A report on cyber Crime

NIKHIL KUMAR CHAUDHARY 14/CS/57
REPORT
ON
CYBER-
CRIME &
SECURITY

A Report on: Cyber Crime and Security
Submitted by: Nikhil Kumar Chaudhary
University roll number: 10300114057
Registration number: 141030110057
Class roll number: 14/CS/57
Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Paper: Technical report writing & Language
Paper Code: HU481
Submitted to: Ms ANKANA GHOSH DASTIDAR
Assistant professor
Department of Applied Sciences (English)
HALDIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
April 12, 2016
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HALDIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that NIKHIL KUMAR CHAUDHARY roll number 14/CS/57 of
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING department accomplished project wrote
on the topic CYBER CRIME AND SECURITY in 4th semester under the supervision of
Ms ANKANA GHOSH DASTIDAR.
Signature:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would first like to express to Ms ANKANA GHOSH DASTIDAR for her careful
mentoring , she spent her precious time giving me professional advice and reading different
draft versions of this dissertation. This dissertation would not have come to existence without
her guidance and creative inspiration to take up the topic.
I would also like to thank my parents, my family members, and my friends who were always
there to support me.
Above all I thank and devote myself to the almighty GOD.
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CONTENTS
TOPIC PAGE No.
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….3
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..3
Cyber-crime: what does it mean ……………………………………………………………..4
The Differences between Cybercrime and Traditional Crime………………………………6
Reasons for Cyber-crime………………………………………………………………….…7
Mode and Manner of Committing Cyber-Crime…………………………………………….7
Classification…………………………………………………………………………………9
Threat perception of Cyber-Crime in India………………………………………………....14
Trends of Cyber-Crime in India…………………………………………………………....15
Impact of cybercrime in India ……………………………………………………………….16
How to tackle Cyber-Crime……………………………………………………………….....17
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………...19
Recommendation………………………………………………………………………….....19
References……………………………………………………………………………………20
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATION
SL.No. Title Page No.
Fig. 1 Relation between Victims, Attacker & Defender 5
Fig. 2 Country distribution of Cyber-Crimes 15
Fig. 3 Rise in number of Cyber-Crimes in India 15
Fig. 4 Cybercrime cases filed in India 16
Fig. 5 Impact of Cybercrime in India 17
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ABSTRACT
The Computers have unleashed an era of enhanced productivity and creativity.
Communication and connectedness has seen new heights in the last two decades. Internet has
ushered a new revolution, The Online Revolution. In the current era of online processing,
maximum of the information is online and prone to cyber threats. There are a huge number of
cyber threats and their behaviour is difficult to early understanding hence difficult to restrict
in the early phases of the cyber-attacks. Cyber-attacks may have some motivation behind it or
may be processed unknowingly. The attacks those are processed knowingly can be
considered as the cyber-crime and they have serious impacts over the society in the form of
economical disrupt, psychological disorder, threat to National defence etc. Restriction of
cyber-crimes is dependent on proper analysis of their behaviour and understanding of their
impacts over various levels of society. Therefore, the current manuscript provides the
understanding of cyber-crimes and their impacts over society with the future trends of cyber-
crimes.
INTRODUCTION
The internet in world is growing rapidly. It has given rise to new opportunities in every field
we can think of – be it entertainment, business, sports or education. There are two sides to a
coin. Internet also has its own disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages is Cyber-crime
– illegal activity committed on the internet.
The term ‘cyber-crime’ is a misnomer. This term has nowhere been defined in any statute/Act
passed or enacted by the Indian Parliament. The concept of cyber-crime is not radically
different from the concept of conventional crime. Both include conduct whether act or
omission, which cause breach of rules of law and counterbalanced by the sanction of the
state. Before evaluating the concept of cyber-crime it is obvious that the concept of
conventional crime be discussed and the points of similarity and deviance between both these
forms may be discussed. The commonly accepted definition of cyber security is the
protection of any computer system, software program, and data against unauthorized use,
disclosure, transfer, modification, or destruction, whether accidental or intentional. Cyber-
attacks can come from internal networks, the Internet, or other private or public systems.
Businesses cannot afford to be dismissive of this problem because those who don’t respect
address, and counter this threat will surely become victims.
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These are the Cyber Criminals, the ill-motivated hackers, crackers and spammers. In this
report, an attempt has been made to see Cyber Crime in a broad Spectrum, starting from
scratch. Reports & Investigations from World’s top Cyber Security firms has been
incorporated. Without delving too much into the actual means of exploitation, an attempt to
visualise the entire process as whole, has been made.
The use of technology has become an integral part of our lives. Our increasing dependence on
technology consolidates itself as a powerful platform that has revolutionised the way we do
business and communicate with people, leaving us in the open to threats of cybercrime. We
have become complacent to the existence of cybercrime, perhaps putting too much faith in
technology. Organisations must recognise this environment and must identify methods to
address these risks proactively.
As businesses and individuals increase their reliance on technology, they tend to become
exposed to the growing cybercrime threats and the fact remains that we cannot ignore
technology. Many businesses may not have taken time to consider whether they have sound
cyber-security mechanisms in place, but ignoring this risk could endanger their operations.
Through this survey we have analysed the preparedness of an individual or organisation from
potential cybercrimes threats, other than highlighting preventive mechanisms to deal with this
rapidly growing issue. While large organisations are beginning to take preventive measures to
protect themselves, small organisations normally pay insignificant attention to risk
assessment or have no funding to put the risk in place.
CYBERCRIME: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Cyber Crime:
Computer crime, or cybercrime, is crime that involves a computer and a network. “Any
criminal activity that uses a computer either as an instrumentality, target or a means for
perpetuating further crimes comes within the ambit of cyber-crime” A generalized definition
of cyber-crime may be “ unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or target or both”
The computer may be used as a tool in the following kinds of activity- financial crimes, sale
of illegal articles, pornography, online gambling, intellectual property crime, e-mail spoofing,
forgery, cyber defamation, cyber stalking. The computer may however be target for unlawful
acts in the following cases- unauthorized access to computer/ computer system/ computer
networks, theft of information contained in the electronic form, e-mail bombing, data
diddling, salami attacks, logic bombs, Trojan attacks, internet time thefts, web jacking, theft
of computer system, physically damaging the computer system.
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Fig. 1: Relation between Victim, Attacker & Defender
When was the first evercybercrime recorded?
The first cybercrime was noted in 1820 by Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a textile manufacturer in
France which produced the loom. This device allowed the repetition of a series of steps in the
weaving of special fabrics. This resulted in a fear amongst Jacquard's employees that their
traditional employment and livelihood were being threatened. They committed acts of
sabotage to discourage Jacquard from further use of the new technology. This is the first
recorded cyber-crime!
The first spam email took place in 1978 when it was sent out over the Arpanet (Advanced
Research Projects Agency Network). The first virus was installed on an Apple computer in
1982 when a high school student, Rich Skrenta, developed the Elk cloner.
Who is carrying it out?
Cyber-attacks can be carried out by a host of people ranging between disgruntled employees,
individual hacker, organised cybercrime syndicates to enemy government or an activist.
These are the Cyber Criminals, the ill-motivated hackers, crackers and spammers
What is the biggestmyth related to cybercrime?
100 per cent Security! 100 per cent security can be difficult to attain and should not ideally be
the goal. Instead, one must establish a capability that deals with incidents to help minimise
threat and loss.
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Are you facing cyber threat and not even realising it?
The information security landscape is constantly evolving. Private and public sector
organisations find it difficult to believe they could be a target for cyber-attacks. As adversary
sophistication increases, many organisations react only after the event or the attack is
underway.
The Differences between Cybercrime and Traditional Crime:
 One of the differences between cybercrime and traditional crime is the evidence of the
offenses. Traditional criminals usually leave traces of a crime, through either
fingerprints or other physical evidences. On the other hand, cybercriminals rely on the
Internet via which they commit their crimes, and it leaves very little evidence about
the cybercrime. Forensic investigators usually experience great difficulty in gathering
evidence that could lead to the conviction of cybercriminals since these criminals can
freely change their identities. The Internet also allows the anonymity of its users, and
this implies that cybercriminals can use any pseudonyms for their identification. On
the other hand, it is difficult for traditional criminals to fake their gender, race, or age.
 Consequently, this leads to the second difference between traditional and cybercrimes,
length of investigations. Since cybercrime involves perpetrators using falsified names
and working from remote locations, it usually takes longer to identify the real
cybercriminals and apprehend them. In most cases, cybercriminals (such as hackers)
escape from arrest because the investigators cannot locate them. Traditional crimes
take shorter time period to investigate because the criminals usually leave evidence
that can be used to spot them. For instance, traditional criminals can leave evidence
such as DNA, fingerprints, photographs and videos captured on surveillance cameras,
or personal belongings such as identity cards, and this makes it easy for investigators
to identify and capture the culprits. In addition, such evidence makes it easy for the
judiciary to convict the offenders.
 Lastly, the difference between traditional crimes and cybercrimes is the force
involved. Most of the traditional crimes (such as rape, murder, arson, and burglary
among others) involve the use of excessive force that results in physical injury and
trauma on the victims. On the other hand, cybercrimes do not require the use of any
force since the criminals merely use the identities of their victims to steal from them.
For example, cybercriminals use spoofing and phishing to obtain personal information
such as credit card numbers from their victims, or use encrypted emails to coordinate
violence remotely.
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REASONS FOR CYBER CRIME
Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart (18 July 1907 – 19 December 1992), in his work
“The Concept of Law” has said ‘human beings are vulnerable so rule of law is
required to protect them’. Applying this to the cyberspace we may say that computers
are vulnerable so rule of law is required to protect and safeguard them against cyber-
crime. The reasons for the vulnerability of computers may be said to be:
1. Capacity to store data in comparatively small space: The computer has unique
characteristic of storing data in a very small space. This affords to remove or derive
information either through physical or virtual medium makes it much easier.
2. Easy to access: The problem encountered in guarding a computer system from
unauthorised access is that there is every possibility of breach not due to human error
but due to the complex technology. By secretly implanted logic bomb, key loggers
that can steal access codes, advanced voice recorders; retina imagers etc. that can fool
biometric systems and bypass firewalls can be utilized to get past many a security
system.
3. Complex: The computers work on operating systems and these operating systems
in turn are composed of millions of codes. Human mind is fallible and it is not
possible that there might not be a lapse at any stage. The cyber criminals take
advantage of these lacunas and penetrate into the computer system.
4. Negligence: Negligence is very closely connected with human conduct. It is
therefore very probable that while protecting the computer system there might be any
negligence, which in turn provides a cyber-criminal to gain access and control over
the computer system.
5. Loss of evidence: Loss of evidence is a very common & obvious problem as all the
data are routinely destroyed. Further collection of data outside the territorial extent
also paralyses this system of crime investigation.
MODE AND MANNER OF COMMITING CYBER CRIME
1. Unauthorized access to computer systems or networks / Hacking-
This kind of offence is normally referred as hacking in the generic sense. However the
framers of the information technology act 2000 have nowhere used this term so to
avoid any confusion we would not interchangeably use the word hacking for
‘unauthorized access’ as the latter has wide connotation.
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2. Theft of information contained in electronic form-
This includes information stored in computer hard disks, removable storage media
etc. Theft may be either by appropriating the data physically or by tampering them
through the virtual medium.
3. Email bombing-
This kind of activity refers to sending large numbers of mail to the victim, which may
be an individual or a company or even mail servers there by ultimately resulting into
crashing.
4. Data diddling-
This kind of an attack involves altering raw data just before a computer processes it
and then changing it back after the processing is completed. The electricity board
faced similar problem of data diddling while the department was being computerised.
5. Salami attacks-
This kind of crime is normally prevalent in the financial institutions or for the purpose
of committing financial crimes. An important feature of this type of offence is that the
alteration is so small that it would normally go unnoticed.
E.g. the Ziegler case wherein a logic bomb was introduced in the bank’s system,
which deducted 10 cents from every account and deposited it in a particular account.
6. Denial of Service attack-
The computer of the victim is flooded with more requests than it can handle which
cause it to crash. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is also a type of denial
of service attack, in which the offenders are wide in number and widespread.
E.g. Amazon, Yahoo.
7. Virus / worm attacks-
Viruses are programs that attach themselves to a computer or a file and then circulate
themselves to other files and to other computers on a network. They usually affect the
data on a computer, either by altering or deleting it. Worms, unlike viruses do not
need the host to attach themselves to. They merely make functional copies of
themselves and do this repeatedly till they eat up all the available space on a
computer's memory.
E.g. love bug virus, which affected at least 5 % of the computers of the globe. The
losses were accounted to be $ 10 million. The world's most famous worm was the
Internet worm let loose on the Internet by Robert Morris sometime in 1988. Almost
brought development of Internet to a complete halt.
8. Logic bombs-
These are event dependent programs. This implies that these programs are created to
do something only when a certain event (known as a trigger event) occurs.
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E.g. even some viruses may be termed logic bombs because they lie dormant all
through the year and become active only on a particular date (like the Chernobyl
virus).
9. Trojan attacks-
This term has its origin in the word ‘Trojan horse’. In software field this means an
unauthorized programme, which passively gains control over another’s system by
representing itself as an authorised programme. The most common form of installing
a Trojan is through e-mail.
E.g. a Trojan was installed in the computer of a lady film director in the U.S. while
chatting. The cyber criminal through the web cam installed in the computer obtained
her nude photographs. He further harassed this lady.
10. Internet time thefts-
Normally in these kinds of thefts the Internet surfing hours of the victim are used up
by another person. This is done by gaining access to the login ID and the password.
E.g. Colonel Bajwa’s case- the Internet hours were used up by any other person. This
was perhaps one of the first reported cases related to cyber-crime in India. However
this case made the police infamous as to their lack of understanding of the nature of
cyber-crime.
11. Web jacking-
This term is derived from the term hi jacking. In these kinds of offences the hacker
gains access and control over the web site of another. He may even mutilate or change
the information on the site. This may be done for fulfilling political objectives or for
money.
E.g. recently the site of MIT (Ministry of Information Technology) was hacked by the
Pakistani hackers and some obscene matter was placed therein. Further the site of
Bombay crime branch was also web jacked. Another case of web jacking is that of the
‘gold fish’ case. In this case the site was hacked and the information pertaining to
gold fish was changed. Further a ransom of US $ 1 million was demanded as ransom.
Thus web jacking is a process whereby control over the site of another is made
backed by some consideration for it
CLASSIFICATION:
The subject of cyber-crime may be broadly classified under the following three groups. They
are-
1. Against Individuals
(a). Their person &
(b). Their property of an individual
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2. Against Organization
(a). Government
(c). Firm, Company, Group of Individuals.
3. Against Societyat large
The following are the crimes, which can be committed against the followings
group
1. Against Individuals: –
i. Harassment via e-mails.
ii. Cyber-stalking.
iii. Dissemination of obscene material.
iv. Defamation.
v. Unauthorized control/access over computer system.
vi. Indecent exposure
vii. Email spoofing
viii. Cheating & Fraud
2. Against Individual Property: -
i. Computer vandalism.
ii. Transmitting virus.
iii. Netrespass
iv. Unauthorized control/access over computer system.
v. Intellectual Property crimes
vi. Internet time thefts
3. Against Organization: -
i. Unauthorized control/access over computer system
ii. Possession of unauthorized information.
iii. Cyber terrorism against the government organization.
iv. Distribution of pirated software etc.
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4. Against Society at large: -
i. Pornography (basically child pornography).
ii. Polluting the youth through indecent exposure.
iii. Trafficking
iv. Financial crimes
v. Sale of illegal articles
vi. Online gambling
vii. Forgery
The above mentioned offences may discuss in brief as follows:
1. Harassment via e-mails-
Harassment through e-mails is not a new concept. It is very similar to
harassing through letters. Recently one of my friends had received a mail from a lady
wherein she complained about the same. Her former boyfriend was sending her mails
constantly sometimes emotionally blackmailing her and also threatening her. This is a
very common type of harassment via e-mails.
2. Cyber-stalking-
The Oxford dictionary defines stalking as "pursuing stealthily". Cyber stalking
involves following a person's movements across the Internet by posting messages
(sometimes threatening) on the bulletin boards frequented by the victim, entering the
chat-rooms frequented by the victim, constantly bombarding the victim with emails
etc.
3. Dissemination of obscene material/ Indecent exposure/ Pornography (basically
child pornography) / Polluting through indecent exposure-
Pornography on the net may take various forms. It may include the hosting of web
site containing these prohibited materials. Use of computers for producing these
obscene materials. Downloading through the Internet, obscene materials. These
obscene matters may cause harm to the mind of the adolescent and tend to deprave or
corrupt their mind. Two known cases of pornography are the Delhi Bal Bharati case
and the Bombay case wherein two Swiss couple used to force the slum children for
obscene photographs. The Mumbai police later arrested them.
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4. Defamation-
It is an act of imputing any person with intent to lower the person in the estimation of
the right-thinking members of society generally or to cause him to be shunned or
avoided or to expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule. Cyber defamation is not
different from conventional defamation except the involvement of a virtual medium.
5. Unauthorized control/access over computer system-
This activity is commonly referred to as hacking. The Indian law has however given
a different connotation to the term hacking, so we will not use the term "unauthorized
access" interchangeably with the term "hacking" to prevent confusion as the term used
in the Act of 2000 is much wider than hacking.
6. E mail spoofing-
A spoofed e-mail may be said to be one, which misrepresents its origin. It shows it's
origin to be different from which actually it originates.
Eg. Rajesh Manyar, a graduate student at Purdue University in Indiana, was arrested
for threatening to detonate a nuclear device in the college campus. The alleged e- mail
was sent from the account of another student to the vice president for student services.
However the mail was traced to be sent from the account of Rajesh Manyar.
7. Computer vandalism-
Vandalism means deliberately destroying or damaging property of another. Thus
computer vandalism may include within its purview any kind of physical harm done
to the computer of any person. These acts may take the form of the theft of a
computer, some part of a computer or a peripheral attached to the computer or by
physically damaging a computer or its peripherals.
8. Transmitting virus/worms-
This topic has been adequately dealt herein above.
9. Intellectual Property crimes / Distribution of pirated software-
Intellectual property consists of a bundle of rights. Any unlawful act by which the
owner is deprived completely or partially of his rights is an offence. The common
form of IPR violation may be said to be software piracy, copyright infringement,
trademark and service mark violation, theft of computer source code, etc.
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The Hyderabad Court has in a land mark judgement has convicted three people and
sentenced them to six months imprisonment and fine of 50,000 each for unauthorized
copying and sell of pirated software.
10. Cyber terrorism against the government organization-
At this juncture a necessity may be felt that what is the need to distinguish between
cyber terrorism and cyber-crime. Both are criminal acts. However there is a
compelling need to distinguish between both these crimes. A cyber-crime is generally
a domestic issue, which may have international consequences; however cyber
terrorism is a global concern, which has domestic as well as international
consequences. The common form of these terrorist attacks on the Internet is by
distributed denial of service attacks, hate websites and hate emails, attacks on
sensitive computer networks, etc. Technology savvy terrorists are using 512-bit
encryption, which is next to impossible to decrypt. The recent example may be cited
of – Osama Bin Laden, the LTTE, and attack on America’s army deployment system
during Iraq war.
Cyber terrorism may be defined to be “ the premeditated use of disruptive activities,
or the threat thereof, in cyber space, with the intention to further social, ideological,
religious, political or similar objectives, or to intimidate any person in furtherance of
such objectives”
Another definition may be attempted to cover within its ambit every act of cyber
terrorism.
A terrorist means a person who indulges in wanton killing of persons or in violence or
in disruption of services or means of communications essential to the community or in
damaging property with the view to –
(1) Putting the public or any section of the public in fear; or
(2) Affecting adversely the harmony between different religious, racial, language or
regional groups or castes or communities; or
(3) Coercing or overawing the government established by law; or
(4) Endangering the sovereignty and integrity of the nation
and a cyber-terrorist is the person who uses the computer system as a means or ends
to achieve the above objectives. Every act done in pursuance thereof is an act of cyber
terrorism.
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11. Trafficking-
Trafficking may assume different forms. It may be trafficking in drugs, human
beings, arms weapons etc. These forms of trafficking are going unchecked because
they are carried on under pseudonyms. A racket was busted in Chennai where drugs
were being sold under the pseudonym of honey.
12. Fraud & Cheating
Online fraud and cheating is one of the most lucrative businesses that are growing
today in the cyber space. It may assume different forms. Some of the cases of online
fraud and cheating that have come to light are those pertaining to credit card crimes,
contractual crimes, offering jobs, etc.
Recently the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate Delhi found guilty a 24-year-old
engineer working in a call centre, of fraudulently gaining the details of Campa's credit
card and bought a television and a cordless phone from Sony website. Metropolitan
magistrate Gulshan Kumar convicted Azim for cheating under IPC, but did not send
him to jail. Instead, Azim was asked to furnish a personal bond of Rs 20,000, and was
released on a year's probation..
THREAT PERCEPTION OF CYBERCRIME IN INDIA
Cybercrime can affect any organisation, large or small. Many of the incidents are
not publicly known and have not been reported by the media. However, companies
in U.S., are legally granted the responsibility to report incidents to the authorities.
Distinctly, about 51 per cent perceive themselves to be an easy target for cyber attacks
due to the nature of their business. Out of these 51%, about 68% respondents claim
that they monitor their cybercrime threats on a daily basis. Inadequate detection
processes may conceal the real number of cybercrime attacks. Although many
organisations today are equipped with state of the art security systems, they may still
be unable to manage or handle cybercrime incidents.
Perception of cybercrime in India:
Cybercrime is a major threat. Easy target for cyber-attacks.
In this increasingly hyper-connected world, cybercrime has emerged as a major threat
as acknowledged by an overwhelming 89% of survey respondents.
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TRENDS OF CYBERCRIME IN INDIA
In the past, India used to be a target of cyber-attacks for political motivation only.
Over the past few years, the global cybercrime landscape has changed dramatically,
with criminals employing more sophisticated technology and greater knowledge of
cyber security. Until recently, malware, spam emails, hacking into corporate sites and
other attacks of this nature were mostly the work of computer ‘geniuses’ showcasing
their talent. These attacks, which were rarely malicious, have gradually evolved into
cybercrime syndicates siphoning off money through illegal cyber channels.
Country Distribution: Survey done by Cyber Attack Timeline
Fig. 2: Country distribution of Cyber-Crimes
Rise inNumber of Cyber Crime in INDIA:
Fig. 3: Rise in number of Cyber-Crimes in India
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Survey result analysis done by KPMG in India:
of the respondents have experienced cybercrime in the last. It is evident
that only half of the respondents have been a victim of cyber-attacks in the last year
which indicated that the number of cybercrime incidents in India has been on rise.
Cybercrime Cases Filed in India: Survey done by National Crime Records
Bureau
Fig. 4: Cybercrime cases filed in India
IMPACT OF CYBERCRIME IN INDIA
The effects of a single, successful cyber-attack can have far-reaching implications
including financial losses, theft of intellectual property, and loss of consumer
confidence and trust. The overall monetary impact of cyber-crime on society and
government is estimated to be billions of dollars a year.
The overall monetary impact of cyber-crime on society and government are unknown.
Some estimates are that viruses and worms cause damages into the billions of dollars
a year. It is estimated that only 5 - 10% of cyber-crime is reported to law enforcement
authorities. Reasons why cyber-crime is not reported varies from not knowing that a
cyber incident has occurred to not wanting the public to know that a company’s
security data may have been exposed.
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Survey result analysis done by KPMG in India:
Fig. 5: Impact of Cybercrime in India
HOW TO TACKLE CYBER-CRIME
Prevention is always better than cure. It is always better to take certain precaution
while operating the internet. Cybercrime prevention can be straight-forward - when
armed with a little technical advice and common sense, many attacks can be avoided.
In general, online criminals are trying to make their money as quickly and easily as
possible. The more difficult you make their job, the more likely they are to leave you
alone and move on to an easier target. The tips below provide basic information on
how you can prevent online fraud.
 Keep your computer current with the latest patches and updates:
One of the best ways to keep attackers away from your computer is to apply patches
and other software fixes when they become available. By regularly updating your
computer, you block attackers from being able to take advantage of software flaws
(vulnerabilities) that they could otherwise use to break into your system.
 Make sure your computer is configured securely:
Configuring popular Internet applications such as your Web browser and email
software is one of the most important areas to focus on.
Keep in mind that a newly purchased computer may not have the right level of
security for you. When you are installing your computer at home, pay attention not
just to making your new system function, but also focus on making it work securely.
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 Choose strong passwords and keepthem safe:
Selecting a password that cannot be easily guessed is the first step toward keeping
passwords secure and away from the wrong hands. Strong passwords have eight
characters or more and use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols (e.g., # $ %
! ?).
Avoid using any of the following as your password: your login name, anything based
on your personal information such as your last name, and words that can be found in
the dictionary. Try to select especially strong, unique passwords for protecting
activities like online banking.
 Protect your computer with security software:
Several types of security software are necessary for basic online security. Security
software essentials include firewall and antivirus programs. A firewall is usually your
computer's first line of defence it controls who and what can communicate with your
computer online. You could think of a firewall as a sort of "policeman" that watches
all the data attempting to flow in and out of your computer on the Internet, allowing
communications that it knows are safe and blocking "bad" traffic such as attacks from
ever reaching your computer.
 Protect your personal information:
Exercise caution when sharing personal information such as your name, home
address, phone number, and email address online
 Don't respond to email messages that ask for personal information.
 Steer clear of fraudulent Web sites used to steal personal information.
 Pay attention to privacy policies on Web sites and in software.
 Online offers that look too good to be true usually are:
While you may not directly pay for the software or service with money, the free
software or service you asked for may have been bundled with advertising software
("adware") that tracks your behaviour and displays unwanted advertisements. You
may have to divulge personal information or purchase something else in order to
claim your supposed content winnings. If an offer looks so good it's hard to believe,
ask for someone else's opinion, read the fine print, or even better, simply ignore it.
 Review bank and credit card statements regularly:
The impact of identity theft and online crimes can be greatly reduced if you can catch
it shortly after your data is stolen or when the first use of your information is
attempted. One of the easiest ways to get the tip-off that something has gone wrong is
by reviewing the monthly statements provided by your bank and credit card
companies for anything out of the ordinary.
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CONCLUSION
Capacity of human mind is unfathomable. It is not possible to eliminate cyber-crime
from the cyber space. It is quite possible to check them. History is the witness that no
legislation has succeeded in totally eliminating crime from the globe. The only
possible step is to make people aware of their rights and duties (to report crime as a
collective duty towards the society) and further making the application of the laws
more stringent to check crime. Undoubtedly the Act is a historical step in the cyber
world. Further I all together do not deny that there is a need to bring changes in the
Information Technology Act to make it more effective to combat cyber-crime. I
would conclude with a word of caution for the pro-legislation school that it should be
kept in mind that the provisions of the cyber law are not made so stringent that it may
retard the growth of the industry and prove to be counter-productive.
RECOMMENDATION
Cybercrime is broadly defined by tech company, Symantec, as any offence that is
committed using a computer, network or hardware device. It is not a new occurrence,
but its scope is constantly evolving. Once cyber criminals have your personal details,
they gain access to an abundance of information that will allow them to clone just
about any account that is tied to you. This includes: credit cards, investment bonds,
personal savings accounts, as well as cheque accounts. The list does not stop there as
your entire identity can be stolen within seconds.
To tackle cybercrime efficiently, it is essential to establish active partnerships and
cooperation between the private sector, information security organizations, financial
institutions and public institutions to investigate cybercrime, to supervise financial
market transactions and to enforce laws. Without efficient private-public cooperation,
cybercrime will never be tackled effectively.
The private sector needs to be assured of a confidential relationship in which
information can be exchanged for investigative and intelligence purposes.
 Be aware of what you do while using public Wi-Fi Hotspots
While these access points are convenient, they are far from secure. Avoid conducting
financial or corporate transactions on these networks.
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 Be social media savvy
Make sure your social networking profiles (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MSN,
etc.) are set to private. Check your security settings. Be careful what information you
post online. Once it is on the Internet, it is extremely difficult to remove.
 Secure mobile devices
More often than not, we leave our mobile devices unattended. By activating the built-
in security features you can avoid any access to personal details. Never store
passwords, pin numbers and even your own address on any mobile device.
 Protect your Data
Use encryption for your most sensitive files such as tax returns or financial records,
make regular back-ups of all your important data, and store it in a different location.
REFERENCES
1. Cyber-Crime Report 2015 given by KMPG- India.
2. National Crime Records Bureau India
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybercrime
4. http://www.spiceworks.com/marketing/top-8-tips-prevent-cybercrime/
5. http://in.norton.com/cybercrime-prevention
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