CYBER CRIMES

Cyber Crimes are unlawful acts where the computer is used either as tool or as a target or both.

When it is used as a target it is attacked to stal confidential information or assets.

When computer is used as a tool it aids the criminal in committing criminal traditional real world crimes such as thefts.

Some of the crimes that are rather common, considering their capacity to cause harm to large sections of the Society:

1. Financial Crimes:

Online Fraud and Cheating

Offers Jos and require you to disclose sensitive information.Offers Merchandise which when purchased will are never deliveredEntice you to invest in Highly Profitable SchemesSolicits Investment or Loans

Fraud committed taking advantage of Security Weakness in Computer Systems.

Gaining unauthorized access to computer and changing the vital data for financial gainDuping a website and getting access to some one’s bank account for financial gains

Forgery

These are committed by using the computer as a tool. Printing of counterfeit currency notes, stamps and certificates and impersonating another person on the computer

2. Information Theft:

Theft of confidential information is for reasons ranging from revenge to industrial espionage

Information theft can be by both intruders and insiders Confidential information is vulnerable to theft whether it is at rest in transit or is under

process

When at rest data can be copied onto removable media or compromised host systems.Data in transit can be interpreted by intruders by hacking sensitive information like passwords and credit card information.Spyware installed by attackers on desktops and other devises can collect sensitive information when it is being processed or being entered.

Unauthorized Access: Gaining access to the resources of a computer system or a network without the permission of the owner or system administrator.

Hacking: Breaking into a computer or network using readymade computer program or through social engineering techniques.

CYBER EXTORTION:Is a crime involving an attack or threat of attacking against an enterprise generally using Denial of Service attacks (DOS) or other kinds of attacks coupled with demand for money to avert or stop the attack

DRUG TRAFFICKING:Using emails and other internet technologies for selling illegal drugs

As the discomfort of fear felt during physical interaction is not there and the ease of online sales is increasing this illegal activity is also booming up.

Weapons & Illegal Goods/Activities:

Criminal will posts information about the sale of an illegal article that he wants to sellHe contacts through Email ID’s through which customers can contact himAfter confirmation the seller and buyer will do the transactionThe face to face meeting happens only if necessary during the final transaction

3. HARRASSMENT:

Comments directed at someone that can be derogatory or offensive tantamount to harassment.These comments can be aimed at a particular person or Groups involving gender race and religion and so on.

Harassment can be via email, cyber stalking, transmission of obscene or offensive content and defamation.

Cyber Stalking:

This means pursuing a person’s movement on the internet and posting email messages that bombard him or her on the sites he or she frequently visits.

DOMAIN SQUATTING is the example of this.

Dissemination of Obscene or Offensive Content:

This includes dissemination of obscene material, indecent exposure, pornography and polluting a person’s image through indecent exposure among others.

Governments has also banned and placed limits on certain racist, politically subversive and inflammatory material that incites hate crimes.

The degrees to which these communications are unlawful vary from country to country.Use of computers for downloading and producing obscene images or photographs is cyber pornography. This may form various forms and corrupts the mind of the adolescents.

Defamation:

This is lowering a person’s image in other estimate so that he or she is shunned or exposed to ridicule. Doing this using a virtual medium is known as cyber defamation. This is also called as Cyber Smearing.

4. Cyber Terrorism:

Cyber Terrorism is an act of terror committed through cyberspace or by using a computer. A simple email propagating that there will be a bomb attack can be considered as cyber terrorism.A person who coerces a government to fulfill his political objectives by attacking computer networks and information networks is called a cyber-terrorist.

Cyber Extortion:

Crippling some company’s services and demanding payments to restore their services.The most common form of terrorist attack on the Internet is by Distributed Denial of Service attacks and attacks on sensitive computer websites.

Cyber Terrorism is any act that:

Puts the public in fear Affects the Harmony between different groups based on religion , language or anything

else Puts pressure on the Government established by law Endangers the integrity of the nation

Cyber Warfare:

The information systems and computer networks of a country’s army/navy/Air Force are attacked in such cyber warfare.

Denial of Service (DOS):

When a computer is flooded with more requests than it can handle then Denial of service will happen

When such attack is targeted towards a computer network by using internet it is called distributed Daniel of service.

These attacks can be of 3 types:

Consumption of scarce, limited or non-renewable resources

Alternation or destruction of configured information

Physical destruction of Network Components

Intellectual Property Theft:

Intellectual Property means the ownership of rights related to software, copyright, trademark and other such intangible assets.

When these rights of an owner are deprived of completely or partially it is said to be an Intellectual Property Right violation.

Software Piracy Trade Secret Copyright Trade Mark Patent

5. Computer Vandalism: Is a program that performs malicious function such as extracting a user’s password or other data or erasing the hard diskA vandal is the full executing entity itself which can be downloaded from the Internet in the form of an ActiveX control, Java Applet, Browser Plug-In, or email attachment.

A virus is different from a vandal. Virus generally attaches to an executable program.