Cyber Law:
Introduction
In Simple way we can say that cyber crime is unlawful acts wherein
the computer is either a tool or a target or both
Cyber crimes can involve criminal activities
that are traditional in nature, such as theft, fraud, forgery, defamation and
mischief, all of which are subject to the Indian Penal Code. The abuse of
computers has also given birth to a gamut of new age crimes that are addressed
by the Information Technology Act, 2000.
We can categorize Cyber
crimes in two ways
The Computer as a Target :-using a computer to attack other computers.
e.g. Hacking, Virus/Worm
attacks, DOS attack etc.
The computer as a weapon
:-using a computer to commit real world crimes.
e.g. Cyber Terrorism,
IPR violations, Credit card frauds, EFT frauds, Pornography etc.
Cyber Crime regulated by Cyber Laws or Internet Laws.
Technical Aspects
Technological advancements have created new possibilities for criminal
activity, in particular the criminal misuse of information technologies such as
a. Unauthorized access
& Hacking:-
Access means gaining entry into, instructing or communicating with
the logical, arithmetical, or memory function resources of a computer, computer
system or computer network.
Unauthorized access would therefore mean any kind of access
without the permission of either the rightful owner or the person in charge of
a computer, computer system or computer network.
Every act committed towards breaking into a computer and/or
network is hacking. Hackers write or use ready-made computer programs to attack
the target computer. They possess the desire to destruct and they get the kick
out of such destruction. Some hackers hack for personal monetary gains, such as
to stealing the credit card information, transferring money from various bank
accounts to their own account followed by withdrawal of money.
By hacking web server
taking control on another persons website called as web hijacking
b. Trojan Attack:-
The program that act
like something useful but do the things that are quiet damping. The programs of
this kind are called as Trojans.
The name Trojan Horse is
popular.
Trojans come in two
parts, a Client part and a Server part. When the victim (unknowingly) runs the
server on its machine, the attacker will then use the Client to connect to the
Server and start using the trojan.
TCP/IP protocol is the
usual protocol type used for communications, but some functions of the trojans
use the UDP protocol as well.
c. Virus and Worm
attack:-
A program that has
capability to infect other programs and make copies of itself and spread into
other programs is called virus.
Programs that multiply
like viruses but spread from computer to computer are called as worms.
d. E-mail & IRC
related crimes:-
1. Email spoofing
Email spoofing refers to
email that appears to have been originated from one source when it was actually
sent from another source. Please Read
2. Email Spamming
Email
"spamming" refers to sending email to thousands and thousands of
users - similar to a chain letter.
3 Sending malicious
codes through email
E-mails are used to send
viruses, Trojans etc through emails as an attachment or by sending a link of
website which on visiting downloads malicious code.
4. Email bombing
E-mail
"bombing" is characterized by abusers repeatedly sending an identical
email message to a particular address.
5. Sending threatening
emails
6. Defamatory emails
7. Email frauds
8. IRC related
Three main ways to
attack IRC are: "verbalâ⦣8218;?Ŧ#8220; attacks, clone attacks, and flood attacks.
e. Denial of Service
attacks:-
Flooding a computer
resource with more requests than it can handle. This causes the resource to
crash thereby denying access of service to authorized users.
Examples include
attempts to
"flood" a network, thereby preventing legitimate network traffic
attempts to disrupt
connections between two machines, thereby preventing access to a service
attempts to prevent a
particular individual from accessing a service
attempts to disrupt
service to a specific system or person.
Distributed
DOS
A
distributed denial of service (DoS) attack is accomplished by using the
Internet to break into computers and using them to attack a network.
Hundreds or
thousands of computer systems across the Internet can be turned into “zombies”
and used to attack another system or website.
Types
of DOS
There are
three basic types of attack:
a.
Consumption of scarce, limited, or non-renewable resources like NW bandwith,
RAM, CPU time. Even power, cool air, or water can affect.
b.
Destruction or Alteration of Configuration Information
c.
Physical Destruction or Alteration of Network Components
d.
Forgery:-
Counterfeit
currency notes, postage and revenue stamps, mark sheets etc can be forged using
sophisticated computers, printers and scanners.
Also
impersonate another person is considered forgery.
e.
IPR Violations:-
These
include software piracy, copyright infringement, trademarks violations, theft
of computer source code, patent violations. etc.
Cyber
Squatting- Domain names are also trademarks and protected by ICANN’s domain
dispute resolution policy and also under trademark laws.
Cyber Squatters
registers domain name identical to popular service provider’s domain so as to
attract their users and get benefit from it.
f.
Cyber Terrorism:-
Targeted
attacks on military installations, power plants, air traffic control, banks,
trail traffic control, telecommunication networks are the most likely targets.
Others like police, medical, fire and rescue systems etc.
Cyber
terrorism is an attractive option for modern terrorists for several reasons.
1.It is
cheaper than traditional terrorist methods.
2.Cyberterrorism
is more anonymous than traditional terrorist methods.
3.The
variety and number of targets are enormous.
4.Cyberterrorism
can be conducted remotely, a feature that isespecially appealing to terrorists.
5.Cyberterrorism
has the potential to affect directly a larger number of people.
g.
Banking/Credit card Related crimes:-
In the
corporate world, Internet hackers are continually looking for opportunities to
compromise a company’s security in order to gain access to confidential banking
and financial information.
Use of
stolen card information or fake credit/debit cards are common.
Bank
employee can grab money using programs to deduce small amount of money from all
customer accounts and adding it to own account also called as salami.
h.
E-commerce/ Investment Frauds:-
Sales and
Investment frauds. An offering that uses false or fraudulent claims to solicit
investments or loans, or that provides for the purchase, use, or trade of
forged or counterfeit securities.
Merchandise
or services that were purchased or contracted by individuals online are never
delivered.
The fraud
attributable to the misrepresentation of a product advertised for sale through
an Internet auction site or the non-delivery of products purchased through an
Internet auction site.
Investors
are enticed to invest in this fraudulent scheme by the promises of abnormally
high profits.
i.
Sale of illegal articles:-
This would
include trade of narcotics, weapons and wildlife etc., by posting information
on websites, auction websites, and bulletin boards or simply by using email
communication.
Research
shows that number of people employed in this criminal area. Daily peoples
receiving so many emails with offer of banned or illegal products for sale.
i.
Online gambling:-
There are
millions of websites hosted on servers abroad, that offer online gambling. In
fact, it is believed that many of these websites are actually fronts for money
laundering.
j.
Defamation: -
Defamation
can be understood as the intentional infringement of another person's right to
his good name.
Cyber
Defamation occurs when defamation takes place with the help of computers and /
or the Internet. E.g. someone publishes defamatory matter about someone on a
website or sends e-mails containing defamatory information to all of that
person's friends. Information posted to a bulletin board can be accessed by
anyone. This means that anyone can place
Cyber
defamation is also called as Cyber smearing.
Cyber Stacking:-
Cyber
stalking involves following a persons movements across the Internet by posting
messages (sometimes threatening) on the bulletin boards frequented by the
victim, entering the chat-rooms frequented by the victim, constantly bombarding
the victim with emails etc.
In general,
the harasser intends to cause emotional distress and has no legitimate purpose
to his communications.
p.
Pedophiles:-
Also there
are persons who intentionally prey upon children. Specially with a teen they
will let the teen know that fully understand the feelings towards adult and in
particular teen parents.
They earns
teens trust and gradually seduce them into sexual or indecent acts.
Pedophiles
lure the children by distributing pornographic material, then they try to meet
them for sex or to take their nude photographs including their engagement in
sexual positions.
k.
Identity Theft :-
Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in countries like America.
Identity
theft occurs when someone appropriates another's personal information without
their knowledge to commit theft or fraud.
Identity
theft is a vehicle for perpetrating other types of fraud schemes.
l.
Theft of Internet Hours:-
Unauthorized
use of Internet hours paid for by another person.
By gaining
access to an organisation's telephone switchboard (PBX) individuals or criminal
organizations can obtain access to dial-in/dial-out circuits and then make
their own calls or sell call time to third parties.
Additional
forms of service theft include capturing 'calling card' details and on-selling
calls charged to the calling card account, and counterfeiting or illicit
reprogramming of stored value telephone cards.
m.
Theft of computer system (Hardware):-
This type of
offence involves the theft of a computer, some part(s) of a computer or a
peripheral attached to the computer.
n.
Physically damaging a computer system:-
Physically
damaging a computer or its peripheralseither by shock, fire or excess electric
supply etc.
o.
Breach of Privacy and Confidentiality
Privacy
Privacy
refers to the right of an individual/s to determine when, how and to what
extent his or her personal data will be shared with others.
Breach of
privacy means unauthorized use or distribution or disclosure of personal
information like medical records, sexual preferences, financial status etc.
Confidentiality
It means non
disclosure of information to unauthorized or unwanted persons.
In addition
to Personal information some other type of information which useful for
business and leakage of such information to other persons may cause damage to
business or person, such information should be protected.
Generally
for protecting secrecy of such information, parties while sharing information
forms an agreement about he procedure of handling of information and to not to
disclose such information to third parties or use it in such a way that it will
be disclosed to third parties.
Many times
party or their employees leak such valuable information for monitory gains and
causes breach of contract of confidentiality.
Special
techniques such as Social Engineering are commonly used to obtain confidential
information.
Why
Cyberlaw in India ?
When Internet was developed, the founding fathers of Internet hardly had any
inclination that Internet could transform itself into an all pervading
revolution which could be misused for criminal activities and which required
regulation. Today, there are many disturbing things happening in cyberspace.
Due to the anonymous nature of the Internet, it is possible to engage into a
variety of criminal activities with impunity and people with intelligence, have
been grossly misusing this aspect of the Internet to perpetuate criminal
activities in cyberspace. Hence the need for Cyberlaws in India.
What is the importance
of Cyberlaw ?
Cyberlaw
is important because it touches almost all aspects of transactions and
activities on and concerning the Internet, the World Wide Web and Cyberspace.
Initially it may seem that Cyberlaws is a very technical field and that it does
not have any bearing to most activities in Cyberspace. But the actual truth is
that nothing could be further than the truth. Whether we realize it or not,
every action and every reaction in Cyberspace has some legal and Cyber legal
perspectives.
Does Cyberlaw concern me
?
Yes,
Cyberlaw does concern you. As the nature of Internet is changing and this new
medium is being seen as the ultimate medium ever evolved in human history,
every activity of yours in Cyberspace can and will have a Cyber legal
perspective. From the time you register your Domain Name, to the time you set
up your web site, to the time you promote your website, to the time when you
send and receive emails , to the time you conduct electronic commerce
transactions on the said site, at every point of time, there are various
Cyberlaw issues involved. You may not be bothered about these issues today
because you may feel that they are very distant from you and that they do not
have an impact on your Cyber activities. But sooner or later, you will have to
tighten your belts and take note of Cyberlaw for your own benefit.
Cyberlaw Awareness
program
Are
your electronic transactions legally binding and authentic? Are you verifying
your customers' identities to prevent identity theft? Does your online terms
and conditions have binding effect? Are you providing appropriate information
and clear steps for forming and concluding your online transactions? How are
you ensuring data protection and information security on your web site? Are you
recognising the rights of your data subjects?
Transacting
on the Internet has wide legal implications as it alters the conventional
methods of doing business. To build enduring relationships with your online
customers the legal issues of e-transactions need to be addressed from the
onset.
Advantages
of Cyber Laws
The IT Act 2000 attempts to change
outdated laws and provides ways to deal with cyber crimes. We need such laws so
that people can perform purchase transactions over the Net through credit cards
without fear of misuse. The Act offers the much-needed legal framework so that
information is not denied legal effect, validity or enforceability, solely on
the ground that it is in the form of electronic records.
In
view of the growth in transactions and communications carried out through
electronic records, the Act seeks to empower government departments to accept
filing, creating and retention of official documents in the digital format. The
Act has also proposed a legal framework for the authentication and origin of
electronic records / communications through digital signature.
*
From the perspective of e-commerce in India, the IT Act 2000 and its provisions
contain many positive aspects. Firstly, the implications of these provisions
for the e-businesses would be that email would now be a valid and legal form of
communication in our country that can be duly produced and approved in a court
of law.
*
Companies shall now be able to carry out electronic commerce using the legal
infrastructure provided by the Act.
*
Digital signatures have been given legal validity and sanction in the Act.
*
The Act throws open the doors for the entry of corporate companies in the
business of being Certifying Authorities for issuing Digital Signatures
Certificates.
*
The Act now allows Government to issue notification on the web thus heralding
e-governance.
*
The Act enables the companies to file any form, application or any other
document with any office, authority, body or agency owned or controlled by the
appropriate Government in electronic form by means of such electronic form as
may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.
*
The IT Act also addresses the important issues of security, which are so
critical to the success of electronic transactions. The Act has given a legal
definition to the concept of secure digital signatures that would be required
to have been passed through a system of a security procedure, as stipulated by
the Government at a later date.
*
Under the IT Act, 2000, it shall now be possible for corporates to have a
statutory remedy in case if anyone breaks into their computer systems or
network and cause loss.
Internet
Crime
Internet crime is crime committed on
the Internet, using the Internet and by means of the Internet.
Computer
crime is a general term that embraces such crimes as phishing, credit card
frauds, bank robbery, illegal downloading, industrial espionage, child
pornography, kidnapping children via chat rooms, scams, cyber terrorism,
creation and/or distribution of viruses, Spam and so on. All such crimes are
computer related and facilitated crimes.
With
the evolution of the Internet, along came another revolution of crime where the
perpetrators commit acts of crime and wrongdoing on the World Wide Web.
Internet crime takes many faces and is committed in diverse fashions. The
number of users and their diversity in their makeup has exposed the Internet to
everyone. Some criminals in the Internet have grown up understanding this
superhighway of information, unlike the older generation of users. This is why
Internet crime has now become a growing problem in the United States. Some
crimes committed on the Internet have been exposed to the world and some remain
a mystery up until they are perpetrated against someone or some company.
The
different types of Internet crime vary in their design and how easily they are
able to be committed. Internet crimes can be separated into two different
categories. There are crimes that are only committed while being on the
Internet and are created exclusively because of the World Wide Web. The typical
crimes in criminal history are now being brought to a whole different level of
innovation and ingenuity. Such new crimes devoted to the Internet are email
“phishing”, hijacking domain names, virus immistion, and cyber vandalism. A
couple of these crimes are activities that have been exposed and introduced
into the world. People have been trying to solve virus problems by installing
virus protection software and other software that can protect their computers.
Other crimes such as email “phishing” are not as known to the public until an
individual receives one of these fraudulent emails. These emails are cover
faced by the illusion that the email is from your bank or another bank. When a
person reads the email he/she is informed of a problem with he/she personal
account or another individual wants to send the person some of their money and
deposit it directly into their account. The email asks for your personal
account information and when a person gives this information away, they are
financing the work of a criminal
Phishing
Main article: Phishing
"Phishing"
is the act of attempting to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as
passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or
business with a real need for such information in a seemingly official
electronic notification or message (most often an email, or an instant
message). It is a form of social engineering attack.
The
term was coined in the mid 1990s by crackers attempting to steal AOL accounts.
An attacker would pose as an AOL staff member and send an instant message to a
potential victim. The message would ask the victim to reveal his or her
password, for instance to "verify your account" or to "confirm
billing information". Once the victim gave over the password, the attacker
could access the victim's account and use it for criminal purposes, such as
spamming.
Phishing
has been widely used by fraudsters using spam messages masquerading as large
banks (Citibank, Bank of America) or PayPal. These fraudsters can copy the code
and graphics from legitimate websites and use them on their own sites to create
a legitimate-looking scam web pages. They can also link to the graphics on the
legitimate sites to use on their own scam site. These pages are so well done
that most people cannot tell that they have navigated to a scam site.
Fraudsters will also put the text of a link to a legitimate site in an e-mail
but use the source code to links to own fake site. This can be revealed by
using the "view source" feature in the e-mail application to look at
the destination of the link or putting the cursor over the link and looking at
the code in the status bar of the browser. Although many people don't fall for
it, the small percentage of people that do fall for it, multiplied by the sheer
numbers of spam messages sent, presents the fraudster with a substantial
incentive to keep doing it.
Anti-phishing technologies are now
available.
Pharming
Pharming is the exploitation of a vulnerability in the DNS server software that
allows a hacker to acquire the domain name for a site, and to redirect that
website's traffic to another web site. DNS servers are the machines responsible
for resolving internet names into their real addresses - the
"signposts" of the internet.
If the web site receiving the
traffic is a fake web site, such as a copy of a bank's website, it can be used
to "phish" or steal a computer user's passwords, PIN or account
number. Note that this is only possible when the original site was not SSL
protected, or when the user is ignoring warnings about invalid server
certificates.
For example, in January 2005, the
domain name for a large New York ISP, Panix, was hijacked to a site in
Australia. In 2004 a German teenager hijacked the eBay.de domain name.
Secure
e-mail provider Hushmail was also caught by this attack on 24th of April 2005
when the attacker rang up the domain registrar and gained enough information to
redirect users to a defaced webpage.
Anti-pharming technologies are now
available.
