Open Access Research Article
CYBER CRIMINOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
Published Paper
Article Details
CYBER CRIMINOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL
WORLD
AUTHORED BY - MUGESH S[1]
ABSTRACT:
Computer technology's ever-increasing
connectivity has brought the world closer together. We can connect to the
rest of the world if we have a computer and a modem. Today, a simple mobile phone is sufficient to
connect you to people all over the world. Social media networking has impacted
peoples' cultural, economic, and social lives over the past decade, becoming an
essential part of everyone's life. These social networking sites attract users
from all walks of life and store their data in the cloud, resulting in illegal
data theft by cyber criminals. The general classifications of this computer
related crimes include Stalking, Hacking, Web-Jacking, E-mail bombing, Computer
vandalism, Cyber-terrorism etc. Because
of their anonymity and low chances of detection, cyber offenders are misusing
computer technology to commit a variety of crimes that must be prevented by
effective legal and regulatory measures.
The author in this paper attempts to explain about the concept of cyber
criminology in the digital world and provides for various preventive measures
available.
Key words: Cyber-crimes, Computer, Technology,
Internet, Society.
Introduction:
According to Statista, as of January
2021, there are 4.66 billion active internet users across the globe i.e., 59.5
percent of the global population. Out of this, 92.6 percent i.e., 4.32 billion
have accessed the internet via mobile devices.
China, India and the United States rank ahead of all the other countries
in terms of internet users. China has more than 854 million internet users,
and India has approximately 560 million online users. Both countries still have
large parts of the population that are offline[2].
The increasing usage of internet services results in the danger of people being
exploited by the cyber criminals. Since the past decade, social media
networking has become an essential part of everyone’s life affecting cultural,
economic and social life of the people. These social networking sites are
attracting users from all walks of life and keeping the user’s data in the
cloud resulting in the illegal data theft by the cyber criminals. These
crimes cover a wide range of illegal computer-related activities such as theft
of communication services, industrial espionage, dissemination of pornographic
and sex offensive material in cyber-space, electronic money laundering and tax
evasion, electronic vandalism, terrorism and extortion, tele-marketing frauds,
illegal interception of tele-communication etc.
Willie Sutton, a notorious American
bank robber of a half century ago, was once asked why he persisted in robbing
banks. “Because that’s where the money is,” he is said to have replied[3].
The theory that crime follows opportunity has become established wisdom in
criminology; opportunity reduction has become one of the fundamental principles
of crime prevention. The same applies to
computer related crimes also.
Crime: Meaning and Definition:
A crime is an act punishable by law, as
being forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare.
According to Bentham, “offences are
whatever the legislature has prohibited for good or for bad reasons. If the
questions relate to theoretical research for the discovery of the best possible
laws according to the principle of utility, we give the name of offence to
every act which we think ought to be prohibited by reasons of some evil which
it produces or tends to produce”[4].
Cyber Crime: Meaning and Definition:
The term
‘Cyber Crime’ is nowhere defined, this concept is varied because the crime
which is going to be committed by using any means of communication or internet
can be termed as a cybercrime. A cyber crime may be defined as any criminal activity that uses a
computer either as an instrumentality, target or means of perpetrating further
crime. In other words, cyber crime is an unlawful act wherein the computer is
either a tool or a target or both.
In a sense, it is not radically
different from the concept of conventional crime insofar as both include
conduct whether act or omission, which causes breach of law and therefore, it
is punishable by the state.
Constitutional View:
Hacking
into someone’s private property or stealing someone’s intellectual work is a
complete violation of his right to privacy.
The Indian constitutional does not specifically provide the “right to
property” as one of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the Indian citizens but
it is protected under Indian penal code.
Right to property is an important natural need of every human being as
it creates boundaries is around an individual where the other persons entry is
restricted. The right to privacy
prohibits interference in other private life.
The apex court of India has clearly affirmed in its Judicial
pronouncements that right to privacy is very much a part of the fundamental
right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Thus, right to privacy or its personal stuff
then the accused can be challenged of violation of article 21[5] of
Indian Constitution and prescribed remedy can be invoked against the accused.
Typology of Cyber Crime:
Cyber
crimes may broadly be classified into
two major categories :—
1. Cyber crime where computer is
itself a target of the crime; and
2. Cyber crime where computer is an
instrument of the crime.
1. Computer as a target of the crime:
In this category of cyber crime, computer
itself is a target of the crime. These crimes generally include :-
(i) sabotage of computer systems or
computer networks;
(ii) sabotage of operating systems
and programmes;
(iii) theft of data/information;
(iv) theft of intellectual property,
such as computer software;
(v) theft of marketing information; and
(vi) blackmailing based on
information gained from computerised files such as personal history, sexual
preferences, financial data, medical information etc.
2. Computer as an Instrument
Facilitating Crime:
In
this category of crime, the computer is used as an instrument to commit the
crime. The terrorists and criminals are using Internet methods such as e-mail
to flesh out encrypted messages around the world. In these crimes, computer
programs are manipulated to facilitate the offence. For example, fraudulent use
of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and accounts, frauds related to
e-banking or e-commerce, electronic data-interchange etc. are committed by
using computer. Cyber pornography, software piracy, on-line gambling, copyright
infringement, trademark violations are some other illustrations of such crimes[6].
General Classification:
The general classification of cyber crimes
are;
(1) Cyber crimes against persons;
(2) Cyber crimes against all forms of
property; and
(3) Cyber crimes against State or
society.
1. Cyber crimes against persons:
Cyber
crimes against person or individual include harassment via e-mail, stalking,
defamation, unauthorised access to computer systems, indecent exposures, e-mail
spoofing, fraud, cheating and pornography etc.
2. Cyber crimes against all forms
of property:
Computer
related crimes against property include computer vandalism, transmission of
virus, denial of service at lack, unauthorised access over computer system,
intellectual property rights violations, Internet time-theft, sale of illegal
articles etc.
3. Cyber crimes against State or
society:
Cyber
crimes against state or society may comprise possession of unauthorised information,
cyber terrorism, distribution of pirated software, polluting youth through
indecent exposure, trafficking financial scams, forgery, online gambling etc[7].
Some of the cyber crimes which are
generally committed in the cyber space through computer systems are explained
as follows :-
Stalking: In stalking, persistent messages are sent to
unwilling recipients, thus causing them annoyance, worry and mental torture.
Sending of unsolicited e-mails or spamming is an infringement of right of
privacy. Online harassment and threats may take many forms.
Cyber stalking usually occurs with women who
are stalked by men, adolescents or adult pedophiles. A cyber stalker does not
have to leave his home to harass his targets and has no fear of physical avenge
since he cannot be physically touched in cyber space.
In Burnett v. George[8].,
The plaintiff had been subjected to a series of assaults, unwanted visits,
damage to her house, telephone threats and telephones calls at unsocial
hours. The Court of Appeal granted an
injunction prohibiting the defendant from entering her property and from
assaulting, molesting r interfering with her by acts calculated to impair her
health.
A cyber stalker generally collects all the
personal information about the victim such as name, age, family background,
telephone or mobile numbers, workplace etc. He collects this information from
the internet resources such as various profiles the victim may have filled-in
while opening the chat or e-mail account. The menace of cyber stalking has
spread like wild-fire in India and many innocent women., girls and children are
being targeted as its victim.
Hacking: Hacking is the most common form of
cyber crime in these days. The reason why hackers indulge in this crime may
vary from monetary gain to political interest or it may even be for the sake of
sheer thrill. Hacking may be of different forms such as web-spoofing, e-mail
bombing, trojan attacks, virus attacks, password cracking etc. In simple words
hacking means seeking unauthorised access through computer network[9].
Web-jacking as a specie of hacking is nothing
but forcefully taking over control of a website of someone else or the victim.
The motive is usually ransom or attainment of some illegal political purpose.
E-mail bombing means sending large
number of mails to the victim which may be an individual or a company to cause
confusion and harassment.
Trojan is an unauthorised programme
which gains control over another's system by representing itself as an
authorised programme.
The administrator of any website has
a password and a username, then only he may use to upload files from his
computer on the Webserver where his website is hosted. This password remains
secret with the administrator. If a hacker gets hold of this username or
password, then he can pretend to be the administrator. Computer hackers may
affect the commercial websites or e-mail systems thus paralysing the entire
business.
Under Indian law it has been clearly
laid down in Smt. Mathri v. State of Punjab[10].,
that for establishing the offences of criminal trespass it is not enough to
merely show that the person entering upon the property of another had knowledge
that his act would cause annoyance. The
rule that a person must be presumed to intend the natural consequences of his
act is not a binding rule, if any other intention can be shown. This interpretation may be problematic while
dealing with crimes on the Internet.
E-mail spoofing: A spoofed e-mail may be said to be
one which misrepresents its origin. That is, it shows its origin to be
different from which it actually originates. For example, where A sends a
threatening e-mail to the President of the student union threatening to detonate
a nuclear device in the college campus and this e-mail was sent from the
account of some other student, 'A' would be guilty of e-mail spoofing.
Computer Vandalism: Literally speaking, vandalism means
destroying or damaging property of another. In the context of cyber crime,
computer vandalism includes within it any kind of physical damage done to the
computer of any person. It may be in the form of theft of a computer or some
part thereof or a peripheral attached to a computer.
Cyber Terrorism: According to U.S. National
Infra-structure Protection Center, cyber terrorism is defined as,
"a criminal act perpetrated by
the use of computer and telecommunication capabilities, resulting in violence,
destruction and/or disruption of services to create fear by causing confusion
and uncertainty within a given population, with the goal of influencing a
government population to conform to a particular political, social or
ideological agenda[11].”
In Mohammed v. State of Gujarat[12]., In
this case a Chief Minister of a State was threatened with life through
email. A case was filed under Section
507[13]
of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 67[14]
of Information Technology Act, 2000.
Quashing the charge under Section 67, the High Court observed that
“Nothing in the said e-mail can be stated to be obscene or such material as can
be categorized as lascivious or such which would deprave or corrupt person’s
mind who may have accend to such mail.
Ex-facie offence under section 67 is, therefore, not made out. The said provision is, therefore, required to
be deleted against the petitioner.
Cyber terrorism has domestic as well
as international ramifications. It may be defined as the premeditated use of
disruptive activities or the threat thereof, in cyber space, with the intention
to further social, ideological, religious, political or similar objectives, or
to intimidate any person in furtherance of such objectives. A 'cyber terrorist'
may be defined as a person who uses computer system as a means to achieve any
of the following objectives :-
(i)
putting
the public or any section of the public in fear; or
(ii)
affecting
adversely the harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional
groups or castes or communities; or
(iii)
coercing
or overawing the government established by law; or
(iv)
endangering
the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.
Cyber Pornography: Pornography on the internet may take
various forms. It may include hosting of website containing some obscene or
prohibited material or use of computers for producing obscene materials. Such
material tends to pervert the thinking of adolescents and corrupts their mind
set. A person who publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the
electronic form any material which is lascivious, or if its effect is such as
to tend to deprave or corrupt the persons who are likely to see, read or hear
the matter contained or embodied in it, is liable to punishment which may
extend to imprisonment upto five years and with fine, which may extend to
rupees one lakh[15]. The
important ingredients of such an offence are publication and transmission
through any electronic medium, of pornographic material, in any electronic
form.
In Prakash v. State of Tamil
Nadu[16].,
Where appellant has been served detention order primarily on grounds that
he has committed offences under section 67[17]
of Information Technology Act, 2000, under section 4 and 6 of Indecent
Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986[18],
and under section 27[19]
of Arms Act, 1959 and the detaining authority admittedly took note of a letter
from a women member of the public stating that appellant had been involved in
heinous crimes, that police, should ensure he is punished and not released on
bail, held on facts, contents of letter were not extraneous or irrelevant.
Cyber Defamation: Cyber defamation is not different
from conventional defamation except that it involves the use of cyber space
medium. Any derogatory statement which is intended to injure a person's name or
reputation on a web-site or sending e-mail containing defamatory information to
some other person constitute the offence of cyber defamation.
E-mail Frauds (Spam): E-mail is an inexpensive and popular
device for distributing fraudulent messages to potential victims. This
technique not only helps to assume someone else's identity, but also helps to
hide one's own. Therefore, the person committing the e-mail has little chance
of being detected or identified. The most common e-mail fraud is 'phishing'
i.e., personal information fraud. The purpose of such spams is to trick the
person for divulging his personal information so that the offender can steal
his identity and commit crime in that person's name. Section 74[20]
of the Copyright Act makes internet fraud as an offence punishable with
imprisonment upto two years or with fine which may extend to rupees one lakh.
Money Laundering: It is a kind of cyber crime in which
money is illegally downloaded in transit. There is a phenomenal increase in the
incidence of this cyber offence. Out of 146 seizures made by the Enforcement
Directorate in money laundering cases in the year 2005 recoveries were made in
106 cases involving seizure of about 9.5 crores of rupees.
Data diddling: This offence involves changing or
erasing of data in subtle ways which makes it difficult to put the data back or
be certain of its accuracy. This is resorted to for the purpose of illegal
monetary gains or for committing a fraud or financial scam[21].
Cyber Crime Beyond Boundaries:
Cyberspace is a digital medium and not a physical world. It is
limitless, constantly changing its shape, attributes and characteristics. With computers and computer networks, one can
easily connect to the world in a split second. The internet has made the world smaller,
bringing countries, people and businesses close together. Computer
devices have become
smaller and portable
and are able to
carry large amount
of data/information across the
globe. The ever-increasing
connectivity of computer technology
has brought the world closer. With access to
a computer and a modem, you are connected to
the world. Today a simple mobile phone is enough to connect you to
people in other parts of the world[22].
In
Daya Singh Lahoria v. Union of India[23].,
It was held that a fugitive criminal, if extradited
into India under an extradition decree, could be tried only for the offences
mentioned in the extradition decree and for no other offences and the criminal
courts of India would have no jurisdiction to try such fugitive for any other
offences.
Determining
which country has jurisdiction for the purposes of a criminal prosecution may
establish whether the conduct would be a crime, how the crime would be defined,
and how it would be punished. First, the absence of a geographical boundary for
commission of the crime; second, the glaring lacuna in the legal arena with the
lack of a settled law thriving internationally and the existence of conflicting
laws; third, the existence of either positive juridical claims where many
countries claim to exercise jurisdiction and the negative juridical claims
where there is no claim for jurisdiction by a single country, resulting in
crimes going unpunished[24].
In
The People of the State of New York vs. Gaming Corporation., [25]an
online gaming company based in Antigua (where online gambling is legal)
maintained corporate offices in New York, a state where online gambling is
illegal. The issue in this case was whether the State of New York could bring
the online gambling company under its jurisdiction and prosecute it for
offering gambling to internet users in the state. The court held that the State
of New York had the jurisdiction to prosecute the gambling company as it was in
persona located in New York, and thus came within the jurisdiction of a
competent court in New York.
Cyber crime Prevention Strategies:
Laws are generally meant
for meeting the needs of the society and it is, therefore, a dynamic concept
which undergoes changes with the changing need of the society. Because of the anonymity of its character and
negligible chances of being detected, the cyber offenders are misusing the
computer technology for committing a variety of crimes which need to be
prevented by an effective law and regulatory measures.
Preventive Measures Provided by the
Government:
1. Legislative Measures:
1. Special Statutes on cyber crimes
against women is required to be passed to deal with the all form of cyber crime
against women.
2. Statutes and laws made by the
legislative related to cyber crime against women must be based on mental harm
than the physical harm as till now it is made more of physical harm.
2. Judicial Suggestions:
Alike
various tribunals, a special bench for dealing with cyber crimes against women
may be created atleast in each and every High Court. Special branch may also be created in every
metropolitan cities and districts.
3. Suggestions to protect women from
getting victimized:
1. Always use strong passwords and don’t
share password it may sound pointless.
As nobody in their sight mind share their password, right? Wrong any
person may have shared their password with a trusted friend or partner. While friends may not intentionally cause you
harm, they may accidentally reveal your password to someone. Sometimes relationship change before your
password does. So, it is very necessary
to keep passwords private as well as complicated.
2. Don’t always share more than
mandatory
3. Don’t reveal everything: always be
careful about posting details about your activities.
4. Simply block people you don’t want to
interact with.
5. The very important point is that
every women must report any such cyber crime without any limitations.
6. Don’t share any photos anywhere in
the social media.
7. Don’t meet online friends anywhere
alone[26].
Future Progress in Cyber Space:
The
pace at which cybercrime is growing is one of the most disturbing trends.
Valerie McNiven, a U.S. Treasury Advisor, has proclaimed “Last year was the
first year that proceeds from cybercrime were greater than proceeds from the
sale of illegal drugs, and that was, I believe, over $105 billion." She
further added that "cybercrime is moving at such a high speed that law
enforcement cannot catch up with it.” It seems clear that the issue will only
become worse in the next few years, now that professionals have realized the
potential windfalls if exploited properly.
With professional criminals managing
the money laundering and organization of such schemes, it begs to ask where all
the technical know-how will come from in order to perform cybercrime.
Unfortunately, there are growing numbers of intelligent black-hats with
university degrees spread around the globe, many of them operating in countries
where legal employment does not pay as well and the chances of being caught are
slim. But more troublesome is that it has become easier than ever before to be
a hacker capable of inflicting great harm on networks and committing
cybercrime. The future of the Internet
is still up for grabs between criminals and normal users. Whether cybercrime is still a pertinent issue
ten years from now is unknowable in a sense, but if the Internet will continue
to grow, it must be solved so that the realities of cybercrime will be
proportional to real-world crimes, if not better[27].
Conclusion:
Cyber
crime has high potential and thus creates high impact when it is done. It is
easy to commit without any physical existence required as it is global in
nature due to this it has become a challenge and risk to the crime fighter and
vice versa. The borderless nature of ICTs may not allow for rigid regulations
and instead challenges the principle of criminal laws. As such, international
laws and regulations combined with reliance on technologies are crucial to
counter the crime race. The preventive
measures should be taken to prevent the society as well as the organizations
from the cybercrimes instead of avoiding the uses of the technology.
[1] Author is an LLM Student of
Department of Intellectual Property Law, SOEL, TNDALU, Chennai.
[2]
Joseph John, Worldwide Digital Population as of January, 2021, (Mar 5,
2021) https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/
[3] Peter Grabosky, Computer Crimes in
a World Without Borders, (Mar 13, 2000) https://www.crime-research.org/library/Peter.htm
[4] Divya19,
Cyber Crime - A Hindrance In Digital World, http://legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-3210-cyber-crime-a-hindrance-in-digital-world.html
[5] Article 21 of the Constitution of
India, 1950.
[6] Dr. N.V. Paranjape, Criminology
& Penology with Victimology, Pg. No. 145, 15th Edition (2012).
[7] Dr. Ajeet Singh Poonia, Cyber
Crime: Challenges and its Classification, November-December 2014, https://www.ijettcs.org/Volume3Issue6/IJETTCS-2014-12-08-96.pdf.
[8] Burnett v. George., (1992) 1 FLR
525.
[9] Hacking is an punishable offence
under The Information Technology Act, 2000 with imprisonment up to 3 years and
fine u to rupees 1 crore for unauthorized access. It is also punishable under Section 66 of the
Copyright Act with imprisonment up to 3 years and fine up 2 lakhs rupees.
[10] Smt. Mathri v. State of Punjab.,
AIR 1964 SC 986 (India).
[11] Pragati Ghosh, Short Essay on
Cyber Terrorism https://www.shareyouressays.com/essays/short-essay-on-cyber-terrorism-458-words/121708.
[12]Mohammed v. State of Gujarat., in SCR.A/1832/2009
[13] Section 507 of the Indian Penal
Code, 1860.
[14] Section 67 of the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
[15] Section 67 of the Information of
Technology Act, 2000.
[16] Prakash v. State of Tamil Nadu.,
(2002) 7 SCC 759 (India).
[17] Section 67 of Information
Technology Act, 2000.
[18] Section 4 and 6 of Indecent Representation
of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
[19] Section 27 of Arms Act, 1959.
[20] Section 74 of the Copyright Act.
[21] Vardhaman Mahaveer Open
University, Kota, Study Material, http://assets.vmou.ac.in/PGDCL04.pdf.
[22] Justice Surya Kant, Cyber space
and jurisdictional concerns, https://ujala.uk.gov.in/files/ch3.pdf.
[24] Nandhan Kamath, Law Relating to
Computers, Internet & E-commerce, Pg. No. 23, 5th Edition
(2017).
[25] The People of the State of New
York vs. Gaming Corporation 714 NYS 2d 844 (USA).
[26] Sanjeev Kumar & Priyanka, Cyber Crime
against women: Right to Privacy and other issues, October 2019, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344153821_CYBER_CRIME_AGAINST_WOMEN_RIGHT_TO_PRIVACY_AND_OTHER_ISSUES.
[27] Sumanjit Das and Tapaswini Nayak,
Impact of Cyber Crime: Issues and Challenges, October 2013, https://www.ijeset.com/media/0002/2N12-IJESET0602134A-v6-iss2-142-153.pdf.
Article Information
CYBER CRIMINOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
Authors: MUGESH S
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/04/15
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Access Open Access
- License CC 4.0
All research articles published in International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis are open access and available to read, download and share, subject to proper citation of the original work.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis.