Cyber CrimeA Threat to 21st Century

The rapid growth of information technology and the increased usage of internet in all walks of life have led to the growth of new forms of transnational crime especially the internet related crimes. Recent terror attacks and other security concerns pertaining to domestic law and order situation have prompted the Central and State Governments to focus on the modernization and up gradation of the countrys security infrastructure particularly in the cyber sector.

Cyber Crime

Cyber crime is an unlawful act wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both.The computer as a target: Using a computer to attack other computers. Eg. Hacking, Virus attacks etc.The computer as a weapon: Using computer to commit real world crimes. Eg. Cyber terrorism, credit card frauds etc.

What is Cyber Crime

The first ever recorded cyber crime took place in 1820 .In 1820, Marie Joseph Jacquard, a textile manufacturer in Francefaced the first cyber crime!

History of Cyber Crime

Hacking: Secretly gaining the access to a computer system in order to get information or cause damage.Denial of service attacks: Flooding a computer resource with more requests than itcan handle. This causes the resource to crash,thereby, denying access of service to authorizedusers.

Types of cyber crime

E-mail bombing: It is characterised by abusers repeatedly sending an identical email message to a particular address.

Sending malicious codes through e-mail: E-mails are used to send viruses, Trojans etc through emails as an attachment or by sending a link of website, which on visiting, downloads malicious codes.

India ranks 11th in the countries having the highest rate of cyber crime.

Cyber Law In IndiaInformation Technology Act, 2000

Cyber Law is seen as an essential component of criminal justice system all over the world. The same applies to cyber law of India as well. In the Indian context, Information TechnologyAct, 2000 (IT Act,2000) is the cyber law of India.India has done a good job by enacting a cyber law. It is the 12thcountry of the world having a cyber law. It covers areas like e-governance, e-commerce, cyber contraventions and cyber offencesHowever, some critics and cyber law experts have questioned the strength of IT Act, 2000.

Cyber Law of India

Some experts opined that the IT Act,2000 is not effective and lacks a number of necessary provisions. For instance, we need provisions and specified procedures to deal with issues like Denial of Services, Distributed Denial of Services, trojans, viruses, buffer overflows etc. These issues cannot be left on luck.Even issues like cyber war against India or cyber terrorism against India have not been incorporated into the IT Act,2000 Yet.Information Technology Act,2000

These type of headlines are common in newspapers.

Don't be a victimSafety measures to be taken to prevent cyber crime: Use strong passwordsActivate your firewallUse anti virus softwareProtect your e-identitySecure your wireless networkSecure your mobile devicesInstall the latest operating system updatesBe careful while you download something

Conclusion:Computer- related crimes have become a realty now and these must be dealt with strictly at the earliest and necessary effective laws must be enacted with all necessaryprovisions. Any delay can be dangerous.Say no to cyber crime