CYBERCRIME:

Cyber-crimes are crimes that involve criminal activities done through cyberspace
by devices connected to the internet.

Almost all cybercrimes can be classified under three heads, depending on the
groups they are targeted at. The heads are:

 cybercrimes against individuals,

 cybercrimes against organizations, and
 cybercrimes against society at large.

Cyber-crimes against individuals:

The following are some of the main cyber-crimes committed targeting individuals.

Cyberbullying
The term cyberbullying is not defined under any Indian law. However, in general
parlance, cyberbullying refers to bullying someone by threatening, harassing or
embarrassing the victim using technology digital device.

Cyberstalking
Browsing anyone’s internet history or online activity, and sending obscene content
online with the help of any social media, software, application, etc. to know about
that particular person is called cyberstalking.

Cyber defamation
Cyber defamation means injuring the other person’s reputation via the internet
through social media, Emails etc. There are two types of Cyber defamation: libel
and slander.

 Libel: It refers to any defamatory statement which is in written form. For

instance, writing defamatory comments on posts
 Slander: It refers to any defamatory statement published in oral form. For
instance, uploading videos defaming

Phishing
Phishing refers to the fraudulent practice of sending emails under the pretext of
reputable companies to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as
passwords, credit card numbers, etc., online.

Cyber fraud
As the name suggests, cyber fraud refers to any act of fraud committed with the
use of a computer. Any person who dishonestly uses the internet to illegal deceive
people and gets personal data, communication, etc. with a motive to make money
is called a cyber fraud.

Cyber theft
Cyber theft is a type of cybercrime which involves the unauthorized access of
personal or other information of people by using the internet. The main motive of
the cyber criminals who commit cyber theft is to gather confidential data like
passwords, images, phone numbers, etc. and use it as leverage to demand a
lumpsum amount of money.

Spyware
Spyware is a type of malware or malicious software, when it is installed it starts
accessing and computing the other person’s device without the end user’s
knowledge. The primary goal of this software is to steal credit card numbers,
passwords, One-Time Passwords (OTPs), etc.

Cyber-crimes against organizations

Attacks by virus
A computer virus is a kind of malware which connects itself to another computer
program and can replicate and expand when any person attempts to run it on their
computer system. For example, the opening of unknown attachments received from
malicious emails may lead to the automatic installation of the virus on the system
in which it is opened.

Salami attack
It is one of the tactics to steal money, which means the hacker steals the money in
small amounts. The damage done is so minor that it is unnoticed. Generally, there
are two types of Salami attacks- Salami slicing and Penny shaving. In Salami slicing,
the attacker uses an online database to obtain customer information, such as
bank/credit card details. Over time, the attacker deducts insignificant amounts from
each account. These sums naturally add up to large sums of money taken from the
joint accounts invisibly.

Web Jacking
Web Jacking refers to the illegal redirection of a user’s browser from a trusted
domain’s page to a fake domain without the user’s consent. By using the method of
Web Jacking, people visiting any well-known or reliable website can be easily
redirected to bogus websites, which in turn lead to the installation of malware, leak
of personal data, etc. Web jackers intend to illegally collect confidential information
of users by enticing them to click on any link which may seem genuine at the first
glance.

Denial of Service Attack

Denial of Service Attack or DoS, is a cyber attack on computer devices or systems,
preventing the legal users or accessors of the system from accessing them. The
attackers generally attack systems in such a manner by trafficking the targeted
system until it ultimately crashes. DoS attacks cost millions of dollars to the
corporate world, as it curbs them from using their own systems and carrying out
their activities. The attack may be also used to incorporate ransomware into
corporate systems.

Data diddling
Data diddling is a cyber crime which involves the unauthorized alteration of data
entries on a computer. It may be done either before or during the entry of such
data. It is generally committed by way of computer virus attacks. At times, to
conceal the alteration, the altered data is changed to its original data after
retrieving the required information. Usually, the strategic or statistical data of large
companies.

Cyber crimes against society at large

Cyber pornography
Pornography is the depiction of erotic behaviour (as in pictures or writing) intended
to cause sexual excitement. Accordingly, cyber pornography refers to using the
internet to display, distribute, import, or publish pornography or obscene materials.

Cyber terrorism
Cyber terrorism means using cyberspace to hurt the general public and damage the
integrity and sovereignty of any country.

Cyber Espionage
Espionage is “the practice of spying or using spies to obtain information about the
plans and activities especially of a foreign government or a competing company.”
Similarly, cyber espionage refers to the unauthorized accessing of sensitive data or
intellectual property for economic, or political reasons. It is also called ‘cyber
spying’.

Generally, the following data are gathered through cyber espionage:

 Military data
 Academic research-related data
  Intellectual property
 Politically strategic data, etc.

Challenges of Cyber Crime:

1. People are unaware of their cyber rights-

The Cybercrime usually happen with illiterate people around the world
who are unaware about their cyber rights implemented by the government
of that particular country.

2. Anonymity-
Those who Commit cyber crime are anonymous for us so we cannot do
anything to that person.

3. Less numbers of case registered-

Every country in the world faces the challenge of cyber crime and the rate
of cyber crime is increasing day by day because the people who even
don’t register a case of cyber crime and this is major challenge for us as
well as for authorities as well.

4. Mostly committed by well educated people-

Committing a cyber crime is not a cup of tea for every individual. The
person who commits cyber crime is a very technical person so he knows
how to commit the crime and not get caught by the authorities.

5. No harsh punishment-
In Cyber crime there is no harsh punishment in every cases. But there is
harsh punishment in some cases like when somebody commits cyber
terrorism in that case there is harsh punishment for that individual. But in
other cases there is no harsh punishment so this factor also gives
encouragement to that person who commits cyber crime.

Prevention of Cyber Crime:

Below are some points by means of which we can prevent cyber crime:
1. Use strong password –
Maintain different password and username combinations for each account
and resist the temptation to write them down. Weak passwords can be
easily cracked using certain attacking methods like Brute force attack,
Rainbow table attack etc, So make them complex. That means
combination of letters, numbers and special characters.

2. Use trusted antivirus in devices –

Always use trustworthy and highly advanced antivirus software in mobile
 and personal computers. This leads to the prevention of different virus
attack on devices.

3. Keep social media private –

Always keep your social media accounts data privacy only to your friends.
Also make sure only to make friends who are known to you.

4. Keep your device software updated –

Whenever you get the updates of the system software update it at the
same time because sometimes the previous version can be easily
attacked.

5. Use secure network –

Public Wi-Fi are vulnerable. Avoid conducting financial or corporate
transactions on these networks.

6. Never open attachments in spam emails –

A computer get infected by malware attacks and other forms of
cybercrime is via email attachments in spam emails. Never open an
attachment from a sender you do not know.
7. Software should be updated – Operating system should be updated
regularly when it comes to internet security. This can become a potential
threat when cybercriminals exploit flaws in the system.