Introduction

“Cybercrime is a type of crime that is completely illegal against anybody with a criminal intent. Willfully harming the victim's reputation, either directly or indirectly, through the use of current digital networks, as well as causing bodily or mental harm to the victim.”

Example :- Mobile phone , Computer , Internet etc.

Cyber crime: A form of crime that includes a computer and a network is known as computer-oriented crime. When sensitiveInformation is either intercepted or made public, whether legitimately or illegally, there are several privacy issues. In the current situation, cybercrime crosses international borders from different countries. According to a research conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in collab with McAfee, cyber crime costs the economy $ 8 billion per/year.

 

CYBERCRIME CLASSIFICATION

1.      Financial fraud as serious crime 

Employees stealing or submitting erroneous data takes no technological skills. Changing, deleting, suppressing, or stealing production to conceal unlawful transactions by entering unlawful instructions or manipulating data using unlawful techniques. It's tough to notice this. Changing or removing data that has been saved.

2.      Cyber ​​Terrorism

A cyber terrorist is someone who poses a threat to a government or organisation over the internet, or uses computers and information technology for political purposes to generate widespread fear in society. Individuals or groups inside the network are targeted for hacking. That compiles data on instilling terror in individuals, demonstrating authority, destroying people's life, i.e blackmailing, robberies, and more.

 

3.      Cyber ​​Extortion

When malevolent hackers threaten a website or e-mail server with repeated denial of service or other assaults, this is known as cyber extortion. In exchange for money, these hackers promise to cease the assaults and provide "protection." According to a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cyber criminals are increasingly targeting business networks and websites.

 

4.      Cyber ​​Warfare

The purposeful assault of information systems for strategic or military goals using computer technology to impair a state's or organization's activities This sort of crime is committed by a distinct set of offenders.

These are relatively new offences. This sort of crime is primarily carried out via computer software:

1.      Malware (malicious code)

2.      Computer viruses

3.      Denial of service attacks

CYBER CRIME IN INDIA

In the twenty-first century, India's computer crime is fast growing. The IRS and technical support scams are two of the most common sorts of extortion schemes that are used to extort money from their victims.

In India, cybercrime cells have been created in major cities :-

1.      Cyber ​​Crime Investigation Cell, Noida

2.      Cyber ​​Crime Investigation Cell, Mumbai

3.      Cyber ​​Crime Investigation Cell, New Delhi

4.      Cyber crime Police Station, Hyderabad

5.      Cyber crime Cell, Punjab

6.      Cyber crime Cell, Rajasthan

 

In March 2018, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs launched a Twitter account called "Cyber Dude" to encourage cyber security awareness .

Maharashtra (2380) and Karnataka (1101) have the most cyber crime instances, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), followed by Uttar Pradesh (2639) with 2,639 instances.Tamil Nadu had 172 instances in 2014, 142 instances in 2015, and 144 instances in 2016. With 980 cases, Mumbai led the list of metropolitan cities, followed by Bengaluru (762), and Jaipur (532) . With 26 instances, Chennai was ranked 16th out of 16 metros.

PUNISHMENT IN CYBER CRIME OFFENSE

To combat the growth of cybercrime and protect people's interests, the government has enacted a number of cybercrime-related legislation. These regulations also act as a deterrent to cybercrime. Aside from that, the government has established cyber cells at police stations to combat cyber crime as quickly as possible:-

       I.            Section 66

Computer-related offences. Any person who undertakes any conduct listed in section 43 dishonestly or fraudulently can be sentenced to two to three years in prison or fined. Which might rise to five lakhs (five lakhs) of rupee or both.

    II.             Theft of one's identity

Using a password, electronic signature, or other unique identifier created by someone else without their permission is punished by up to three years in prison, with the potential of an extension.

 III.            Convicted Decision

The defendants were convicted under sections 469, 509 IPC, and 67 of the IT Act 2000. He has been found guilty and jailed for the crime:

1.      He will be sentenced to two years in jail and a fine of Rs.500/- under IPC 469.

2.      He will be sentenced to one year in jail and a fine of Rs.500/- under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code.

3.      According to Section 67 of the Information Technology Act of 2000, he must take two years of training and pay Rs. 4000/-.

 

All of the sentences were meant to run together.The defendant was sentenced to life in jail in Chennai's Central Jail after paying a hefty sum of money. It is considered to be the first conviction under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act of 2000 in India.

HOW CAN INDIA PREVENT CYBER CRIME?

In India, cybercrime is defined by the Information Technology Act. In India, you may begin creating strong passwords by using private mode on social networking sites. The following are some more preventative measures:

·         Install anti-virus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware software.

·         Install a firewall for your network.

·         Use a virtual private network (VPN).

·         Encrypt data.

·         Back up data regularly.

·         Implement an employee password policy.

CONCLUSION

Since the dawn of the technology era, India has seen a significant rise in cyber crime. You may actually hear many scams and other computer crimes commited every day. In India, there are multiple forms of cybercrime that are already specified by the Information Technology Act of 2000, indicating various forms of offences.In India's major cities several cyber crime units have been created to comply with the Cyber Crime Act. With the progress of technology, there has been an upsurge in recent occurrences of cyber crime in India. Many crimes, such as abduction, fraud, hacking, and data theft, are now carried out through the internet. Hackers are a term used to describe criminals who engage in such actions. The IT Act is used to track many incidences of cybercrime in India. Today, everything is done online, including shopping, ordering food, playing games, and paying bills.

AUTHORED BY: MOHIT BARANWAL

References :

https://www.britannica.com/topic/cybercrime

https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/what-is-cybercrime

https://www.guru99.com/cybercrime-types-tools-examples.html

https://www.avast.com/c-cybercrime

https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/cybercrime

Image Source

 

 

Introduction:

Internet has become a part of our lives and we’re all in a constant touch with it. It helps us to explore this limitless world by sitting in our houses. It helps connecting us with the people who are far away from us. It helps us clearing our doubts whether they be small or big,easy or tough. In fact, the times we’re living in, the pandemic we’re fighting with, internet is being quite miraculous by helping those who are quarantined in their homes and is also helping to circulate the important information. In short, internet has brought the world on our fingertips. But, as every coin has two sides, advancement of technology has also brought the unforeseen event of cybercrimes. Cyber bullying is one such crime.It is a form of harassment intentionally done by an individual through the medium of internet. It not only concern adults but cyber bullying has spread its roots to children as well. It can happen at anytime and at any place, even the boundaries of our home offer no protection from cyberbullying. In this article, I will be discussing about the definition, types and effects of cyberbullying along with some points of how cyberbullying can be stopped. I will also be talking about the cyberbullying laws in the end.

 

Definition:

Before understanding what cyberbullying is, let us under the term “bullying” by a definition given by The Bar Association of India. It said “Bullying means systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students or employees. It is further defined as unwanted and repeated written, verbal, or physical behaviour, including any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, by a student or adult, that is severe or pervasive enough to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment; cause discomfort or humiliation; or unreasonably interfere with the individual’s school performance or participation; and may involve but is not limited to: teasing, social exclusion, threat, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, theft, sexual, religious, or racial harassment, public humiliation, or destruction of property.”[1]

Cyberbullying do not have any official definition. But we can define it as an act or crime which is of aggressive nature and is repeatedly committed by an individual or a group of people through the medium of internet. There are different types of cyberbullying like spreading fake news about someone across online platforms, demeaning someone or some group by spreading negative content through SMSs or texts or causing humiliation by sharing malicious and nasty information.

 

Types of Cyberbullying:

There are different types of cyberbullying that can eventually lead to criminal charges. These are-

·         Harassment – It is a form of cyber stalking and one is always in a constant fear of threat to life and rude messages. The bully sends malicious message and even threat the victim. This crime can eventually lead to physical harassment.

·         Flaming – It is similar to harassment. The only difference is that it is fight between two or more people or groups that occurs online which is done via email, text and chat. The fight can lead to some very serious outcomes which include harsh language and images shared about a particular person.

·         Exclusion – This act is of singling out or cornering a person and leaving him/her out of an online group. After doing this, the other members of the same group will then harass the person that was removed from the group.

·         Outing – We come to hear about this one more often in our life. When someone shares the personal and private information of a person online including the images and videos in some cases, then this is known as outing. The victim of act is said to have been “outed” if his/her information is widely available online.

·         Masquerading – For this act, the bully creates a false identity and harasses the other person on some anonymous basis. The cyberbullying may masquerade as another person so that he/she can send nasty massages in another person’s name.

·         Fraping – When someone logs into the victim’s social media account and pretends to be him, it is called fraping. This act maybe amusing for someone of that sort but it is a very serious crime and can ruin the victim’s reputation.

·         Trolling – This act is done intentionally by a person in order to get a response online by using bad languages and insulting the other person on social media platforms. It is the most common form of cyberbullying in these days.

 

Effects:

Cyberbullying can have an adverse effect on people. They are as follows:

·         Tendency to separate themselves from other people and start staying alone

·         Lack of self-esteem

·         Changes in nature or becoming more irritated

·         Feeling unsafe and humiliated

·         Making different excuses to stay away from school or friends

·         Decline in academic grades, sports and extra-curriculum activities

·         Not letting parents or any other family member to use their mobile phones or computer

·         Changes in personality and experiencing depression and anxiety

·         Sudden loss of weight and changes in sleeping and eating patterns

·         Injury marks on skin which indicates self-harm and hiding it by wearing long clothes.

 

How cyberbullying can be stopped:

In-order remove cyberbullying from the society, one should take certain steps to safeguard themselves. Here are steps that can help to irradicate cyberbullying:

·         Saving the evidence – In case anyone is being bullied online, that person should act smartly by saving the proof that they are being the victims of this act. This means that one should save the posts, comments or texts that are being used against him/her, even if it’s saved with that person in form of a screenshot.

·         Do not response –The main aim behind cyberbullying is to humiliate or anger somebody while the wrongdoer enjoys these reactions. The best way to avoid this situation is by not responding to it and hence taking away the power of the perpetrator of inflicting any damage.

·         Ask for help –If a person is being a victim of cyberbullying, the best thing for him/her is to share it with others and ask for their help. Also, one should reach out to the concerned authorities (Cyber Crime Division) for they will not only listen to the victim but will also assist the person to move towards a reasonable solution.

·         Out of sight, out of mind – If a person is being bullied on social media, the most common and used method to put an end to it is by blocking or reporting that person’s account.

·         Keeping your social profile and social media safe – One should follow the below mentioned steps to keep their social profile and social media safe.

o   One should be very careful before opening an email and should never open any email from unverified sources.

o   One should not be so blinded and be careful of what they post online.

o   One should never hurt someone else’s feelings or should never post something hurtful.

o   It is important that one keeps his/her profile under his/her complete control and ensure that who can see the contents of his profile.

 

Cyberbullying laws in India:

In India, there is no particular law for cyberbullying. However, there are various provisions of the existing act which can be related to the cyberbullying act. The IT (Information Technology) act is enacted to primarily deal with matters related to social media.

 

·         Chapter 11 of the Information Technology Act deals with offenses in which the definition of offense of cyberbullying is not clear. Still, the act provides aide under section 66 and section 67.

 

Sec 66A [2] that provides relief against sending offensive messages through communication service etc.

 

The Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal and Ors. Vs. Union of India [3], struck down section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The court found the cyberlaw provision vague and unconstitutional as it was believed that it restricts the Indian citizens’ right to speech.

 

Sec 66C deals with Identity Theft [4]

Sec 66D deals with Cheating by personation by using the computer resources [5]

Sec 66E deals with Violation of Privacy [6]

Sec 67B deal Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children any sexually explicit act etc. in electronic form [7]

Sex 72 deals with Breach of confidentiality and privacy [8]

 

Conclusion:

The advance technology helps us in becoming a developed country. It makes our world a simple place to live in. It Helps us to enhance our knowledge, to know that there’s no limit to knowledge. But all this at the cause of some innocent people being traumatised by cyberbullies. Yes, the freedom of speech guaranteed by our constitution is an essential component for people to live. One’s opinion should be respected and expressing oneself on any matter is the matter of individuality. But using this freedom to mentally torture and harass someone should noy be entertained.

 

Footnotes:

1.“Anti-bullying laws in India” Bar Association of India, 2015, < https://www.indianbarassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Anti-bullying-laws-in-India.pdf.

2. The Information Act, 2000 § 66 (A).

3. Shreya Singhal and Ors. v Union of India, [1982] 2 S.C.R. 272.

4. The Information Act, 2000 § 66 (C).

5. The Information Act, 2000 § 66 (D).

6. The Information Act, 2000 § 66 (E).

7. The Information Act, 2000 § 67 (B).

8. The Information Act, 2000 § 72.

AUTHORED BY: ANANYA TEWARI

INTRODUCTION

India has moved towards digitalization, which has brought technical strength. People explore via the internet and make their lives simple and relaxed. They explore the unfamiliar and intermingle virtually, anywhere, anytime in the world with every person. Digital space has opened doors to cybercriminals, and cybercrime is a universal outbreak, and time and again women are their goals. 

Cybercrime and victimisation of women are on the rise with the arrival of technology and it poses a major challenge to a person's safety as a whole. India is one of the very few countries to implement the IT Act 2000 to tackle cybercrime but this act still remains unbothered with regard to women. The said Act defined such offences as hacking, posting pornographic contents on the web interfering with information as punishable offences. But the significant threat to women's defence, in general, is not enclosed completely under this Act.

“Cybercrime is a term for any illegal activity that uses a computer as its primary means of commission. It is an offence that is committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as the Internet.”

TYPES OF COMPUTER GENERATED CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

In plain language, any criminal activity that uses a processor as the major means of commission of offence can be regarded as cyber-crime. It is prolonged to take account of acts such as illicit wrongdoing on the internet, an infringement of internet laws, an illegal activity committed by the means of the internet, workstation crime, and infringement of any network law, internet bribery, and disturbance of performance via a malicious programme. Cyber-crimes may be perpetrated against individuals, possessions and administration. Below is a discussion of the prevalent forms of cyber-crimes:-

· Stalking via E-mail: It is not the latest notion. It is very close to letter-based abuse. This involves blackmailing, maltreatment, coercion, and even cheating through emails. While E-harassment is parallel to note aggravation, creates concern quite often when posted from fake ids.[i]

· Cyber pornography: This is the main risky to the female population. This may include pornographic websites or pornographic periodicals that are created to download & distribute pornographic photographs, pictures, writings, etc., “using computers to publish and print the material” on the Internet. Nearly 50% of websites currently contain pornographic content on the Internet. This makes the character of a woman unsafe as cyber criminals use women's images to fix them with bare photographs or the photos and videos resemble that the woman only.[ii]

· Cyber Stalking: The secrecy that the internet provides support stalkers. He might “be on the other side of the earth, or a” friend “next door, or a relative” nearby! It includes tracking the movements of a person by means of the Internet by messaging comments (at times frightening) “on the victim's bulletin boards, accessing the victim's chat rooms, continuously” attacking “the victim with emails, etc.” The stalker, in general, seeks to inflict emotional harm and his messages serve no valid intent.[iii]

· Cyber Grooming: Cyber Grooming is when an entity develops an online relationship with a youthful individual and tricks or forces him or her to perform sexual acts.

IMPACT OF CYBERCRIME

The most affected victims in this era of technological advancement are females. Every domain of life now a day, begin & finish with digital involvement i.e. processor technical intervention. The useful in addition to obstructive parts also appear in the light of this. A universal phenomenon is a cybercrime. The growth of technology, cybercrime and female victimisation is on the rise and it poses a significant threat to the protection of an individual as a whole. With this rising cybercrime problem in cyberspace, the solitude and individual security of the user are in danger.[iv] Cyberspace was a gift to human civilization. The Internet has linked individuals around the world.

· A new arena for interacting has been formed by social networking websites.
· Regardless of every distinction, women in society are rejoicing to the fullest with this emancipation.
· It has made the life of Indian women simple, from online shopping to net banking, from e-ticketing to e-tax filling.[v]
· The Internet serves as a boon, but on the other hand, due to increasing cybercrime in the virtual world, it has made women's lives vulnerable.
· India is mainly an ancestral & conventional country, plus women who are victimised are held responsible and there is no exemption for online victims.

VIRUS HOAX

In general, a virus hoax occurs as an e-mail message that identifies a specific virus that does not actually exist. These words of warning are meant to build fright to computer users. The warning is e-mailed by the writer or writers and holds an appeal for the person who reads to forward it to others. The message then spreads like a chain letter, circulating across the Internet as it is received by individuals and then forwarded unknowingly. The "Good Times" virus hoax, for instance, was published in 1994 and since then has circled the world several times. Instead of performing it, it is often advisable to ignore or delete such hoax viruses.

“CYBER LAWS IN INDIA”

The punishments for these offences include fines, incarceration up to two years or both. In India, cybercrime against women is at a shocking phase, and it may cause a key risk to the safety of an entity as an intact. The phrase "cybercrime against women" in India involves sexual offences and online sexual harassment. India is known as one of the few countries that have implemented the Information Technology Act, 2000 to fight cybercrime. The industrial and monetary offences that are apparent from the preface of the IT Act are broadly described by this Act.

· Section 67 “deals with publishing or transmitting obscene materials in electronic form. This section in It Act, 2000 was later widened as per the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 in which child pornography and retention of records by intermediaries were all included. This section is of historical importance since the landmark judgment [vi]in what is considered to be the first-ever conviction under IT Act, 2000 in India. The strength of this section and the reliability of electronic evidence were proved by the prosecution and conviction was brought about in this case, involving sending an obscene message in the name of married women amounting to cyber stalking, email spoofing and the criminal activity stated in this section.

· Section 67A & Section 67B insert penal provisions in respect of offences of publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit act and child pornography in electronic form.
· Section 67C deals with obligations of an intermediary to preserve and retain such information as may be specified for such duration and in such manner and format as the central government may prescribe.[vii]

PROBLEM FACED BY WOMEN IN CYBER WORLD

· Owing to the allied dishonour and predisposition of parents/guardians not to involve the police in such matters, cyber abuse of women and children and related cyber crimes remain tremendously under-reported.

· Perpetrators know their sufferers well or they are associated with them. Women are typically unacquainted regarding privacy guidelines and security instructions for using social media sites. Women are less skillful in using technology.[viii]

· It is important to simplify the process of documenting such “cyber crimes against women and” protect the privacy of the women and children involved in order to ensure that such crimes do not go unreported. Cybercrime investigations aiming at women and children need to be streamlined and improved.

SUGGESTIVE MEASURES AND PLANNED SOLUTION OUTLINE

· The escalating figure of crimes touching women is major distress for every state, but cybercrimes makes it much more difficult as criminals have the capability to build false identities and then play a part in illegal works. To respond to this administration “should make stricter laws to apply on the Internet Service Providers (ISP), as they alone have the” whole documentation “of all the data being accessed by” anybody surfing on the net.

· For cyber cafes, legislation need to make stricter regulation which should keep a database of their customers who used their internet services, because many individuals go to cyber cafes to engage in unlawful action so that in any possible enquiry their own IP addresses are not exposed. This is another way in which individuality is concealed.

· “People need to be cautious over which parts of their daily lives are being recorded by cameras & should act modestly in such times. Awareness over a cyber background and its drawbacks also need to be improved amongst people.”

CONCLUSION

“The core cybercrime issue lies in the modus operandi and the cyber criminal's diligence. The police, judiciary and the investigating agencies need to keep abreast of the latest advances in web-based applications so that they can simply trace the actual doer. In India, cyber crimes against women are still taken lightly, mainly because the respect for women in our modern culture, in general, is declining, and a lot of people are also not able to come to grasp the fact that even sharing someone’s picture online is a crime. In our general traditions, cybercrimes such as morphing and e-mail spoofing do not have moral support and are therefore taken lightly.

They must learn not to intervene with the personal lives of others, and it is also essential to enhance respect for women in the general public. Therefore, in order to tackle cybercrime against women in India, there is a need not only for stricter penal developments but also for a shift in the education system. Such reform does not come from within a single block of society, but individuals, administrations and various other bodies need to work together to bring such changes.”