CYBERCRIMES
INTRODUCTION
Origin of Cybercrime
Experts think that the 1834 breach was the first cyberattack in history, even though the internet is just about 30 years old. Data theft was carried out by two thieves who broke into the French Telegraph System and acquired access to the financial markets.When email first became popular in the 1980s, viruses and phishing techniques were sent through attachments. Similar to computer viruses, web browsers had been widely used by the 1990s. The widespread usage of social media in the 2000s only made cybercrime, especially data theft, worse due to the nature of these platforms. Over the past ten years, there has been a sharp increase in malware infections and data theft, and these trends don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Types of Cybercrimes
Theft via cyberspace: Cyber theft is a type of cybercrime that involves someone breaking into the system of another person or business with the intention of stealing money, confidential data, financial information, or proprietary information. Two instances of fraudulent crimes that might be included in the category of cyber theft are identity theft and embezzlement.
Cyberbullying: cyberbullying is the term used to describe bullying someone online. Any threat to an individual’s safety, coercion to say or do anything, and displays of hate or hostility directed against another person are all considered forms of cyberbullying.
Malware: Any software application designed to compromise or damage a device is referred to as malware. One kind of software that is included in the malware category is viruses. Once viruses get into a device, they can create a variety of issues. They might destroy your data in various ways, such erasing your disk drive, recording your keystrokes, or deleting files.
Phishing: Phishing happens when fraudsters act as an organisation in order to dupe victims into disclosing important information. Scare techniques, such as notifying the victim that their bank account or personal device is under assault, are frequently used by cybercriminals to effectively fulfil their phishing aims.
Cybercrime in India
In 2018, a cyber-attack on the Cosmos bank in Pune startled the whole banking industry. Hackers stole Rs 94.42 crore by breaking into the bank’s ATM server and stealing the personal information of numerous debit cardholders. Money was stolen, and hackers from 28 nations promptly withdrew it.
Pegasus spyware is a type of malicious software that infiltrates a device, collects data, and then sends it to a third-party provider without the user’s permission. NSO Group, an Israeli cyber weaponry company, designed it. It mostly needed links to function. When a consumer clicks on one of these links, Pegasus is instantly installed on their phone. According to the Indian news portal The Wire, a leaked global database of 50,000 telephone numbers alleged to have been provided by different government clients of NSO Group includes over 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers, including those used by ministers, opposition leaders, journalists, the legal community, businesses, government employees, scientists, rights activists, and others.
Cyber Crime legislation and agencies
To combat the threat posed by cybercriminals, the government created the Information Technology Act of 2000, the primary goal of which is to provide an enabling environment for successful internet use as well as to report cyber crime in India.
Some of the sections related to Cybercrime are :
Section 43 – This section applies to those who destroy computer systems without the owner’s authorization. In such instances, the owner is entitled to full recompense for the total loss.
Section 66 – This section applies if a person is determined to have committed any of the acts listed in section 43 dishonestly or fraudulently. In such cases, the penalty might be up to three years in prison or a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh.
Section 66B – Incorporates the penalties for obtaining stolen communication devices or computers in a dishonest manner, which affirms a possible three-year sentence. Depending on the severity, this sentence might also be followed by a fine of Rs. 1 lakh.
Section 66C – This section looks at identity thefts including impostor digital signatures, password hacking, and other unique identifying elements. If found guilty, a three-year sentence could be accompanied by a fine of Rs.1 lakh.
Section 66 D – This section was added on the spot to focus on penalising cheaters who use computer resources to impersonate others.
Cybercrime and cybersecurity
The Indian Penal Code was also updated to encompass crimes such as fraud, forgery, theft, and other similar offences committed through the internet or through electronic media.
As the whole thing connects to the internet we emerge as increasingly more liable to cybercrime. In February, the sector observed out that the Cabana criminal organization had stolen up to INR 64, 15, 50,000 /- from banks round the arena during the last two years, hacking into their systems, transferring cash out, and having bank ATMs mechanically dispense cash that they then picked up from the machines.
Inside the beyond decade, advances in communications technology and the “informatization” of society have converged as never earlier than in human records. This has given upward push to the industrialization of a type of crime where the commodity—private records—actions always too quick for traditional regulation enforcement techniques to keep tempo.
The extraordinary scale of the problem threatens the ability of the authorities to reply—with more than a hundred and fifty,000 viruses and other varieties of malicious code in international stream and 148,000 computer systems compromised in step with day. At the equal time, the authorities have greater records on crook hobby at their disposal than ever before and also have an opportunity to harness this information in ways that make intelligence improvement and research greater streamlined and cost-powerful.
Analysis
Cybercrime may start everywhere there is digital data, opportunity, or motivation. From a lone user engaging in cyberbullying to state-sponsored attackers, cybercriminals come in many shapes and sizes. Cybercrime does not happen in a vacuum; it is, in many respects, a dispersed phenomenon. That is, hackers frequently enlist the help of other parties to execute their schemes.
Conclusion
Cyber laws in India and throughout the world need to be updated and improved all the time as people become more dependent on technology. The pandemic has also forced a significant percentage of workers to work remotely, which has increased the demand for app security. To stay ahead of the imposters and halt them in their tracks, legislators need to go above and beyond. Cybercrime can be controlled, but only with the cooperation of governments, Internet or network service providers, middlemen like banks and online retailers, and most importantly, the general public.
Author: Akshita Krishna, a student of Lloyd Law College
