CyviaJuris

What Are Cyber Crimes?

Cyber crime refers to any incident that has a harmful effect on any person on any online platform. It includes any illegal activity performed through an electronic device and the internet. In such unlawful activities, the computer may be used either as a tool, a target, or both. Cyber crimes where the computer or the network is a target include viruses or malware. In some cases, the computer itself can be used as a weapon, such as in DoS (Denial of Service) attacks. Other ways of using a system in cyber crimes are in instances of cyberstalking, phishing, and identity theft. 

The term ‘cybercrime’ has not been defined in any legislation in India. It may be difficult to even attempt to create a legal definition as any offence can be put under the ambit of cyber crime if an electronic device was used to aid in committing such an act. The Information Technology Act, 2000, does define computer, network, data, information, and other such terms that are necessary elements of a cyber crime.

Presently, cyber crimes have become major news headlines on a global scale, due to the drastic shift to online work. Such crimes may cause vast financial losses, unanticipated damages, and damage to the reputation of the owner of any sensitive information. The main motive of most cyber crimes is financial gain. Several important types of these crimes are:

  1. Identity Theft – This crime involves acquiring the personal information of an individual in order to impersonate them. This is used to make unauthorised transactions, to provide the impostor with false credentials, to steal funds, or participate in fraud.
  2. Cyberstalking – It involves online harassment of a person by repeatedly sending messages and making threats.
  3. Cryptojacking – This crime involves the use of malware to mine cryptocurrency from a user’s account without their knowledge or consent.
  4. Cyber-Extortion – This involves a cyber attack, or the threat of one, and a demand for money to stop the attack.
  5. Credit Card Fraud – It involves the gaining of access to confidential credit card or banking information from a system or database in order to sell the same on the black market or use it for identity theft.

Methods of cyber crime include:

  1. Phishing – This involves sending emails or messages with seemingly harmless notices to change passwords, update information, or fill surveys, but that contain malicious links in order to gain access to the individual’s device, accounts, and information.
  2. Spoofing – Similar to phishing, this involves the disguising of communication from an unknown source as from a credible, safe source, in order to infect the system or network with malware, or perform a cyber attack.
  3. Cracking – This is essentially hacking, but for a malicious purpose, in order to carry out a cyber crime or attack.
  4. Phreaking – This term covers a wide variety of activities concerning the hacking of the telephone networks. This can be done both harmlessly and maliciously.
  5. Malware – This is malicious software that is used in a variety of cyber attacks to infect systems or networks in order to damage or steal data stored there.
  6. DDoS Attacks – Distributed Denial of Service attacks are used to completely shut down a system or network by overwhelming it with traffic or connection requests, and can be used in cyber-extortion or any other cyber attack, or as a means of distraction.

References: 

  1. “Whats is Cybercrime?”, December 2020, https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/cybercrime
  2. “Types of Cybercrime”, April 2021, https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/panda-security/types-of-cybercrime/

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