CYBER CRIMES

SUBJECT- CYBER LAW

ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED TO
FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY
OF LUCKNOW

For the Par al Fulfilment of the Requirement in

LL.B.(Hons.) – VIth SEM (SECTION A)

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

MRS. RAMA GUPTA AMAN VERMA

ROLL NO: 200013015079
FACULTY OF LAW
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW

FACULTY OF LAW
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW
UTTAR PRADESH, 2022–2023
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

“Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.”

- Baltasar Gracián

In preparation of my assignment, I had to take the help and guidance of some respected persons,
who deserve my deepest gratitude. As the completion of this assignment gave me much
pleasure, I would like to show my gratitude to my seniors for giving me good guidelines for
assignment on the topic CYBER CRIME through numerous consultations. In addition, a
thank you to MRS. RAMA GUPTA, who introduced me to the Methodology of work, and
whose passion for the “underlying structures” had lasting effect. I also thank the
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW for consent to include copyrighted contents as a part of my
assignment. Many people, especially my classmates have made valuable comment
suggestionson my assignment which gave me an inspiration to improve the quality of the
assignment.
Definition of Cybercrime
Any offenses committed against individuals or groups of individuals to harm the reputation or
cause physical or mental trauma through electronic means can be defined as Cybercrime.
Electronic means can include but are not limited to, the use of modern telecommunication
networks such as the Internet (networks including chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups)
and mobile phones (Bluetooth/SMS/MMS).

Why is Cybercrime considered a grave offense?

There are many privacy concerns surrounding cybercrime when sensitive information is
intercepted and leaked to the public, legally or otherwise. Some of that information may include
data about military deployments, internal government communications, and even private data
about high-value individuals. Cybercrime is not confined to individuals alone. Internationally,
both governmental and non-state actors engage in cybercrimes, including espionage, financial
theft, and other cross-border crimes. Cybercrimes crossing international borders and involving
the actions of at least one nation-state is sometimes referred to as cyberwarfare.

In 2018, a study by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in partnership with
McAfee, a leading cybersecurity firm concludes that close to $600 billion, nearly one percent of
global GDP, is lost to cybercrime each year.

Two Main Types of Cybercrimes

Most cybercrime falls under two main categories:

 Criminal activity that targets computers.

 Criminal activity that uses computers.

Cybercrime that targets computers often involves malware like viruses.

Cybercrime that uses computers to commit other crimes may involve using computers
to spread malware, illegal information or illegal images.
List of Cybercrimes:

Cybercrimes include monetary crimes as well as non-monetary offences. The crimes

result in damage to persons, computers, or governments.

1. Child Pornography OR Child sexually abusive material (CSAM)

Child sexually abusive material (CSAM) refers to a material containing sexual images
in any form, of a child who is abused or sexually exploited. Section 67 (B) of the IT
Act states that “it is punishable for publishing or transmitting of material depicting
children in the sexually explicit act, etc. in electronic form.

2. Cyber Bullying
A form of harassment or bullying inflicted through the use of electronic or
communication devices such as computers, mobile phones, laptops, etc.

3. Cyber Stalking
Cyberstalking is the use of electronic communication by a person to follow a person,
or attempts to contact a person to foster personal interaction repeatedly despite a clear
indication of disinterest by such person; or monitors the internet, email or any other
form of electronic communication commits the offence of stalking.

4. Cyber Grooming
Cyber Grooming is when a person builds an online relationship with a young person
and tricks or pressures him/ her into doing a sexual act.

5. Online Job Fraud

Online Job Fraud is an attempt to defraud people who are in need of employment by
giving them false hope/ promise of better employment with higher wages.

6. Online Sextortion
Online Sextortion occurs when someone threatens to distribute private and sensitive
material using an electronic medium if he/ she doesn’t provide images of a sexual
nature, sexual favours, or money.
7. Phishing
Phishing is a type of fraud that involves stealing personal information such as
Customer ID, IPIN, Credit/Debit Card number, Card expiry date, CVV number, etc.
through emails that appear to be from a legitimate source.

8. Vishing
Vishing is an attempt where fraudsters try to seek personal information like Customer
ID, Net Banking password, ATM PIN, OTP, Card expiry date, CVV etc. through a
phone call.

9. Smishing
Smishing is a type of fraud that uses mobile phone text messages to lure victims into
calling back on a fraudulent phone number, visiting fraudulent websites or
downloading malicious content via phone or web.

10. Sexting
Sexting is an act of sending sexually explicit digital images, videos, text messages, or
emails, usually by cell phone.

11. SIM Swap Scam

SIM Swap Scam occurs when fraudsters manage to get a new SIM card issued against
a registered mobile number fraudulently through the mobile service provider. With the
help of this new SIM card, they get One Time Password (OTP) and alerts, required for
making financial transactions through the victim’s bank account. Getting a new SIM
card against a registered mobile number fraudulently is known as SIM Swap.

12. Credit Card Fraud or Debit Card Fraud

Credit card (or debit card) fraud involves the unauthorized use of another’s credit or
debit card information for the purpose of purchases or withdrawing funds from it.

13. Impersonation and identity theft

Impersonation and identity theft is an act of fraudulently or dishonestly making use of
the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of any
other person.
14. Spamming
Spamming occurs when someone receives an unsolicited commercial message sent
via email, SMS, MMS and any other similar electronic messaging media. They may
try to persuade the recipient to buy a product or service, or visit a website where he
can make purchases, or they may attempt to trick him/ her into divulging bank
account or credit card details.

15. Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of computer malware that encrypts the files, storage media on
communication devices like desktops, Laptops, Mobile phones etc., holding
data/information as a hostage. The victim is asked to pay the demanded ransom to get
his device decrypts

16. Viruses, Worms, and Trojans

A computer virus is a program written to enter your computer and damage/alter your
files/data and replicate itself.

Worms are malicious programs that make copies of themselves again and again on the
local drive, network shares, etc.

A Trojan horse is not a virus. It is a destructive program that looks like a genuine
application. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be
just as destructive. Trojans open a backdoor entry to your computer which gives
malicious users/programs access to your system, allowing confidential and personal
information to be theft.

17. Data Breach

A data breach is an incident in which information is accessed without authorization.

18. Denial of Services (DoS) attack

A denial of Services (DoS) attack is an attack intended for denying access to computer
resources without the permission of the owner or any other person who is in charge of
a computer, computer system or computer network.

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is an attempt to make an online service

unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources.
19. Website Defacement
Website Defacement is an attack intended to change the visual appearance of a
website and/ or make it dysfunctional. The attacker may post indecent, hostile and
obscene images, messages, videos, etc.

20. Cyber-Squatting
Cyber-Squatting is an act of registering, trafficking in or using a domain name with an
intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else.

21. Pharming
Pharming is a cyber-attack aiming to redirect a website’s traffic to another, bogus
website.

22. Cryptojacking
Cryptojacking is the unauthorized use of computing resources to mine
cryptocurrencies.

23. Online Drug Trafficking

Online Drug Trafficking is a crime of selling, transporting, or illegally importing
unlawful controlled substances, such as heroin, cocaine, marijuana, or other illegal
drugs using electronic means.

24. Espionage
Espionage is the act or practice of obtaining data and information without the
permission and knowledge of the owner.

IT Act, 2000 went through amendments under the Indian Penal Code in the year 2008.
These were made in light of the laws on cybercrime – IT Act, 2000 by way of the IT
Act, 2008. They were enforced at the beginning of 2009 to strengthen the
cybersecurity laws

Conclusion
With the advancement in technology, disturbing elements are appearing on the dark
web that is disturbing. The Internet has become a tool of evil deeds that are exploited
by intelligent people for evil motives and sometimes for financial gain. Thus, at this
point in time, cyber laws come into the picture and are important for every citizen.
Due to the fact that cyberspace is an extremely difficult territory to deal with, some
activities are classified as grey activities that cannot be governed by law.

In India as well as across the globe, with the increasing reliance of humans on
technology, cyber laws need constant up-gradation and refinement to keep pace. There
has also been a significant increase in the number of remote workers as a consequence
of the pandemic, which has increased the need for application security. There is a need
for legislators to take extra precautions to keep ahead of the imposters so that they can
act against them as soon as they arise. It can be prevented if lawmakers, internet
providers, banks, shopping websites and other intercessors work together. However,
ultimately, it is up to the users to participate in the fight against cyber crime. The only
way for the growth of online safety and resilience to take place is through the
consideration of the actions of these stakeholders, ensuring they stay within the
confines of the law of cyberspace.

Bibliography
 www.scconline.com
 www.legalserviceindia.com
 www.lexisnexis.com