PROJECT ON- CYBER CRIMES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION TO CYBER CRIME…………………………………… (5)

 Defining cybercrimes………………………………………………… (6)

CHAPTER-2

CYBER ASSAULT & CYBERCRIMES IN THIS PRESENT SCENARIO. (10)

CHAPTER-3

The Information Technology Act, 2000……………………………………….. (10)

CHAPTER-4

CYBERTERRORISM
 Example
 Effects of Cyber-Terrorism…………………………………………….. (12)

CHAPTER-4

Cyberspace………………………………………………………………………. (14)

Chapter-5

Cyber Theft And The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885……………………………. (16)

Chapter-6

Computing And Technology…………………………………………………....... (16)

CHAPTER-7
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….... (17)

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PROJECT ON- CYBER CRIMES

A Project on

Legal Language

TOPIC - “Cyber crime”

Submitted to: Prof: Ritu Sharma

(Faculty of Legal Language)

Submitted by: Kunwar Aditya Singh

Roll No.30
IInd Semester

Date of Submission: 15th, march, 08

________________________________

Hidayatullah National Law University

Raipur (C.G).

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Acknowledgement

For the completion of this project, i.e. “Cyber crime” the Researcher wants to express his
gratitude all those who helped him in this work. Various people, both teachers and senior
students have contributed in multitude of ways to this project.

The Researcher would like to thank especially Prof. Ritu sharma, for his most
illuminative suggestions and the guidance provided by him. It would be no exaggeration
to say that without his help and guidance, this project would not have seen the light of the
day.

The Researcher also extends his thanks to all the others special his friends for their
support and the cooperation and blessings of the parents, due to which the researcher has
been able to complete the project.

Thanking you
KUNWAR ADITYA SINGH

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The method of research opted by me to complete this project was mainly based on
electronic and doctrinal in nature. Major part of my project has been completed by the
Books, Internet and other materials from the library of Hidayatullah National Law
University were also helpful to me for completion of my project.

CYBER CRIME

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INTRODUCTION TO CYBER CRIME

cyber crime also known as  computer crime  the use of a computer as an

instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child
pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy.
cybercrime, especially through the internet, has grown in importance as the
computer has become central to commerce, entertainment, and government.

because of the early and widespread adoption of computers and the internet in
the united states, most of the earliest victims and villains of cybercrime were
americans. By the 21st century, though, hardly a hamlet remained anywhere in
the world that had not been touched by cybercrime of one sort or another.

Defining cybercrimes

New technologies create new criminal opportunities but few new types of
crime. what distinguishes cybercrime from traditional criminal activity?
obviously, one difference is the use of the digital computer, but technology
alone is insufficient for any distinction that might exist between different
realms of criminal activity. criminals do not need a computer to commit fraud,
traffic in child pornography and intellectual property, steal an identity, or
violate someone's privacy. all those activities existed before the “cyber” prefix
became ubiquitous. cybercrime, especially involving the internet, represents
an extension of existing criminal behaviour alongside some novel illegal
activities.

most cybercrime is an attack on information about individuals, corporations, or

governments. although the attacks do not take place on a physical body, they

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do take place on the personal or corporate virtual body, which is the set of
informational attributes that define people and institutions on the internet. in
other words, in the digital age our virtual identities are essential elements of
everyday life: we are a bundle of numbers and identifiers in multiple computer
databases owned by governments and corporations. cybercrime highlights the
centrality of networked computers in our lives, as well as the fragility of such
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seemingly solid facts as individual identity.

An important aspect of cybercrime is its nonlocal character: actions can occur

in jurisdictions separated by vast distances. this poses severe problems for law
enforcement since previously local or even national crimes now require
international cooperation. for example, if a person accesses child pornography
located on a computer in a country that does not ban child pornography, is that
individual committing a crime in a nation where such materials are illegal?
where exactly does cybercrime take place? cyberspace is simply a richer
version of the space where a telephone conversation takes place, somewhere
between the two people having the conversation. as a planet-spanning
network, the internet offers criminals multiple hiding places in the real world
as well as in the network itself. however, just as individuals walking on the
ground leave marks that a skilled tracker can follow, cybercriminals leave clues
as to their identity and location, despite their best efforts to cover their
tracks. in order to follow such clues across national boundaries, though,
international cybercrime treaties must be ratified.

in 1996 the council of europe, together with government representatives from

the united states, canada, and japan, drafted a preliminary international
treaty covering computer crime. around the world, civil libertarian groups
immediately protested provisions in the treaty requiring internet service
providers (isps) to store information on their customers' transactions and to
turn this information over on demand. work on the treaty proceeded

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WWW.WIKIPEDIA.CO.IN

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nevertheless, and on november 23, 2001, the council of europe cybercrime

convention was signed by 30 states. additional protocols, covering terrorist
activities and racist and xenophobic cybercrimes, were proposed in 2002. in
addition, various national laws, such as the usa patriot act of 2001, have
expanded law enforcement's power to monitor and protect computer networks.

CYBER ASSAULT & CYBERCRIMES IN THIS PRESENT

SCENARIO
 
Internet usage has significantly increased over the past few years. The number of data
packets which flowed through the Internet increased from 153 million in 1988 to 60,587
million in 1994 and the number of host computers increased from 235 in 1982 to 3.2
million in 1994. According to International Data Corporation ("IDC"), approximately
233.3 million devices are estimated to be connected to the Internet by this present year
2000 versus approximately 12.6 million devices in 1995. IDC also estimates that
approximately 163 million individuals or entities will use the Internet by the year 2000 as
opposed to 16.1 million in 1995. If left to its own measure, it is highly unlikely that such
a trend can reverse itself.
 
Given the present growth rate of Internet and the ever changing scenario, numerous legal
issues arise. One of the most important issues concerning cyberspace today is that of
Cybercrimes.2
 
When Internet was developed, the founding fathers of Internet hardly had any inclination
that Internet could also be misused for criminal activities. Today, there are many
disturbing things happening in cyberspace. Cybercrime refers to all the activities done
with criminal intent in cyberspace. These could be either the criminal activities in the
conventional sense or could be activities, newly evolved with the growth of the new
medium. Because of 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.

2
Reffer Pavan Dugal,Cyberlaw-The Indian Perspective ,Reprint Second Edition

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The field of Cybercrime is just emerging and new forms of criminal activities in
cyberspace are coming to the forefront with the passing of each new day.
 
There can be no one exhaustive definition about Cybercrime. However, any activities
which basically offend human sensibilities, can also be included in its ambit. Child
Pornography on the Internet constitutes one serious Cybercrime. Similarly, online
pedophiles, using internet to induce minor children into sex, are as much Cybercriminals
as any other.
 
Cybercrimes can be basically divided into 3 major categories being Cybercrimes against
persons, property and Government.
 
Cybercrimes committed against persons include various crimes like transmission of
child-pornography, harassment of any one with the use of a computer such as e-mail, and
cyber-stalking.
 
The trafficking, distribution, posting, and dissemination of obscene material including
pornography, indecent exposure, and child pornography, constitutes one of the most
important Cybercrimes known today. The potential harm of such a crime to humanity can
hardly be overstated. This is one Cybercrime which threatens to undermine the growth of
the younger generation as also leave irreparable scars and injury on the younger
generation, if not controlled.
 
Similarly, Cyber harassment is a distinct Cybercrime. Various kinds of harassment can
and does occur in cyberspace, or through the use of cyberspace. Harassment can be
sexual, racial, religious  or other. Persons perpetuating such harassment are also guilty of
cybercrimes. Cyber harassment as a crime also brings us to another related area of
violation of privacy of netizens. Violation of privacy of online citizens is a Cybercrime of
a grave nature. No one likes any other person invading the precious and extremely touchy
area of his or her own privacy which the medium of internet grants to the citizens.
 

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Another Cybercrimes against persons is that of Cyber stalking. The Internet is a

wonderful place to work, play and study. The Net is no more and no less than a mirror of
the real world, and that means it also contains electronic versions of real life problems.
Stalking and harassments are problems that many persons especially women, are familiar
with in real life. These problems also occur on the Internet, in what has become know as
"Cyber stalking" or "on-line harassment".
 
The second category of Cybercrimes is that of Cybercrimes against all forms of property.
These crimes include unauthorized computer trespassing through cyberspace, computer
vandalism, transmission of harmful programs, and unauthorized possession of
computerized information.
The  trafficking,  distribution,  posting,  and  dissemination  of  obscene material
including pornography,  indecent  exposure,  and  child  pornography,  constitutes one of
the most important Cybercrimes known today. The potential harm of such a crime to
humanity can hardly be overstated. This is one Cybercrimes which threatens to
undermine the growth of  the  younger  generation as   also  leave   irreparable   scars 
and  injury  on  the   younger generation, if not controlled.
As well as stealing the significant information, data, A/c no credit card number transmit
the data from one place to another. Hacking and cracking are amongst the gravest
Cybercrimes known till date. It is a dreadful feeling  to  know  that  someone  has 
broken  into  your  computer  systems  without  your knowledge and consent and has
tampered with precious confidential data and  information. Coupled with this, the
actuality is that no computer system in the world is hacking  proof. It is unanimously
agreed that any and every system in the world  can be hacked. Using  one's own 
programming  abilities  as  also  various   programmes  with  malicious   intent  to gain
unauthorized  access to  a  computer  or network  are  very  serious crimes.  Similarly, 
the creation  and   dissemination of harmful computer programs or  virii  which  do 
irreparable damage to  computer systems is  another  kind of    Cybercrime.   Software
piracy  is  also another distinct  kind of Cybercrime which  is  perpetuated  by  many 
people  online  who distribute illegal and unauthorised pirated copies of software. The

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third   category of   Cybercrimes relate to Cybercrimes  against  Government.  Cyber

Terrorism  is  one distinct kind of crime in this category.

The Information Technology Act, 2000, there are still several grey areas
that exist within the law. "The IT Act, 2000, is primarily meant to be a legislation
to promote e-commerce. It is not very effective in dealing with several emerging
cyber crimes like cyber harassment, defamation, stalking and so on."

Cases of spam, hacking, cyber stalking and email fraud are rampant and,
although cyber crimes cells have been set up in major cities, Duggal believes the
problem is that most cases remain unreported due to a lack of aware

CYBERTERRORISM

As the Internet becomes more pervasive in all areas of human endeavor, individuals or
groups can use the anonymity afforded by cyberspace to threaten citizens, specific groups
(i.e. with membership based on ethnicity or belief), communities and entire countries,
without the inherent threat of capture, injury, or death to the attacker that being physically
present would bring.
As the Internet continues to expand, and computer systems continue to be assigned more
responsibility while becoming more and more complex and interdependent, sabotage or
terrorism via cyberspace may become a more serious threat.3
Cyber-terrorism is the leveraging of a target's computers and information technology,
particularly via the Internet, to cause physical, real-world harm or severe disruption of
infrastructure.
The basic definition of Cyber-Terrorism

3
refer ian Walden,computer crimes and investigations,publication:oxford university press

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.subsumed over time to encompass such things as simply defacing a web site or server, or
attacking non-critical systems, resulting in the term becoming less useful...
There is also a train of thought that says Cyberterrorism does not exist and is really a
matter of hacking or information warfare. Some disagree with labeling it terrorism proper
because of the unlikelihood of the creation of fear of significant physical harm or death in
a population using electronic means, considering current attack and protective
technologies.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan organization of
legislators and their staff created to help policymakers of all 50 states address vital issues
such as those affecting the economy or homeland security by providing them with a
forum for exchanging ideas, sharing research and obtaining technical assistance defines
Cyberterrorism as follows:
the use of information technology by terrorist groups and individuals to further their
agenda. This can include use of information technology to organize and execute attacks
against networks, computer systems and telecommunications infrastructures, or for
exchanging information or making threats electronically. Examples are hacking into
computer systems, introducing viruses to vulnerable networks, web site defacing, denial-
of-service attacks, or terroristic threats made via electronic communication.
Background Information and examples of cyberterrorism4
Public interest in cyber-terrorism began in the late 1980s. As the year 2000 approached,
the fear and uncertainty about the millennium bug heightened and interest in potential
cyberterrorist attacks also increased. The high profile terrorist attacks in the United States
on September 11, 2001 lead to further media coverage of the potential threats of
cyberterrorism in the years following. Mainstream media coverage often discusses the
possibility of a large attack making use of computer networks to sabotage critical
infrastructures with the aim of putting human lives in jeopardy or causing disruption on a
national scale either directly or by disruption of the national economy.

Example

4
Refer Cyber Millennium Challenges And Opportunities,A.P.H.Publishing Corporation

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More recently, in May 2007 Estonia was subjected to a mass cyber-attack in the wake of
the removal of a Russian World War II war memorial from downtown Estonia. The
attack was a distributed denial of service attack in which selected sites were bombarded
with traffic in order to force them offline; nearly all Estonian government ministry
networks as well as two major Estonian bank networks were knocked offline; in addition,
the political party website of Estonia's current Prime Minister Andrus Ansip featured a
counterfeit letter of apology from Ansip for removing the memorial statue. Despite
speculation that the attack had been coordinated by the Russian government, Estonia's
defense minister admitted he had no evidence linking cyber attacks to Russian
authorities. Russia called accusations of its involvement "unfounded," and neither NATO
nor European Commission experts were able to find any proof of official Russian
government participation. In January 2008 a man from Estonia was convicted for
launching the attacks against the Estonian Reform Party website and fined.
In October 2007, the website of Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko was attacked by
hackers. A radical Russian nationalist youth group, the Eurasian Youth Movement,
claimed responsibility.

Effects of Cyber-Terrorism

Cyberterrorism can have a serious large-scale influence on significant numbers of people.

It can weaken countries' economy greatly, thereby stripping the it of its resources and
making it more vulnerable to military attack.
Cyberterror can also affect internet-based businesses. Like brick and mortar retailers and
service providers, most websites that produce income (whether by advertising, monetary
exchange for goods or paid services) could stand to lose money in the event of downtime
created by cyber criminals.
As internet-businesses have increasing economic importance to countries, what is
normally cybercrime becomes more political and therefore "terror" related.

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CYBERSPACE

As the cases of cybercrime grows, there is a growing need to prevent them.

Cyberspace belongs to everyone. There should be electronic surveillance which
means investigators tracking down hackers often want to monitor a cracker as he
breaks into a victim's computer system. The two basic laws governing real-time
electronic surveillance in other criminal investigations also apply in this context,
search warrants which means that search warrants may be obtained to gain
access to the premises where the cracker is believed to have evidence of the
crime. Such evidence would include the computer used to commit the crime, as
well as the software used to gain unauthorised access and other evidence of the
crime.

There should also be analysing evidence from a cracker's computer by the

officials investigating the crime. A seized computer may be examined by a
forensic computer examiner to determine what evidence of the crime exists on
the computer.

Researchers must explore the problems in greater detail to learn the origins,
methods, and motivations of this growing criminal group. Decision-makers in
business, government, and law enforcement must react to this emerging body of
knowledge. They must develop policies, methods, and regulations to detect
incursions, investigate and prosecute the perpetrators, and prevent future crimes.
In addition, Police Departments should immediately take steps to protect their
own information systems from intrusions.
Internet provides anonymity: This is one of the reasons why criminals try to get
away easily when caught and also give them a chance to commit the crime
again. Therefore, we users should be careful. We should not disclose any
personal information on the internet or use credit cards and if we find anything
suspicious in e-mails or if the system is hacked, it should be immediately

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reported to the Police officials who investigate cyber-crimes rather than trying to
fix the problem by ourselves.Computer crime is a multi-billion dollar problem. Law
enforcement must seek ways to keep the drawbacks from overshadowing the
great promise of the computer age. Cybercrime is a menace that has to be
tackled effectively not only by the official but also by the users by co-operating
with the law. The founding fathers of internet wanted it to be a boon to the whole
world and it is upon us to keep this tool of modernisation as a boon and not make
it a bane to the society.

CYBER THEFT AND THE INDIAN TELEGRAPH ACT, 1885

The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 was enacted 115 years back with the main object being
"to give power to the Government and to any company or person licensed under section 4
of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1876, and specially empowered in this behalf, to place
telegraph lines under or over property belonging whether to private persons or to public
bodies." The preamble of the Telegraph Act says that it is an act to amend to the law
relating to telegraphs in India. 

Section 3 of the Indian Telegraph Act defines telegraph in the following words :-
"telegraph" means any appliance, instrument, material or apparatus used or capable of use
for transmission or reception of signs, signals; writing, images and sounds or intelligence
of any nature by wire, visual or other electro-magnetic emissions, Radio waves or
Hertzian waves, galvanic, electric or magnetic means. 

Section 25 of the Telegraph Act, which has been alleged to have been invoked in India's
first Cyber trial, talks of intentionally damaging or tampering with telegraphs. The said
section says - "If any person, intending - (a) to prevent or obstruct the transmission or
delivery of any message, or (b) to intercept or to acquaint himself with the contents of
any message, or (c) to commit mischief,
damages, removes, tampers with or touches any battery, machinery, telegraph line post or

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other thing whatever, being part of or used in or about any telegraph or in the working
thereof, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three
years, or with fine, or with both."

The definition of telegraph, though loosely defined, yet cannot be so much stretched so as
to include Internet and Cyberspace within its ambit. In any case, in today's scenario,
telegraph and Internet are two separate concepts, each having their own separate meaning
and implications. In case, if we endeavour to include Internet within the definition of
telegraph, the same shall be an extremely dangerous exercise5. 

Also, it will be very difficult to bring the cyber crime of stealing of Internet hours or for
that matter, using stolen Internet hours, within the ambit of the Indian Telegraph Act,
1885. 

Section 378 of IPC defines theft and section 379 talks of the punishment for theft.
However, section 378 of IPC defines theft as being of theft of moveable property. Section
378 makes it clear that moveable property is one which is severed from the earth. But can
internet time be brought within the ambit of property, moveable or immoveable. It can be
argued that time has never been considered as a property at any point of time in history.

38% of teenagers were involved in software piracy;

18% of all youngsters confessed of entering and using the information stored on other
personal computer or website;
13% of all the participants mentioned they performed changes in computer systems or
computer files.
The studies revealed that only 1 out of 10 hackers were interested in causing certain harm
or earn money. Most teenagers performed illegal computer actions of curiosity, to
experience excitement. Many cyber police is getting more complaints about Orkut these
days as many fake profiles being created and thus leads to crime.

5
.Reffer chris Reed and John Angel,fourth edition,universal law publishing co.pvt.ltd

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COMPUTING AND TECHNOLOGY

Hacker (computing) has a spectrum of meanings; the most common meaning in the
mainstream media is that of a computer criminal (script kiddie or black hat), but this
usage is deemed incorrect by some people.
Hacker (computer security), someone who breaks computer and network security
Black hat hacker, a criminal who breaks into computers maliciously
Grey hat hacker, one whose intrusion is morally ambivalent such as a spy
Script kiddie, someone who uses packaged intrusion tools or scripts created by others
White hat hacker, someone who uses intrusion techniques to improve or test security
Hacker (free and open source software), a programmer in the free software and open
source movement
Hacker (hobbyist), a hacker from the home computer hobbyist movement originating at
the Homebrew Computer Club in Silicon Valley

CONCLUSION

In the world of cyber crime, evil bytes are fast replacing whizzing bullets. The Indian
authorities are aware of the fight ahead. But the future does not look optimistic, shares
experts
 Life is about a mix of good and evil. So is the Internet. For all the good it does us,
cyberspace has its dark sides too. Unlike conventional communities though, there are no
policemen patrolling the information superhighway, leaving it open to everything from
Trojan horses and viruses to cyber stalking, trademark counterfeiting and cyber terrorism.
Awareness is important, and any matter should be reported at once. More importantly,
users must try and save any electronic information trail on their computers. That's all one
can do, then, until laws become more stringent or technology more advanced.

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The cyber crime becomes a biggest problem in this whole world and is increasing day by
day, precise from my paper, and the offenders are out of the reach of the punishment
due to which it has put forth a new challenge to the whole world as well as to our
country.

Many countries in the world have come up with new law to deal with cyber crime and
India has made Information Technology Act, 2000. Inspite of coming this effective law
the offenders are out of reach of the police as it is committed online by simply sitting on
the net. Our country’s police faces so many problem to trace the offenders and ultimately
in large number of cases they failed to catch the offender. The reason behind such failure
is lack of competence amongst the police officers and ignorance of cyber crime and cyber
world. They are well educated in this field due to which all such problem comes.

Our government should recruit and appoint competent persons to deal with such matters
and should also setup a new department where such type of cases can be registered and
immediate action with skilled and effective team can be taken.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS REFFERED
1. pawan duggal,cyber law the Indian perspective,second edition
2. chris reed and john angel,computer law, fourth edition universal law
publishing co,
3. Bansal s.k,cyber millennium (challenges and opportunities),
4. Ian Walden, computer crimes and digital investigations, Oxford
University press

WEBSITES REFFERED

WWW.GOOGLE.CO.IN
WWW.WIKIPEDIA.CO.IN
WWW.GLOBALSEARCH.COM

DICTIONARY REFFERED

OXFORD DICTIONARY
BLACKSLAW DICTIONARY

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