Cyber Crime – Social Issue Essay, Article for Class 12, Graduation and Competitive Examination.

Essay on “Cyber Crime”

Alvin Toffler in his book “Power-ship” has pointed out that in the knowledge society which is neo-emerging, information will be of the greatest value. Today’s a company’s future lies not in its tangible assets but in the “intellectual capital of the business”, And intellectual capital in most businesses today is kept in computers which, as a result, have become the target as well as the instrument for crimes.

From the point of view of a criminal, the web offers anonymity and wonderful opportunities. Criminals transfer funds from the victim’s bank account to their own and vandals send computer viruses to destroy other computers. These are only a few of the crimes committed on the internet. The perpetrators are men and women from all walks of life.

Computer crimes can be divided into two broad categories:

(a) computers as tools

(b) computers as a target. In the first category, the computer is used as a tool to commit offences. This group looks upon the computer as one of the instruments for committing crimes like fraud, embezzlement and other related crimes. The second category contains crimes in which the computer itself or the stored information is the target. Criminals group who views computers as targets have been placed in three categories,

(1) hackers,

(2) those who break the systems to intentionally cause harm or mischief to data or programmes, and

(3) financially motivated offenders who use a “specialised skill” to steal or damage information contained in computer storage banks.

The fastest growing computer-related crime is theft, and the most common object stolen is information. Thieves very often target intellectual properties which include things like a new product patent, new product description, market programme plans, a list of customers and similar information. Previously thieves obtained such properties through employees, photocopying documents and burglaries. Now the modus operandi has changed and thieves would prefer stealing from the computer because it provides extensive access to more usable information.

Many financial institutions receive threats from the cyber terrorists to penetrate their computer systems and leave messages threatening to destroy them unless they receive huge sums of money. Many banks round the world have been victimised and paid millions of dollars as extortion money to keep the system intact. Criminals use various devices that can send a destructive wind through the system. Cyberterrorism is becoming a matter of concern and exposes national security systems, banking or communication networks, and financial and commercial transactions to grave dangers.

Techniques for the perpetration of computer crimes have also spawned a new set of terminologies. Some of these are: “Trojan Horse” – a set of unauthorised computer instructions which perform an illegal act at a certain time or under certain conditions; “Trapdoor”- a set of computer instructions that allow the user to bypass the system’s normal controls; “Masquerading” – using a legitimate resources identification number or password. to gain access to a computer system.

Another alarming online activity is the transmission of child pornography images and making sexual assignation. A study was conducted in 1995 by a research team of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Titled “Marketing Pornography on the Information Superhighway”, it reported that after an 18-month research, it found on the internet 917,410 sexually explicit pictures, descriptions, stories and films of naked women, paedophilia, sadomasochism, urination, defecation and sex with animals. Alarmed by cyber pornography, the US Congress enacted the Communication Decency Act Last Year, which prohibited the posting of “indecent” material over the internet. The Act was, however, overturned by the Supreme Court on grounds of violating freedom of expression.

Analysing of computer crimes suggests that threats of such crime generally come from employees, followed by part-time and contract employees, and with computer hackers a close third. There is normally a close correlation between theft and access to computers, but the important thing to recognise is that as networking becomes widespread, access is also becoming easier.

Improved telecommunication technology has added to the threat from external sources. International computer criminals use computer-based voice-mail boxes to exchange stolen access numbers, passwords and software. The profile of computer criminals is also interesting.

They are bright, sophisticated and technically trained Increasingly, financial gain is becoming a major motive because many of these professionals! live beyond their means. The “Robinhood” syndrome is also against individuals are immoral. common – they rationalise acts against organisations but believe that act

Experts on white-collar crimes aver that the chances of computer crime being detected are minimal. Computer criminals being sophisticated operators, most of the time their activities do not surface The FBI’s National Computers Squad which has investigated the biggest number of crimes estimates that between 85 to 95 percent of computer intrusions are not even detected. It is also easy for computer criminals to commit the crime without leaving any trace. So, the emphasis should be upon the prevention of computer crime by resolutely crime prevention strategy.

Data encryption should be considered an important tool for protecting confidential information. However, encryption procedures should be periodically changed and reviewed. Otherwise, breaches of security may occur. Similarly, in respect of cash account security small account balance errors in computer files should serve as an indicator that somebody has tempered with the accounts. Security, it is necessary to change passwords regularly, operate authentic software, monitor employees and regularly review the cash accounts for small losses.

The main responsibility of detecting and investigating cybercrime in India is that of the police. Unfortunately, they are not trained and equipped properly. Active cooperation and liaison between the police and software companies will be mutually beneficial. Microsoft in USA trains police officers. Special cells should be established in police headquarters, and particularly in the criminal investigation department, in every state to deal with internet crime. In India, specialised investigation units have to be created and staffed with technically qualified investigation groups in the CBI.

In the investigation of computer crimes, a team approach is necessary. Ideally, a team should comprise an investigator, a computer expert and an EDP auditor.

Investigation frequently requires a search of a computer centre or a remote computer centre or a remote computer terminal. The assistance of a data processing expert becomes necessary to draft search warrants which include all pertinent system and programme components. A high level of secrecy during investigation has to be maintained so as not to alert the suspected perpetrator. This is most important because within seconds the suspect can erase or damage such evidence as data and programs.

Successful investigation of computer crimes requires a high degree of computer literacy on the part of the investigators. Most of the evidence of computer crime will be in the form of electronic data. Hence its search, seizure and preservation would require good computer knowledge on the part of the investigators.

The investigating offices must also know file directory management and information recovery, i.e., undeleting supposedly deleted files and information or viewing hidden files. Again, most of the computer’s crimes are not limited to the territory of a particular country.

This creates serious problems. Different laws in different countries make some kinds of behaviour legal in one country and illegal in another. Extradition and prosecution issues also create problems.