting cybercrime or even how to support cyber crime victims. These barriers also create difficulty for those attempting to report cybercrime. With today's rapid growth of technology, as well as updates to cyber law cannot stop cyber crime from growing and updating in kind. Internet fraud is certainly the area that most personal computer (PC) users are concerned about, and cyber crime study, continues to be left to amateurs or veteran criminologists. It is critical today that both users and organizations comprehend and teach what is cyber crime and how to stop it. The broad meaning of cybercrime can be narrowed down by looking at specific crimes that are most common.

Cyber Identity Theft and Computer Hacking, considered by experts as the most common forms of cybercrime, involve the theft of personal information that is attainable through computer systems and computer networks. Phishing and pharming seem to have the most success as potential victims of these crimes do not think twice when sites that veil their criminal intent, or even look identical to sites familiar to Internet users, which makes it easy for cyber criminals to collect critical online identity information:

Full Name
Phone Number
Address
Login
Password
Credit Card/Bank Account numbers

Cyberspace crime involves much more than Identity Theft, and, today, does not even require Internet use. The growth of interest in topics such as cyberbullying, commonly perpetrated through the use of cell phones, is on pace to achieve Identity Theft's level of notoriety. Current Wiki Leak and Hactivist news items have also shown the Global nature of cybercrime, while broadening the cyber crime definition. Protection from these and other cyberspace crimes are quickly becoming popular subjects.

Xander is leading contributor to Cyber Wiki Blog and Cyber Wiki, two sites committed to providing answers to the growing list of Cyber related questions.

Cyber Crime - A New Way to Commit Old Crimes

Back In The Beginning Before there were cyber criminals, there were embezzlers and anti trust fraud. The term, white collar crime, was coined by Edwin Sutherland, a sociology professor that literally wrote the book on white collar crime, at least the first one. He defined it as crime committed by a respectable person of high social status in the course of his occupation.

Since there are no statutes or court decisions involving respect or social status, convictions were hard to come by. Sutherland was intent on focusing attention on the social class of the perpetrator of the crime rather than of the crime itself. Eventually, Sutherland's definition evolved into variations such as, the type of offender, type of offense, and the organization of the criminals.

The Department Of Justice expanded the definition to include any illegal act by non physical means, using concealment, guile, or deceit to obtain money or property. It wasn't long before cyber crimes were included as well. Cyber crimes are among the most difficult crimes to prosecute due to the anonymity of the internet.

Cyber Crimes It has been said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but evidently that does not hold true for the criminal element. Criminal activity started back when Cain killed Abel out of jealousy and greed and it has evolved as fast or faster than human evolution itself. It seems that every time new security or protections are devised to protect online activities, the criminals come up with new ways to breach them.

As of now, cyber crimes can be prosecuted under at least forty different statutes but two federal acts account for the majority of them. One of them is the Computer Fraud And Abuse Act of 1990, which has been amended at least five times. The majority of the cyber crime statutes are modeled after this act, which allows for a hefty fine and imprisonment from five to twenty years. The other one is the Espionage Act of 1996, which allows for much heavier penalties. Criminals convicted under these statutes can expect to receive from $500,000 to $5,000,000 in fines and can spend 10-20 years in prison.

I have been writing online for the past couple of months, although I have been writing in general most of my life.

Mary Krenz,
aka janiek13

The Cyber Crime Tide is Turning

In the grand scheme, not much ever seems to improve in computer security. No matter how much we hone our security-defense strategies, how many firewalls we deploy, how many remote-buffer overflows we reduce, and how quickly we patch our OSes, IT systems keep getting hit by malicious hackers. If the computer security industry was to measure itself on the ultimate question of whether we're doing a better job of protecting computer users, the answer would be a definitive no.

But the tide is turning, at least for the time being. I've noticed one long-term trend that's improving: Local, national, and international law-enforcement groups alike are tracking down and arresting more malicious cyber criminals. And not just the stupid and lazy ones -- some big fish have been stopped or apprehended.

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It's taken 20 years to see this improvement. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but we are making forward progress. For example, after decades of absolute invincibility, spam rates are finally dropping. Starting with the infamous McColo takedown, private citizens and companies are enjoying great success with locating and shutting down prolific spam originators. Although Symantec says spam still accounts for 73 percent of all email, the rate frequently drops far lower -- in the 40th and 50th percentiles -- as different botnets are taken down. And 73 percent is still less than the 80 to 90 percent we've lived with for the past five years. A few years ago, we could never stop a single botnet. Today we can crush them.

Fake antivirus software is also on the decline. Brian Krebs -- who has done a fantastic job in covering and discovering links in some of the Russian cyber crime syndicates -- has stories that speak to that trend.

Another important trend in the fight against cyber crime: High-profile attackers are being arrested. The days of guaranteed impunity are over for the most flagrant criminals. I've recently spoken with a half-dozen apprehended cyber criminals. They all told me they couldn't believe they got caught. But each made one or more mistakes along the way, enough to enable the authorities to collect evidence, obtain subpoenas, and arrest the perpetrators. What's more, the little fish and big fish are turning against each other in order to minimize their jail sentences, just like crooks do in the noncyber world.

Several factors are driving these changes. Among them, today's police forces -- even local police -- often have computer crime divisions with trained forensics investigators, thanks in part to the fact that IT security experts (including myself) have been teaching them over the past decade. Many police departments also require their workforce to attend basic cyber crime education where they receive instruction in how to handle computer evidence, what to look for, what laws to use, and what not to do. They now have gobs of good forensic software and cordoned-off forensic networks with teams of trained people. This is a far cry from the many years when I was given the single phone number for the one overworked law enforcement officer guy who might listen to me.

International cooperation is also improving: Many cyber crimes cross jurisdictional boundaries and require multiple law enforcement entities to cooperate with each other. Formal and informal cooperative agreements, along with lots of practice, allow the police to better work with one another in apprehending cyber criminals. I have friends and coworkers who routinely call their international colleagues to pass along subpoenas, information, court documents, and writs. What used to be an exception is standard business today.

Courts are better equipped to prosecute cyber criminals. The days of a criminal being found guilty but getting only a slap on the wrist are behind us. Cyber criminals are routinely given multiyear sentences and made to pay big fines. When the good guys can't identify the bad guys to file lawsuits and get court orders, the courts are willingly, and routinely, letting them file John Doe documents, in which the names are filled in when the criminals are later identified.

Governments aren't just pursuing cyber criminals on their own: They are pushing and supporting international cyber criminal law agreements. This makes it easier for different countries' law enforcement groups to work together; it also forces some of the biggest illegal contributing countries to better police their own.

Corporations, including software vendors, antimalware makers, ISPs, and major websites such as Facebook and Twitter, are aggressively pursuing cyber criminals. These companies have entire legal teams dedicated to national and international cyber crime. They are also taking down malicious websites and bot-spitting command-and-control servers, along with helping to identify, prosecute, and sue bad guys.

Some law enforcement agencies around the world are using -- or at least considering -- arguably overzealous tools for fighting cyber crime. They include forcing ISPs to hold customer data for long periods of time, implementing unwarranted wiretaps, and running private data aggregation centers (also known as fusion centers).

I'm a big proponent of freedom and privacy, so many of these supposed improved techniques disturb me. Unfortunately, it appears that nearly every civil society is wrestling with how to successfully catch cyber criminals in a way that still respects its citizens' rights -- and I'm being tactful here. Still, I'm for lawful improvements that respect the rights and privacy of law-abiding citizens while at the same time allowing the police to catch the bad guys who make it difficult for the rest of us to do our work and business on the Internet.

Until some big changes take place to make the Internet a significantly safer place, however, there will always be more cyber criminals than we can catch and prosecute. Still, serial criminals are more likely to get caught and prosecuted today than they were a decade ago. That marks another improvement notch on the belt of computer-security defenders.

Given that cyber criminals are getting caught more often and facing harsher sentences, I respectfully advise that anyone committing cyber crimes please stop. All the arrested people I've talked to wish they had not committed their crime. They miss their families, their friends, and their freedom. Take your skills and do something completely lawful that benefits us all.

This story, "The cyber crime tide is turning," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Keep up on the latest developments in network security and read more of Roger Grimes's Security Adviser blog at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.

For more IT analysis and commentary on emerging technologies, visit InfoWorld.com. Story copyright © 2011 InfoWorld Media Group. All rights reserved.

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An Orthodox Report On Organized Cyber Crime

Nowadays, organized cyber crime has been emerging as a great threat to the computer and business world. There are lots of organized cyber organizations operating around the world. The goal of this report is to bring awareness among the people about the cyber crime and its operational procedure as well.

Cyber crime, Cyber terrorism and Cyber attack

Classifying a cyber attack as cyber terrorism or cyber crime is a bit difficult due to the complexity in the determination of the identity, intension, or the motivation of a cyber criminal. It can be very large in extent and could involve many other factors than a simple computer hacking.

Definition of Cyber crime

It is a kind of crime that targets computers and can involve a violation of patent, robbery of scholar property, copyright laws or trade secrets as well. However, it also includes espionage to produce unlawful copies of classified records. The commencement of cyber attacks by any terrorist group is also considered as cyber crime. Generally, the basic difference between a cyber crime and a cyber attack is found in the intention of an attacker.

Definition of Cyber terrorism

There is a lot definition exist for cyber terrorism like as the various definitions of terrorism. A security expert named as Dorothy Denning describes cyber terrorism as politically induced hacking operations projected to cause massive loss like as the severe economic breakdown or loss of life. Others denote cyber terrorism a massive substantial attack that tears down computerized infrastructures like as the telecommunications, electric power grid or the Internet without even touching a keyboard.

Usage of Botnets in Cyber crime

Nowadays, "Botnets" or "Bot Networks" are becoming a key tool for cyber crimes. It can easily be designed in a way that can effectively disrupt any targeted computer systems in many ways without possessing any especial technical expertise and can be immediately initiated in cyberspace by renting botnet services from any cyber criminal. Generally, a good number of compromised computers infected with malicious code are used to build up the botnets and these computers can be remotely monitored by the commands that are sent through the Internet. Moreover, hundreds or thousands of compromised computers can be used to block or disrupt the Internet traffic for the targeted systems or to distribute malware, viruses or spam as well. Because of the versatility of botnets it's often delineated as "the knives of Swiss Army of underground economy". However, the designer of botnets is generally called as the botmaster. A botmaster can easily make a handsome amount of money within a short time by rendering their exclusive technical expertise. Botnets are now the prime weapon to the fraud and extortionist for executing all sorts of cyber crimes. At present, the authors of various botnets software are trying to develop their software modules through the collaboration among them so that they can reuse their malicious code. This collaboration will make the future botnet more reliable and robust as well.

Cyber crime Organizations

We are often stunned about the strategy, operational vision, deployment and logistics of the highly organized online mafias. They not only act like the real companies, but they are also transnational organizations who are fervently operating throughout the world. Recently, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has classified different professional positions that they have encountered in their cyber crime business. According to the report of FBI, every organization is well equipped with a good number of experts who are specialized in their own area. Here is an overview of the common positions within cyber crime organizations.

Coder-who develops the malware and exploit

Distributor-who trades with the stolen data

Tech expert- who safeguard the IT infrastructure of criminal organizations

Hacker-who seek and exploit the vulnerabilities of the targeted computer networks and systems

Fraudster- who encourage the potential victims through social business schemes like spam and phishing

Hosted system provider-who provide illegal content servers to the criminals

Money mule-who conduct wire transfer between the bank accounts

Teller-who transfer and legalize illegitimate incomes through the digital currency services

Organization leader- who organize the entire team and launch the attacks to the targeted victims

Now, it is high time to stand against all kinds of cyber crime and to protect our valuable documents, earnings and treasures as well. We must have to find an effective way to fortify the security of our computer networks and systems. Otherwise, the day will be not so far when our entire computer systems will be turned into the play ground of these ruinous cyber criminals!

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Cyber Crime Through the Eyes of a Normal Internet User

Man has always strived to discover new things to make life better and more comfortable. He has been always motivated to find new vistas and try new methods and technological advancements using the intellect. One development leads to another and he never just stops and advancement and progress in never ending and is an on going project.

Nothing has changed the world more drastically as the internet. Since the wide world of web this world is no longer divided by invisible boundaries. It has become a global village and the advancement in the information technology has changed the lifestyle of the people radically. This change is obvious only since the last 15 years when the concept of personal computers came into existence. People are always connected to their electronic gadgets and almost all functions of our daily lives are dependent on the internet or the related technology.

Pros and cons of the cyber space:

As always the good and the evil are like two sides of a coin. Though the advantages outweigh the disadvantages it is high time we looked into them before they spread. Computer, internet or information technology related crimes are termed as cyber crimes. So what really is cyber crime? How seriously can these crimes affect common man or business establishments? What actions can be taken to curb such crimes and what legal action is needed to restrict the criminals who are into this? Cyber crime is growing to be a greatest threat to mankind and hence serious considerations and actions are definitely needed to check its spreading further.

We need to first understand what cyber crime is and what all activities are termed as cyber crimes. Cyber crime simply means criminal activities using the telecommunication and internet technology. Basically cyber crimes can be categorized into two types. They are,

Crimes which are directly targeted on vast computer networks or other related devices. For example, malware, computer viruses, attacks on denial of services etc
Crimes that are facilitated by the computer networks targeted not on any independent network or device. For example, identity theft, cyber stalking, phishing, email scams, hacking etc.

Cyber crimes are also considered or at least in lieu with white collar crimes, as the culprit cannot be conned very easily as the internet is open to the wide world. Although most cyber crimes are not related to any violence or serious crime still identity threat or government secrets can be virtually stolen in no time if the security measures fail. Terrorist, deviants and extremists stand higher chances of using this technology for their illegal and anti social activities.

Internet related frauds:

Almost 163 million users are estimated to use the internet this year as against just 16.1 million in 1995. thus the need for a more secured network becomes imperative keeping in mind the user's overall security.

The anonymous nature of the internet is the breeding ground for criminals who engage in activities which are termed as virtual crimes or cyber crimes. Governments have introduced cyber laws to curb such activities but then no serious punishment is awarded to the criminal or individuals who are involved in cyber crimes. Proper legal infrastructure is yet to be created and powerful regulatory mechanisms formed to protect netizens.

Let us now have a look of the different types of cyber law and the amount of damage they release to the society or individual. Generally the cyber threats sources are of three types. They are,

hacking related threats
traditional criminal threats
ideology Threats

Hacking:

This is one of the common forms of cyber crime found in the cyber space worldwide. It has been defined as "whoever with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person destroys or deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means commits hacking". A hacker can crack into computer system thus gaining access to all internal information. Many hackers just do it for fun or pastime. Hacking is considered less harmful than other security related crimes.

Basically the hacker's main aim is to disrupt a system or network. Whether he is a white hat hacker or black hat hacker his level of destruction is to stop or get the access to the computer systems. Repeated hacking or tampering constantly might take a hacker behind bars but many times these crimes are taken lightly.

Traditional cyber crimes

Criminals whose focus is on monetary gains only are called traditional cyber criminals. Most of them are identified as some internal source. Recent study has confirmed that almost 80% criminals of such crimes belong to the related company or firm. Industrial espionage, intellectual property crime, trademark violation, illegal fund transfers, credit card scams, etc are some of the traditional cyber crimes. Such criminals who conduct these crimes are more likely to end up behind bars if the crime is proved.

Ideology cyber threats:

Stolen data are circulated as against the intellectual property laws according to such ideology threats. These criminals consider themselves as Robin Hood and spread the data which is preserved under intellectual property rights. Many terrorist activities are also termed as ideology threats in the cyber world. They spread their own ideology or oppose government's by using the internet technology. Cyberanarchistsis how they are called and their primary aim is to spread their ideology or principles and opposing what is against their activities. Many terrorists' plans and data's are also considered as cyber threats.

Thus whatever be the nature of cyber crime strict laws must be administered to enable a secured cyber space. As more and more of our daily activities becomes connected or interlinked in cyber space the need for a complete secure technology has become the need of the hour. Be is simple email hacking or phishing, the people involved in such activities are definitely invading the privacy of individuals and business organizations. Identity thefts, money swindling and credit card scams are grave issues which can cause irreparable damage to the person concerned.

Prevention is definitely better than cure:

How can we prevent our network or computer systems against the so the cyber criminals? How can the government aid in curbing such high risk threats to the society? As individuals it is important that we use the best internet security system to protect our systems from cyber attacks. It is important to use strong password to protect the emails or other important data or document stored online. Important details like bank account user names and passwords must not be stored online or in the computer. Remember that the cyber space is an open network and has no security or safety against such important data.

Never open unidentified emails and never reply or believe in email scams saying that you have won millions of dollars in an online lottery. Credit cards must be used sparingly or wisely online. Unsecured sites and restricted sites are always high on risk and thus using your credit cards on such sites is highly unadvisable. Always keep changing passwords and install a powerful anti virus software to protect against torzons, viruses and malware.

Companies and business establishment must ask the workers to sign powerful contracts to prevent internal identity thefts. The servers and domains must be well secured for continuous cyber security for their data. Government datas and highly secretive data must be under strict scrutiny. Hackers are also used by enemy nations to fid out the internal secrets of an opponent country. So, all forms of top secret is better not stored online. Too much information exposed is always a cyber threat. Vigilance, awareness and not sharing personal information while networking can prevent most of such cyber crimes.

The government must setup cyber wings to identify such criminals and put forth strong rules or punishment for cyber criminals. Cyber laws must be very strict and newer technology must be used to easily find these criminals to curb their illegal activity. Steps to block the erring person and information updated on such criminals can help the general public from identifying the different crimes in the cyber space. After all knowledge is what can make one powerful, isn't it?

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Cyber Crime Law Separating Myth From Reality

Remember Bruce Willis, the main protagonist in the fourth installment of the

Die Hard series last summer? Live Free or Die Hard depicts Willis as the New

York police department detective John McClane who is commissioned to capture a

gang of 'cyber terrorists' intent on shutting down the entire world's internet.

In today's increasingly volatile world of mobile activated bombs and websites of

various militant groups, it is not hard to imagine the Die Hard scenario

materializing in real life as well.

One of the most fascinating aspects of modern technology is how it has

penetrated every scope and strata of society. Everyone from the uneducated

mechanic to the high-profile chief executive officer of a firm now carries a

mobile and is aware of what a computer is. This infiltration of technology in

our communities has, by and large, proved to be beneficial. But like every other

good thing, technology too can be exploited. This exploitation, among other

things, has resulted in certain crimes being committed through or against

computers, their affiliated networks and the information contained within them.

Thus, came about the neologism of cyber crime.

Even though the term is now widely used in law circles, disagreements are

aplenty regarding what actually entails cyber crime. President of Naavi.org,

India's largest cyber law information portal suggests that the term is a

misnomer. "The concept of cyber crime is not radically different from that of

conventional crime," says in a report on the portal, "Both include conduct

whether act or omission, which cause breach of rules of law and [are]

counterbalanced by the sanction of the state. Cyber crime may be said to be [one

of] those species, of which, the genus is conventional crime, and where either

the computer is an object or subject of the conduct constituting crime,"

However, despite the similar legal nature of both conventional and cyber crime,

they are substantially different in practice. Cyber crimes are far easier to

learn how to commit, require fewer resources relative to the potential damage

caused, can be committed in a jurisdiction without being physically present in,

and until recently, their status of illegality has been, at best, vague. As the

global technology policy and management consulting firm McConnell Institute

notes in a comprehensive report on the subject, many countries' existing archaic

laws threaten the global information dynamic

"The growing danger from crimes committed against computers, or against

information on computers, is beginning to claim attention in national capitals.

In most countries around the world, however, existing laws are likely to be

unenforceable against such crimes".

The report added, "Existing terrestrial laws against physical acts of trespass

or breaking and entering often do not cover their 'virtual' counterparts. New

kinds of crimes can fall between the cracks."

Furthermore, efficient law enforcement is further complicated by the

transnational nature of cyberspace.

"Mechanisms of cooperation across national borders are complex and slow. Cyber

criminals can defy the conventional jurisdictional realms of sovereign nations,

originating an attack from almost any computer in the world, passing it across

multiple national boundaries, or designing attacks that appear to be originating

from foreign sources. Such techniques dramatically increase both the technical

and legal complexities of investigating and prosecuting cyber crimes."

To protect themselves from those who would steal, deny access to, or destroy

valuable information, public and private institutions have increasingly relied

on security technology. But in today's rapid world of e-commerce, self

protection, however essential, alone cannot make up for a lack of legal

protection. Many countries, therefore, now have separate legislation against

such activities.

The bill covers two basic types of cyber crimes. One in which computers

themselves are targets (such as criminal data access, data damage, malicious

code, and various other kinds of information theft on computer networks), while

the other in which computer and other technology are used as a tool to commit

virtual versions of various conventional crimes (such as cyber terrorism,

electronic fraud and forgery, cyber stalking and spamming, etc).

For the average internet surfer, unaware of the technical definitions of most of

these offences, the law may appear quite confusing at the first glance. It shall

come as no surprise, therefore, that disagreements regarding the ordinance's

interpretation persist even in the broader legal fraternity. In particular, it

has come under fire from civil rights groups and a section of lawyers who

denounce it as "effectively and practically [...] useless against cyber crimes"

but nevertheless creating "enormous obstructions and nuisances for IT enabled

[...] businesses and individuals" as well as considerably sacrificing individual

liberties such as that of privacy.

Mark Tamale (former member of the information technology law forum and the

ministry of science and technology) who has been at the forefront of the

awareness campaign, 'Take a bite out of the cyber crimes law' has criticised

this and other sections of the ordinance as being too ambiguous. He implies that

the law could, as a consequence, render even something as innocuous as googling

'how to make an atomic bomb' a 'terrorist act.' Surely however, the 'knowingly

engages in' portion of the statue as well as the subsequent definition of

'terrorist-ic intent' should make this a highly unlikely possibility.

A more pressing concern however, at least for the average citizen would be of

privacy. Sections of the law pertaining to corporate responsibility require all

internet service providers to store up to 90 days of data regarding consumers'

internet usage. Service providers are also, in turn, legally bound to comply

with federal law enforcement agencies if they require such data. Such broad

ranging powers for the law enforcement agencies are a common feature of the

ordinance, which also empowers the Federal Investigation Authority to issue an

arrest warrant without any direct involvement of the judiciary.

This means that in effect if the peoples found out how you took a picture of the

man that always stands at the beginning of your lane and then posted it in your

blog, then you may end up in jail (section 13 (d) of the bill renders it illegal

to distribute any image on the Web without the prior explicit consent of the

person in the picture). You may also be arrested for bombarding all your

'frands' with Valentine Day wishes (section 13 defines cyber stalking as

'communicating obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious or indecent language,

picture or images with an intent to coerce, intimate or harass any person using

a computer network, internet, network site, electronic mail or any other similar

means of communication').

Worse still, if you committed any of 21 crimes enlisted in the bill in your

office premises, you will not only end up in jail yourself, but land your bosses

in hot water as well. For section 21, on offenses by a corporate body, holds any

corporation responsible for any action which was committed on its instruction or

for its benefit. Some of these definitions, even by layman standards paint very

abstruse criteria.

Even if one puts aside valid concerns about the lack of procedural safeguards

and due process to protect the rights and the liberties of individuals, one

cannot help but wonder how it will become a nightmare to implement the law, and

then prove any accusations in a trial, especially given the international nature

of cyber crime. Unless the crimes mentioned in it are defined in a manner

consistent across other international jurisdictions, coordinated efforts by law

enforcement officials to combat cyber crime will remain largely complicated and

unsuccessful. There is also a most pressing need to educate law enforcers

themselves about the nature of technology involved, so they can distinguish

aptly between a casual surfer and genuine cyber criminal. The past reputation of

our law enforcement agencies does not leave one with a lot of confidence in this

respect.

In short, a separate ordinance for cyber crimes is in it self a step in the

right direction. After all, rule of law in any capacity always constitutes

towards blossoming a trustworthy environment for business and individuals to

work in. But merely passing a law has never been enough to curtail any crime;

the real deterrent will be its implementation and awareness among the public.

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Cyber Crime

Everyone who works on a computer must be familiar with the term "Cyber Crime". Initially, when man invented computer and then the technology for communicating between computers was evolved, he would have never thought that the cyber space he is creating could be flooded with any crime i.e. cyber crime. But now almost all of us might have heard the term computer crime, cyber crime, e-crime, hi-tech crime or electronic crime which is nothing but an activity done with a criminal intent in cyber space. Simply put, it is an activity which is generally criminal in nature, where a computer or network is the source, tool, target, or place of a crime. To say in one line, "Cyber crime refers to all the activities done with criminal intent in cyberspace."

Such crime involves an information technology infrastructure, including illegal access (unauthorized access), illegal interception (by technical means of non-public transmissions of computer data to, from or within a computer system), data interference (unauthorized damaging, deletion, deterioration, alteration or suppression of computer data), systems interference (interfering with the functioning of a computer system by inputting, transmitting, damaging, deleting, deteriorating, altering or suppressing computer data), misuse of devices, forgery (ID theft), and electronic fraud.

This article intends to give an overview of Cyber Crimes since in e-life (of which we all are a part of) conventional crimes like extortion, forgery etc. are being done with the help of computers; which most of us are using for online monetary transactions.

In today's e-Age, 'Crime' has extended itself beyond physical assault or mental torture; now it also affects our e-life. E-Life means our existence & living in the cyber world. Every one of us is a part of this cyber world, directly or indirectly, since computers & internet are now an integral part of our personal & professional life. Just like any other invention, Computers & Internet are a boon to human kind if used in a right way and to the advantage of the society. However, as we all know, everything has its pros and cons and so computers & internet are not an exception. If we consider 'Cyber Crime' as virus then it won't be untrue to say this virus is corrupting man's significant development (computers and internet) which is responsible for developing civilized society for men. Cyber Crime is a menace all over the world and is the one of the most difficult & challenging to detect & investigate. You will find it interesting to note that even the official website of the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of Crime Branch Mumbai quotes "The invisible criminal is dangerous than the visible one".

You may be wondering why one should know about Cyber Crime?

Most of us are using internet and computers for online transactions where we transmit personal information and possibly do monetary transactions. If your personal information goes in wrong hands and you become bankrupt or you start receiving absurd mails or your e-mail account gets flooded with unwanted mails; means you have become a victim of Cyber Crime.

Cyber Crime has various forms which may include hacking (illegal intrusion into a computer system without the permission of owner), phishing (pulling out the confidential information from the bank / financial institutional account holders by deceptive means), spoofing (getting one computer on a network to pretend to have the identity of another computer in order to gain access to the network), cyber stalking (following the victim by sending e-mails or entering the chat rooms frequently), cyber defamation (sending e-mails to all concerned / posting on website the text containing defamatory matters about the victim), threatening (sending threatening e-mails to victim), salami attacks (making insignificant changes which go unnoticed by the victim), net extortion, pornography (transmitting lascivious material), software piracy (illegal copying of the genuine software / programs), email bombing, virus dissemination (sending malicious software which attaches itself to other software), IPR theft, identity theft, data theft, etc.

Hacking, destroying files and data through spreading virus are the largest number of offences in the cyber world.

"Russia, China and Brazil are world leaders in cyber crime. India is fast emerging as a major hub of cyber crime, however our legal system is already in place to tackle this menace of cyber crime and to control it and punish the guilty. Cyber Crime, which we may define as "an unlawful act wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or incidental to the crime", has both civil as well as criminal remedies.

So let's talk about the remedies available against such crimes. In India, the offence of Cyber Crime is covered under Information Technology Act 2000 and under the Indian Penal Code.

Cyber Crime Cells have been established by law in major cities. These Cells function directly under the Commissioner of Police of respective cities. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) already has a cyber crime wing operational since 1999.

The Government has established "The Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal" under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Tribunal has the same powers as are vested in a Civil Court for requiring the discovery and production of documents, receiving evidence on affidavits. But the decisions of the Tribunal can be contested by the High Court. The Information Technology Act not only applies to the offence committed in India, but it can also be used to bring offenders from foreign countries to India for trial.

Powers of Cyber Crime Cells:

Any police officer, not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, or any other officer of the Central Government or a State Government authorised by the Central Government in this behalf may enter any public place and search and arrest without warrant any person found therein who is reasonably suspected or having committed or of committing or of being about to commit any offence under this Act.

Punishment for Cyber Crime:

A person found guilty of cyber crime shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine or with both.

Salient features of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008:

The Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 was enacted in October 2009.

The term "digital signature" has been replaced with "electronic signature" to make the Act more technology neutral. A new section has been inserted to define "communication device" to mean cell phones, personal digital assistance or combination of both or any other device used to communicate, send or transmit any text video, audio or image. A new section has been added to define "cyber café" as any facility from where the access to the internet is offered by any person in the ordinary course of business to the members of the public.

There is an addition of several new offences into the Act. Section 66 has now been expanded to include sections 66A, (offensive messages) 66B, (Receiving stolen computer) 66C, (Identity theft), 66D (Impersonation), 66E (Voyeurism) and 66 F (Cyber Terrorism). Section 67 has been expanded to include Sections 67A (Sexually explicit content), 67 B (Child Pornography),

In short about Cyber Terrorism:

Cyber terrorism is the premeditated use of disruptive activities, or the threat thereof, against computers and/or networks, with the intention to cause harm or further social, ideological, religious, political or similar objectives, or to intimidate any person in furtherance of such objectives.

Cyber terrorism can have a serious large-scale influence on significant numbers of people. It can weaken countries' economy greatly, thereby stripping it of its resources and making it more vulnerable to military attack.

CS. Monika Bhardwaj - B.Com (H), ACS, LL.B (I) - Gurgaon