Categories: Frauds Scams And Prevention

Cyber Crime Or Computer Oriented Crime

Digital world creates conditions where nothing remains confidential or secret.’ Has the present world really reached a state where nothing is hidden? If we look carefully, yes, to a great extent this situation has come today. The Internet has crossed the boundaries of the entire world and made the knowledge, information and communication revolution available to all individuals. It is noteworthy that due to the expansion of knowledge and expression, facilities have also expanded, but due to distorted mentalities, cases related to misuse of this system are coming to light every day. At present, cyber crime has become a topic of discussion in almost all international level conferences.

In today’s time, Internet has become the biggest medium of time saving because the cost of doing any work is less than half. The Internet has provided discipline, manners and certainty to our lives, but at the same time a rich world of crime is flourishing on the Internet today. Trolling, information and identity theft, sexual crimes, pornography, virus attacks etc. are the main components of this criminal world.

Cyber Crimes Can Be Classified In Two Ways

Computer as a target (using a computer to attack other computers) such as hacking, virus attack, DOS attack, etc. Computer as a weapon i.e., cyber terrorism, violation of intellectual property rights, credit card fraud, dissemination of obscenity etc.

Cyber crime is an illegal act in which information technology or computers are used. The progress made in information technology has also opened the way for new possibilities in the field of criminal activities. Cyber laws have also been made to deal with such crimes.

Various Functions Covered Under Cyber Crime

Unauthorized access and hacking:

Entering any computer or computer network without permission is called unauthorized access or hacking. These types of actions are usually seen in the context of financial crimes. Some examples are as follows-

Transferring money from the account of account holders of a bank to another account.
Stealing and misusing a person’s credit card information.
Converting a website component in an unauthorized manner.

In the context of India, hacking related procedures have illegal status and there is a provision for punishment under the Information Technology Act, 2008.

Data theft: Copying or sharing the data of an organization or person or computer network of an unauthorized person without taking permission is considered a data theft crime.

Spread of computer virus: Getting a program to enter a computer without the permission of a computer or computer network comes under the category of spreading computer virus. Usually the function of a virus program is to destroy someone else’s computer data. For example, changing the data through the entry of a virus into the computer of an airline can create a possibility of a plane crashing.

Identity theft: Working on a computer network by stealing the identity of another person comes under the category of this crime or committing fraud or fraud in the name of that person by hiding one’s identity on the computer network and exposing oneself in the name of another person.

Trojan Attack: Trojan programs are programs that appear useful but cause damage to a computer or computer network.

Thus, cyber crime includes such illegal activities which target other computers by using computer systems as weapons. At present, through cyber crime, apart from trespassing on a person’s privacy through social networking, money is extorted from him by sharing his confidential information. Through cyber war, one country destroys the computer network of another country or challenges the sovereignty of the nation by acquiring strategically important information. While the US and Israel used cyber technology against Iran’s nuclear program in the year 2009, the hacking by the Russian government came to light in the US presidential election held in 2016. That much talked about case of hacking had emerged as a matter of warning to the entire world. However, it is not within the power of any one country to curb this problem. This is a global problem and its solution can be found only at the global level.

The point to consider is that India has emerged as a suitable place for such attacks due to its diversity. The development of cyber security system in India is still in its infancy. At a time where our country is rapidly moving towards ‘digitization’, the threat of cyber security is also increasing. The problem of violation of privacy on the Internet is also becoming serious in India. The attack on countries of the world including India by a computer virus like ‘ransomware’ is probably considered to be the biggest cyber attack in the history till date.

Therefore, in the present era of digital and information-communication technology, when the use of Internet is increasing, there is a need for a better ‘cyber security ’ in these circumstances. Cyber security means protecting cyber space from economic espionage like attack, damage, misuse etc. In view of the increasing diversity and depth of cyber crimes, all nations should together try to move towards the solution of this problem, because in the era of globalization, information and communication technology, a proper solution to this problem can be found only with the coordinated efforts of all nations. can be found. In the same direction, in 2004, a conference was organized to stop unwanted cyber activities from ‘Budapest’. The main objective of this conference was to formulate a general policy to provide security to the society from cyber crime. It mentions some special powers and procedures, which include discovery and prevention of harmful computer networks. In view of the increasing number of cyber attacks in India too, efforts have been made in this direction from time to time, such as Information Technology (Amendment) Act-2008, India’s new Cyber Policy-2013, an institute for cyber security by the Department of Information Technology ‘cert in’ etc. Provision has been made.

Cyber crime is a serious and complex problem in the digitalizing world. Hackers often break into only those computer networks whose security network is weak. Therefore, building a technologically strong network while upgrading technology should be our primary need. For this, cyber crimes can be prevented by using IT technologies, biometric technology system etc. ‘cyber insurance’ can be a better effort under the economic side of cyber security.

Today, when the Internet revolution has entered its fifth generation, if we overcome the challenge of cyber attacks and succeed in making the Internet secure and reliable, then this information revolution will definitely prove to be a boon for us.

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