Open Access Research Article
Metrics And Empirical Meaning Of Cyber Crimes (By-Dr. Atal Kumar)
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Article Details
Metrics And Empirical Meaning Of Cyber Crimes
Authored By-Dr.
Atal Kumar
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Abstracts
Crime is timeless, it has been here since society began and will be
here forever. As long as society improves its safeguards, criminals will
change their approaches[1].Crime
and criminality have been associated with man since his fall. Crime remains
elusive and ever strives to hide itself in the face of development. Different
nations have adopted different strategies to contend
with crime depending on their nature
and extent[2].
The virtual space in which all of Information Technology mediated
communication and actions are taking place is often referred to as ‘Cyber
Space’. Cyberspace cannot be spatially located. It is made up of intangible
objects, such as your website, blog, social
networks, email accounts, personal information and
reputation. Cyber space
can be thought of as a global electronic village with instantaneous communication and no geographical barriers[3].
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Introduction
Cybercrime, which has also been
called “computer crime”, “digital crime”, “Internet crime”, and “high-tech
crime”, is commonly understood to include a broad range of criminal activities
that use computers, digital devices, and the Internet. Despite almost twenty
two years of incidents, cybercrime still does not have a universally accepted
definition in literature. Most authors classify cybercrimes based on the role
of technology and criminal modus operandi. We have adapted a general framework
and set of definitions[4] to
set the context for the current work and will consider and explain cybercrime
as:
a) Computer crimes (cybercrimes), such
as hacking, denial of service, and production of malware, in which computer
systems and networks are the target of criminal activity; and
b) Computer related crime, in which
computers serve as instruments of otherwise non-digital crime, such as forgery,
fraud, sexual abuse of children, or copyright infringement.
Although other broad categories of
cybercrime have been proposed (e.g. computer as a place of crime) as well as
different classification approaches (e.g. cybercrime classification based on
the level of technological sophistication), they have not been widely adopted.
The past decade has seen the rapid
development and tremendous growth in the use of electronic, computer- based
communication and information sharing via the “internet”. Defined as a
“decentralized, self-maintaining series of links between computer networks”,
the internet operates throughout most of the world.[5]
Never designed as a mass communication medium, the internet was originally
developed by the US Defense Department in the 1950s as means of connecting the
Department’s internal computers. The speed at which society has adopted this
technology, penetration into work, school and family life, has been described
by some as a “revolution”.[6]
Use of the internet promises many
benefits for society, by circumventing the effect of geographical distance and
facilitating information sharing. It has been contended, for example, that the
internet can revitalize a sense of community by facilitating meaningful
communication between “grass root electronic communities”. The internet has
also been found to have particular benefits for children and young people, who
claim that its use
facilitates social contacts, improves
their writing and language skills and makes them better students.[7]
The spread of the internet has increased the
child’s access to offensive
and/or age-inappropriate material through the internet media’ thus providing increased opportunities for
the solicitation of children and the committing of abusive acts by offenders
outside the family. The internet also
facilitates the activities of offenders by providing a simple and quick
means of communication which allows a
person to remain anonymous and/or create false identities.
Online risks and threats on children in India
Digital technologies offer
significant developmental and educational benefits for children. However, the
growing access and use of internet by children also increases their exposure to
potential risks of online abuse and exploitation.
Cyber offences against children are
spreading and diversifying as new methods are used to harass, abuse and exploit
children. In many instances, children are also online offenders. Digital
technologies provide new avenues to reinforce and spread existing social and
cultural norms, as well as to mediate virtual social contexts and
relationships.
Offline forms of crime and violence
against children are finding new forms of expression in the online world and
their effects on children are amplified. In many cases offline and online
violence are interrelated, with online abuse also including offline components.
Non-contact abuse can be harmful to children and can facilitate the transition
to contact abuse. Being able to stay anonymous online and impersonate others
may embolden people into offensive and criminal acts and lower the deterrent
potential of laws.
Current forms of child online abuse and exploitation include:
a) Cyber bullying: emotional harassment,
defamation and social exposure, intimidation, social exclusion,
b) Online sexual abuse: distribution of
sexually explicit and violent content, sexual harassment,
c) Online sexual exploitation:
production, distribution and use of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) (child
pornography), “sextortion”, “revenge pornography,”
d) Cyber extremism: ideological
indoctrination and recruitment, threats of extreme violence,
e) Online commercial fraud: identity
theft, phishing, hacking, financial fraud,
f) Habit formation and online enticement
to illegal behaviors: access to alcohol, cheating, plagiarism, gambling, drug
trafficking and self-exposure,
g) Grooming: preparing a child,
significant adults and the environment for sexual abuse and exploitation or
ideological manipulation.
There are no reliable figures on the
extent, patterns and trends of child online abuse and exploitation in India,
since no comprehensive surveys have been carried out on these issues. Several
researchers have conducted surveys and polls among urban youth. These surveys
focus mostly on young people’s use of the Internet and do not provide more
in-depth data regarding online risks.
National crime statistics include a
category of cybercrime, but this focuses only on commercial fraud and online
radicalization, with no component of child online abuse. Although there are several
sources of data on child online sexual exploitation, including Child line, law
enforcement and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) companies,
these sources have not been analyzed and access is often restricted due to
privacy concerns and the reluctance of ICT companies to be associated with
child sexual abuse.
Legislations and policies to protect children online-
India’s policy and legal framework
for cyber security is evolving and, despite its limitations, provides a base
for building a comprehensive strategy for child online protection. The
following laws exist to address cybercrimes:
a) The Information Technology Act, 2000,
which addresses aspects related to cyberspace, and the Information Technology
(Amendment) Act, 2008 are the main pieces of legislation concerned with online
activities and cover any communication device used to transmit any text, video,
audio or image.
b) The National Policy for Children
(NPC), 2013 does not refer directly to online risks. All policies related to
education, ICT or cyber security are expected to incorporate the principles of
the NPC and provide children with equal opportunities for learning and
empowerment, while protecting them from harm.
c) The National Policy of ICT in
Schools, 2012 is more explicit about regulating ICT to protect children from
potential risks. It recognizes online risks and has provisions for regulating
and monitoring Internet access. The promotion of ICT systems in schools and
adult education is included in the National Education Policy.
d) The National Cyber Security Policy,
2013 addresses the prevention, investigation and prosecution of cybercrimes,
including those against children. It calls for strengthening capacities of law
enforcement agencies to investigate cybercrimes and gather data to enable
prosecution.
e) The Indecent Representation of Women
(Prohibition) Act, 1986 prohibits indecent representations of women and
criminalizes the performance of obscene acts and songs but does not punish the
audience or those who make the person perform such acts.
f) The provisions of the Information
Technology Act have been strengthened by the Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act, 2012 which deals with online offences against children, including
child pornography and grooming.
As the Information
Technology Act does not have specific provisions for criminal intimidation,
hate speech and defamatory content, the provisions of the Indian Penal Code
apply in cases of online offences.
Child online protection response system:
The multidimensional and
fast-changing nature of ICT and social media, combined with problems related to
regulation of the Internet, due to its transnational nature and the key role it
plays in the democratization of information in society,[8]
pose unprecedented challenges for the prevention of and response to child
online violence. In order to establish and sustain child online protection
systems and preventive strategies, adequate structures, coordination
mechanisms, capacities and resources need to be operational.
Traditional legislative frameworks
are obsolete against the ubiquitous crimes and offences perpetrated in the
virtual world. Indian legislation on child online protection needs to quickly
adapt to technology developments and work in close collaboration with international
law enforcement agencies and ICT companies to be effective. Strong
multispectral and international collaborations and coordination mechanisms are
necessary to ensure that transborder child online abuse cases are investigated
and prosecuted in a timely and effective manner.[9]
The Internet and social media can
only be regulated and controlled to a certain extent as technological
developments enable virtual offenders to swiftly find new ways to overcome
control systems. It is also important to balance privacy with protection. The
invasion of privacy poses a serious ethical and moral challenge to the task of
preempting and proactively addressing online offences. Children’s right to
privacy often comes in conflict with the imperative of protection, and a shared
narrative on the boundaries has not emerged in India.
Prepaid mobile phones present another
barrier to monitoring or regulating Internet access for children. They are
convenient for consumers but create major challenges for law and order
organizations as well as service providers attempting to track errant behaviors
and help bring offenders to justice. Finally, because cases of online offences
against children are rarely reported, there is no indicator of the actual
incidence and prevalence of child online abuse and exploitation in India.
All of the above pose incredible
challenges to ensuring the online safety of Indian children and require
innovative and technologically advanced approaches and solutions. For the
purpose of this assessment, three distinct areas of intervention were
identified as follows:
a) monitoring, reporting and removing
online child offensive material;
b) criminal investigation and
prosecution of online sexual abuse and exploitation; and,
c) Identification and service provision
for child victims of online exploitation and abuse.
The combination of these three areas
of intervention constitutes the emerging child online protection system in
India.
Judicial
Process:
There are no special or fast-track
courts for cyber offences and the justice system is already overloaded with the
backlog of cases. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act covers
some aspects of cyber offences against children and 605 special courts have
been set up under the Act across the country;[10]
however, there is inadequate confidence in the capacity of these courts to
handle sexual assault/child sexual abuse cases. According to the feedback
reported from several states and a recent study of the special fast-track
courts for sexual assault and child sexual abuse cases in Karnataka, there is a
critical need for training on dealing with sexual assault cases for
prosecutors, judges and other participants in the criminal justice system, with
specialized and ongoing training on violence against women as a minimum provided
to judicial officers, prosecutors, lawyers and registrars.[11]
In this scenario, the potential
contribution of these courts to handle child online abuse cases cannot be
relied upon. The National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, and 21 state judicial
academies conduct occasional orientations on cyber laws for the judiciary.
The NLSIU in Bangalore and the NALSAR
University of Law in Hyderabad also conduct awareness and training programmes
on cyber laws and cybercrimes for judicial officers. Not
only are these trainings inadequate
to meet the existing and growing requirements, the training of prosecutors is
an exceptionally weak link in the justice system. They are currently not
included in police training or judicial trainings.
They need to be trained and updated
on cybercrime, especially cyber offences against children, in a systematic
manner.The Cyber Appellate Tribunal, earlier known as Cyber Regulations
Appellate Tribunal, was established in October 2006 in accordance with
provisions under Section 48 (1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. As per
the Information Technology Act, any person aggrieved by an order made by the
Controller of Certifying Authorities or by an adjudicating officer under the
Act can prefer an appeal before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal. There is a Cyber
Appellate Tribunal constituted under the Information Technology Act situated at
New Delhi, but a judge to preside and decide on the cases has not been
appointed since 2011.
Interventions
With Young People And Awareness Rising
1. Awareness raising to inform all young
people and parents about hacking and cybercrime through general awareness
raising programmes in schools;
2. Educate young people about cyber
security, cybercrime and the law - this could include e-learning, micro-learning,
gamification and relevant topics in school curricula.
3. Identify young people most at risk
and work with them to raise awareness about the possible consequences of
illegal online behavior;
4. Development of a cyber-peer mentoring
programme developed and delivered by young people who have been hackers to the
most at-risk groups, identified through awareness raising work in collaboration
with law enforcement and industry partners;
5. Ensure that awareness raising and
educational initiatives extend to parents through programmes and campaigns;
6. Disseminate - National advertising
campaigns (traditional and digital media) should highlight the serious
consequences of hacking amongst young people. Online resources should be made
available to parents, schoolteachers and youth to educate and inform.
7. Support- Practitioners working with
vulnerable youth should be trained to enable an understanding of hacking
behavior and should be equipped to respond to their specific support needs.
Policy Recommendations
1. Impact: It is
essential that governments and government agencies begin to acknowledge and
recognize the extent to which vulnerable young people are becoming involved in
illegal internet related activity, and the potential impact when discovered
that this may have upon the lives of young people and their families;
2. Policy: It is
imperative that comprehensive policies focused upon deterrence, prevention and
rehabilitation are developed that consider potential loss to industry, but that
also consider the needs of often vulnerable young perpetrators, and victim
protection;
3.
Practice: This should no longer be viewed as
an industry problem but rather as a shared problem with responsibility for
prevention and awareness raising resting with many key stakeholders including
government agencies, NGOs and charities responsible for the welfare of children
and young people, education, law enforcement, social services, industry as well
as academia. The responsibility however falls upon governments to ensure that a
central platform is provided to facilitate discussion, policy and practice
development through organizations.
4. Justice and the law: Appropriate training and education for law enforcement and the
judiciary is required. It is essential that criminal justice response including
law enforcement investigation and sentencing practice is based upon new and
emerging empirical research such as that provided here, in the development of
policy guiding practice. Practical guidelines are required regarding
appropriate interviewing and detention protocols given the potential
vulnerability of these young offenders.
Research recommendations and next steps:
1. Metrics: It is
imperative that technology talented youth are identified at the first possible
opportunity in the educational system. Metrics for I.Q, E.Q and C.Q exist, yet
there is no early developmental metric to assess technology skills- this
research team recommends the urgent development of a Technology Quotient (T.Q)
with a view to early stage identification of these valuable skill sets, and
subsequently nurturing and rewarding them through the educational system;
2. Theory: Many
psychology and criminology theories have been conceptualized, tested and
validated in real world environments – there is therefore an urgent need to
empirically re-evaluate these theories in cyber contexts. They may need to be
modified, or new theories
may need to be conceptualized and tested (for example Routine
Activity Theory in cyberspace, and Online Syndication);
3. Research:
further research is urgently required to explore youth cognitive processes and
motivation to engage in hacking. While a considerable amount has been written regarding
the motives of hackers, much of this has been theoretical in nature, with
relatively little empirical work. Research should be trans-disciplinary
incorporating developmental, physiological, affective and sociological aspects
of the behavior with a view to understanding and staging evidence-based
interventions. (For example, research exploring hacking and internet addictive
behaviors, and hacking tested according to Theory of Planned Behavior which may
have predictive value);
4. Innovation:
There is a need to develop forums to collaborate with industry in terms of
developing software and hardware to incorporate appropriate concepts and
safeguards ‘by design’;
5. Evaluation:
There seems to be an increasing amount of ‘good’ practice delivered by law
enforcement and the education sector in providing youth with cyber-resilience
and awareness. However, many of these initiatives occur in relative isolation
to each other and have focused upon online safety in the context of abuse and
risk, rather than online financial crime and hacking. More communication and
knowledge sharing needs to occur to share practice, and evaluations need to be
rolled out to measure outcomes and impact at EU-level and internationally;
6. Training:
Principles of ‘Achieving Best Evidence’ within criminal justice proceedings
must be integrated into work undertaken with regard to adolescent hackers. This
will assure appropriate information is gathered in understanding elements of
risk and engagement with online anti-social behavior. In turn, the information
will inform future prevention and intervention practice, and will provide a
range of stakeholders with descriptive, rich and rigorous data and
understanding for their own practice as the threat and extent of youth
cybercrime evolves. Rank and file police officers will need additional
‘baseline’ training across dealing with cyber juvenile delinquents in terms of
detection and arrest, along with understanding key principles of cybercrime
victimization and offending, including a more detailed perspective and
introduction to the role of computers and technology in facilitating hacking
and other forms of cybercrime. We must avoid a potential generation of law
enforcement officers becoming ‘un’-synced with the communities they are meant
to protect, engage and support, in real world and in cyber contexts;
7. Prototype:
There is a clear need to urgently act upon the key findings from this
preliminary, ground breaking research. This work was based upon interviews with
stakeholders who work closely with young hackers but does not include any
interviews with this group; unfortunately it proved very difficult to gain
access given the short research time frame. Funding for the second stage of
this work will be sought to work proactively with industry and educators and
reformed young hackers to develop a prototype educational awareness programme
for young people that will be piloted and evaluated in a small number of
schools.
Conclusion
The protection of children from
violence, abuse and exploitation is a major concern in India, but there is an
inadequate knowledge base on violence against children in general and online
risks and threats to children in particular. Although not much is known about
the actual prevalence of cyber bullying, online sexual abuse and exploitation,
cyber extremism, cyber addiction and other risks and threats for children, it
is evident that Indian children are being affected in many ways.
As ICT and the Internet are bound to
expand in the course of India’s socioeconomic development, these threats will
increase because of the rapid technological evolution and the inherent
vulnerability of children. There is sufficient indication of the worrying
overall trends and patterns to urge for immediate action.
The online abuse and violence against
children in India has to be perceived and understood within the context of
violence and abuse against children in the country. ICT exacerbates the
existing power relationships and pervasive violence against women and children
and provides fertile ground for their misuse for harassment, abuse and
exploitation.
Social attitudes and norms
influencing overall violence against women and children and mental health
dimensions need to be understood to find ways of approaching them. There is a
need to expand the data and knowledge base on online abuse and exploitation of
children engaging a broader set of concerned experts in designing the enquiry
as most of the studies on technology use and online violence are
industry-supported and based on small samples.
There is a simultaneous need to
address issues of comprehensive sexuality education with maturity and openness
in order to address effectively the issues of adolescent relationships in
today’s times, otherwise issues such as gender violence and responsible sexual behavior
are difficult to address.
Immediate action may not be able to
address every aspect of online protection of children but prioritization of
action and rapid follow-through could strengthen the protective environment for
children. The broad parameters of the overall strategic approach need to be
agreed upon so that various stakeholders can contribute their resources and
energies for a coordinated response to strengthen different aspects of the
protective environment.
The challenge of creating a safe
online environment for children lies in developing a range of responses that
strike an appropriate balance between maximizing the potential of ICT to
promote and protect children’s rights and opportunities while minimizing risks
and ensuring children’s safety and protection.
The benefits of technology and its
potential to empower children, together with recognition of the resourcefulness
and evolving capacity of children to take an active and responsible role in
their own protection and that of others, must lie at the heart of all
initiatives.
Both boys and girls have a role to
play and their inherent energies and potential need to be harnessed. Developing
the online competencies of children must also include building their capacities
and resilience as digital citizens based on values and life skills, not just be
limited to avoiding the risk of specific online threats. Furthermore, schools,
teachers, parents/ guardians, policymakers, industry players and other key
stakeholders should adopt a proactive approach towards fostering such a
favorable environment.
As a matter of urgency, a
comprehensive package of specialized services should be developed for the
support and recovery of child victims of online exploitation and abuse. These
services should include adequate skills, capacities and resources, especially
for mental health support, to meet the specific needs of child victims of
online abuse. These specialized services should of course be integrated and
mainstreamed in India’s overall child protection systems and services.
References
1) Eoghan Casey, Digital Evidence and
Computer Crime: Forensic Science, Computers and the Internet (London, UK:
Elsevier Inc., Third edition, 2011).
2) Barr, T. (2001), “E-Futures: Towards
a better understanding of internet users”, Deakin Lectures, www.abc.net.au/rn/deakin/default.html, accessed on September 19, 2019.
3) Slattery, L. (2001), “Snake oil for
the ills of modern life”. The Australian, 27 June, p.13
4) Starch, R. (1999). “The American
Online/ Roper Starch Youth Cyberstudy 1999”,
5) Halder D., & K Jaishankar,
‘Patterns of Sexual Victimization of Children and Women in the Multipurpose
Social Networking Sites’; In C. Marcum and G. Higgins (Eds.), Social Networking
as a Criminal Enterprise, Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press, Taylor and Francis
Group. ISBN, 2014.
6) Interview with Karnika Seth, Cyber
Law expert and visiting faculty to National Police Academy and National
Judicial Academy, CBI Academy and National Investigation Agency, NOIDA.
7) Press Information Bureau, Government
of India, Ministry of Women and Child Development, 3 March 2016. This
information was given by the Minister for Women and Child Development, Mrs
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
8) Kothari, Jayna and Aparna Ravi, The
Myth of Speedy and Substantive Justice: A Study of the Special Fast Track Courts
for Sexual Assault and Child Sexual Abuse in Karnataka, Centre for Law and
Policy Research, Bangalore.
Article Information
Metrics And Empirical Meaning Of Cyber Crimes (By-Dr. Atal Kumar)
Authors: Dr. Atal Kumar
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2022/07/09
- 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
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