CYBER CRIMES AND LAWS

WHAT IS CYBER CRIME?

 Cybercrime is any criminal activity that involves a computer,
network or networked device.
 These include hacking, phishing, identity theft, ransomware,
and malware attacks, among many others.
 While most cybercriminals use cybercrimes to generate a
profit, some cybercrimes are carried out against computers
or devices to directly damage or disable them.
 A primary effect of cybercrime is financial.
 As cybercriminals might target an individual's private
information or corporate data for theft and resale.
 Cybercriminal activity can be carried out by individuals or groups with
relatively little technical skill or by highly organized global criminal
groups that could include skilled developers and others with relevant
expertise.

What exactly is cybercrime?

Cybercrime refers to illegal actions using computers or the internet. Some examples
of cybercrime include:

 Stealing and selling corporate data

 Demanding payment to prevent an attack
 Installing viruses on a targeted computer
 Hacking into government or corporate computers

Who are The Cybercriminals?

 A cybercriminal is a person who uses his skills in technology to do

malicious acts and illegal activities known as cybercrimes. They can be
individuals or teams.

 Cybercriminals are widely available in what is called the “Dark Web”

where they mostly provide their illegal services or products.

 Not every hacker is a cybercriminal because hacking itself is not

considered a crime as it can be used to reveal vulnerabilities to report
and batch them which is called a “white hat hacker”.
  However, hacking is considered a cybercrime when it has a malicious
purpose of conducting any harmful activities and we call this one “black
hat hacker” or a cyber-criminal.

 It is not necessary for cybercriminals to have any hacking skills as not

all cybercrimes include hacking.

Cyber Crimes Types

.
1. Phishing and Scam:
Phishing is a type of social engineering attack that targets the user and tricks
them by sending fake messages and emails to get sensitive information about
the user or trying to download malicious software and exploit it on the target
system.

2. Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when a cybercriminal uses another person’s personal
data like credit card numbers or personal pictures without their permission to
commit a fraud or a crime.

3. Ransomware Attack
Ransomware attacks are a very common type of cybercrime. It is a type of malware
that has the capability to prevent users from accessing all of their personal data on
the system by encrypting them and then asking for a ransom in order to give access
to the encrypted data.

4. Hacking/Misusing Computer Networks

This term refers to the crime of unauthorized access to private computers or
networks and misuse of it either by shutting it down or tampering with the data
stored or other illegal approaches.

5. Internet Fraud
Internet fraud is a type of cybercrimes that makes use of the internet and it
can be considered a general term that groups all of the crimes that happen
over the internet like spam, banking frauds, theft of service, etc.

Other Types of Cybercrime

Here are another 9 types of cybercrimes:

1. Cyber Bullying
It is also known as online or internet bullying. It includes sending or sharing
harmful and humiliating content about someone else which causes
embarrassment and can be a reason for the occurrence of psychological
problems. It became very common lately, especially among teenagers.

2. Cyber Stalking
Cyberstalking can be defined as unwanted persistent content from someone
targeting other individuals online with the aim of controlling and intimidating
like unwanted continued calls and messages.

3. Software Piracy
Software piracy is the illegal use or copy of paid software with violation of
copyrights or license restrictions.
Not only software can be pirated but also music, movies, or pictures.

4. Social Media Frauds

The use of social media fake accounts to perform any kind of harmful activities
like impersonating other users or sending intimidating or threatening
messages. And one of the easiest and most common social media frauds is
Email spam.

5. Online Drug Trafficking

With the big rise of cryptocurrency technology, it became easy to transfer
money in a secured private way and complete drug deals without drawing the
attention of law enforcement. This led to a rise in drug marketing on the
internet.

Illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin are commonly sold and traded online,
especially on what is known as the "Dark Web".

6. Electronic Money Laundering

Also known as transaction laundering. It is based on unknown companies or
online business that makes approvable payment methods and credit card
transactions but with incomplete or inconsistent payment information for
buying unknown products.

It is by far one of the most common and easy money laundering methods.

8. Cyber Extortion
Cyber extortion is the demand for money by cybercriminals to give back some
important data they've stolen or stop doing malicious activities such as denial
of service attacks.
9. Intellectual-property Infringements
It is the violation or breach of any protected intellectual-property rights such as
copyrights and industrial design.

9. Online Recruitment Fraud

One of the less common cybercrimes that are also growing to become more
popular is the fake job opportunities released by fake companies for the
purpose of obtaining a financial benefit from applicants or even making use of
their personal data.

How to Prevent Cybercrimes?

There are many tips and guidelines to protect yourself and your
environment from the risk of cybercrimes such as:
1. be sure that you are using up-to-date security software like antivirus
and firewalls.
2. Implement the best possible security settings and implementations for
your environment.

3. Don't browse untrusted websites and be careful when downloading

unknown files, and also be careful when viewing Email attachments.

4. Use strong authentication methods and keep your passwords as

strong as possible. You can find in this article tips on how to protect
your password.

5. Don’t share sensitive information online or on your social media

accounts.

6. Educate your children about the risks of internet usage and keep
monitoring their activities.

7. Always be ready to make an immediate reaction when falling victim to

cybercrimes by referring to the police.

Advanced Cybersecurity Systems to prevent cyber crime

Security Awareness Training
Many cyber-attacks result from human error, such as clicking on malicious
links or downloading virus-containing files. Security awareness training is
intended to help educate users on how to better identify, avoid, and
mitigate the threat of cyber-attacks. The most common forms of training are
computer-based awareness training and phishing simulated exercises
where employees receive fake phishing emails to test how they react.
Security awareness training helps organisations establish a security-
conscious culture, creating a more resilient network to protect against
cyber-attackers.

Data Backup and Recovery

Many forms of cyber-attacks can result in critical data loss, which can have
severe financial and operational repercussions for both individuals and
organisations. Data backup and recovery solutions can help mitigate the
damages from data loss by creating backup copies of data and ensuring a
faster recovery in the event of a ransomware attack, data breach, or
another form of cyber-attack. Regularly archiving data is an essential
security protocol to ensure that you can recover your data in the event of
an attack.

AI and ML Cyber Crime Protection

More advanced cyber crime prevention technologies now utilise machine
learning and artificial intelligence to gather and analyse data, track and
trace threats, pinpoint vulnerabilities, and respond to breaches. For
example, ML algorithms can detect and prevent fraud in financial
transactions by identifying patterns that indicate fraudulent activity and
flagging them for review. Similarly, AI technologies can detect and prevent
cyber-attacks on networks and systems by analysing network traffic,
identifying abnormal patterns, and responding to threats in real-time.

CHECKLIST FOR REPORTING CYBER-CRIME AT CYBERCRIME POLICE

STATION.
How to register a Cyber Crime Complaint?
The crime investigation team has been establishing many cybercrime cells in different
cities of India, taking care of the reports and investigations of the cybercrimes. At
present, most cities in India have a dedicated cyber crime cell. You can make a
complaint anytime to the cyber police or crime investigation department either offline or
online. In order to give punishment for cybercrime, the first & foremost step is to lodge
complaints against the crime. You need to file a written complaint with the cybercrime
cell of any jurisdiction. In the written complaint, you need to provide your name, contact
details, and address for mailing. You need to address the written complaint to the Head
of the cybercrime Cell of the city where you are filing the cyber-crime complaint.

According to the IT Act, a cybercrime comes under the purview of global jurisdiction
which means that a cybercrime complaint can be registered with any of the cyber cells in
India, irrespective of the place where it was originally committed or the place where the
victim is currently residing/ staying.

How to report an FIR for a Cyber Crime?

If you do not have access to any of the cyber cells in India, you can file a First
Information Report (FIR) at the local police station. In case your complaint is not
accepted there, you can approach the Commissioner or the city’s Judicial Magistrate.

Certain cybercrime offenses come under the IPC. You can register a cybercrime FIR at
the nearest local police station to report them. It is mandatory under Section 154 of
CrPC, for every police officer to record the information/complaint of an offense,
irrespective of the jurisdiction in which the crime was committed.

A written complaint, addressed to the Head of the cybercrime cell is to be

made with the following personal details:

 Name
 Contact information (phone number and email ID)
 Address
 Details regarding the crime (such as facts, dates, parties involved,
etc.)
 Documents (which depend upon the nature of cybercrime).

CHECKLIST FOR REPORTING CYBER-CRIME ONLINE.

How to file a Cyber Crime Complaint online?
 Click on the government website link https://cybercrime.gov.in/.

 The website can be used for three purposes for reporting a

cybercrime. These are:

1. For reporting crimes related to women and children,

2. For reporting other cybercrimes,
3. For tracking the complaint already filed.

STEP 1: Go to https://cyber crime.gov.in/Accept.aspx

STEP 2: Click on ‘Report other cyber crimes’ on the menu.

STEP 3: Click on ‘File a Complaint’.

STEP 4: Read the conditions and accept them.

Accept the terms by clicking on ‘I Accept’

STEP 5: Register your mobile number and fill in your name and State.

 After filling in the OTP, enter the captcha and submit the details.
STEP 6: Fill in the relevant details about the offence.

 After this the main form divided into four sections would open. Enter
all the details relating to the crime with supporting documents.
 Submit the form.

Please keep this information ready before filing your complaint:

Mandatory Information

1. Incident Date and Time.

2. Incident details (minimum 200 characters) without any special characters (#$@^*`’’~|!).
3. Soft copy of any national Id ( Voter Id, Driving license, Passport, PAN Card, Aadhar Card) of
complainant in .jpeg, .jpg, .png format (file size should not more than 5 MB).
4. In case of financial fraud, please keep following information ready:
i) Name of the Bank/ Wallet/Merchant
ii) 12-digit Transaction id/UTR No.
iii) Date of transaction
iv) Fraud amount
5. Soft copy of all the relevant evidences related to the cyber crime (not more than 10 MB each)

Optional/Desirable Information:

1. Suspected website URLs/ Social Media handles (wherever applicable)

2. Suspect Details (if available)
i) Mobile No
ii) Email id
iii) Bank Account No
iv) Address
v) Soft copy of photograph of suspect in .jpeg, .jpg, .png format (not more than 5 MB)
vi) Any other document through which suspect can be identified.

IDENTIFY PHISHING EMAILS

ANALYSE CYBERCRIME CASES AND IDENTIFY SECTION APPLICABLE(AS
PER IT ACT)

Punishments and fines for cyber offences

The following table summarises the extent to which a cybercriminal could be
punished or fined for the commission of the following offences:

Provision under the IT Name of the cyber

Punishment and fine
Act, 2000 offence

Section 65 Tampering with Imprisonment extending up to 3 years, or a fine of 2

computer source lakh rupees, or both.
 documents

Computer-related Imprisonment extending up to 3 years, or with a

Section 66
offences fine up to 5 lakh rupees, or with both.

Section 66A (declared Offensive messages

unconstitutional by through Imprisonment extending up to 3 years and with
the Shreya Singhal communication fine.
case) services

Dishonestly receiving
a computer resource Imprisonment up to 3 years, or with a fine up to 1
Section 66B
or communication lakh rupees, or both.
device

Imprisonment of either description extending up to

Section 66C Identity theft 3 years, and with a fine extending up to 1 lakh
rupees.

Cheating by
Imprisonment of either description extending up to
Section 66D personation by using a
3 years and, with a fine up to 1 lakh rupees
computer resource

Imprisonment extending up to 3 years, or with a

Section 66E Violation of privacy
fine up to 2 lakh rupees

Imprisonment which could extend up to

Section 66F Cyber terrorism
imprisonment for life.

On first conviction: imprisonment of either

description for a term that may extend to three
Publishing or
years and with a fine that may extend to five lakh
transmitting obscene
Section 67 rupees.On second conviction: conviction with
material in electronic
imprisonment of either description for a term which
form
may extend to five years and also with a fine which
may extend to ten lakh rupees.

On first conviction: imprisonment of either

Publishing or
description for a term that may extend to five years
transmitting material
and with a fine that may extend to ten lakh
Section 67A containing any
rupees.On second conviction: imprisonment of
sexually explicit act,
either description for a term which may extend to
etc.
seven years and also with a fine which may extend
to ten lakh rupees.
 Breach of
Imprisonment extending up to 2 years, or a fine up
Section 72 confidentiality and
to 1 lakh rupees.
privacy

DATA PROTECTION LAWS IN INDIA