The Role of Law in Cyber Crime

We are currently living in Cyber age, where Internet and computers have major impacts on our way of living, social life and the way we conduct businesses.
The usage of information technology has posed great security challenges and ethical questions in front of us. Just as every thing has positives and negatives, usage of information technology is beneficial as well as insecure.

With the growth of the internet, network security has become a major concern. Cyber crimes have emerged rapidly in the last few years and have major consequences. Cyber criminals are doing every thing from stealing money, hacking into others computer, stealing intellectual property, spreading viruses and worms to damage computers connected on the internet and committing frauds.
Stoppage of cyber crimes is a major concern today.
Cyber criminal make use of the vulnerabilities in computer soft wares and networks to their advantage.

Hacking:

Hacking or Cracking is a major cyber crime committed today. Hacker makes use of the weaknesses and loop holes in operating systems to destroy data and steal important information from victim’s computer. Cracking is normally done through the use of a backdoor program installed on your machine. A lot of crackers also try to gain access to resources through the use of password cracking softwares. Hackers can also monitor what u do on your computer and can also import files on your computer. A hacker could install several programs on to your system without your knowledge. Such programs could also be used to steal personal information such as passwords and credit card information. Important data of a company can also be hacked to get the secret information of the future plans of the company.

Cyber-Theft:

Cyber-Theft is the use of computers and communication systems to steal information in electronic format. Hackers crack into the systems of banks and transfer money into their own bank accounts. This is a major concern, as larger amounts of money can be stolen and illegally transferred.

Many newsletters on the internet provide the investors with free advice recommending stocks where they should invest. Sometimes these recommendations are totally bogus and cause loss to the investors. Credit card fraud is also very common.

Most of the companies and banks don’t reveal that they have been the victims of cyber -theft because of the fear of loosing customers and share holders. Cyber-theft is the most common and the most reported of all cyber-crimes. Cyber-theft is a popular cyber-crime because it can quickly bring experienced cyber-criminal large cash resulting from very little effort. Furthermore, there is little chance a professional cyber-criminal will be apprehended by law enforcement.

Viruses and worms:

Viruses and worms is a very major threat to normal users and companies. Viruses are computer programs that are designed to damage computers. It is named virus because it spreads from one computer to another like a biological virus. A virus must be attached to some other program or documents through which it enters the computer. A worm usually exploits loop holes in soft wares or the operating system. Trojan horse is dicey. It appears to do one thing but does something else. The system may accept it as one thing. Upon execution, it may release a virus, worm or logic bomb. A logic bomb is an attack triggered by an event, like computer clock reaching a certain date. Chernobyl and Melissa viruses are the recent examples.

Experts estimate that the Mydoom worm infected approximately a quarter-million computers in a single day in January 2004. Back in March 1999, the Melissa virus was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-mail systems until the virus could be contained.

Computer technology is becoming increasingly more advanced and there is a lot of money to be made surrounding it. Where there is more money to be made, there is more criminal activity, punishable by law. The Information Act of 2000 states that there should be different penalties for different types of technological crimes. The following are common legal penalties for computer crimes.

Telecommunication service theft involves the unlawful obtainment of any telecommunications technology. This crime is punishable with a heavy fine and an undefined term of imprisonment. The legal consequences vary depending on the severity of the theft. Communications intercept crime is a Class-D crime that involves the interruption of communication technology. It is punishable by one to five years in prison along with a fine and can include other infractions such as offensive material dissemination, telecommunication piracy, and other cyber frauds.

When someone changes a source code on a computer program or website, this is called computer source tampering. Those found guilty of this crime can face up to three years in prison, or a fine. Computer hacking also carries a prison sentence of up to three years.

Though all technological crimes are taken seriously, government computer systems hold the most serious consequence when violated. Trying to obtain access to a system protected by the government is a very serious crime that can have major consequences on government operations. Anyone found guilty of tampering with a government computer faces ten years in prison and a major fine.

Protecting computer technology crimes is extremely important because the world now relies heavily on the use of computer systems to operate. With one of the most common legal penalties for computer crimes being a prison sentence, the legal system has been very effective in putting new laws in place with the changing technology. Technology crimes are taken very seriously and punished harshly.

Crime has a new face – online abuse, in today’s times. The worst part – it’s invisible. Maria Gromakova, a blogger from St. Petersburg, Russia, experienced it first hand when her blog became the target for Russian radical nationalists, and was filled with offensive comments and threats.

Not content on attacking Maria on her blog, her online assailants sent her abusive fascist text messages on her cell phone, hacked her profile on a popular Russian social network site, and even attacked her on a city train, all in the name of ‘preserving Russia’s nationalistic fabric’. The result – Maria’s life turned into a living hell, and made her and her family leave Russia.

If you feel you are a victim of online abuse and harassment from an anonymous source, it is a case of personal injury. Get in touch with an attorney in Billings, Montana, and restore your online persona.

Harmful Effects of Online Abuse

A number of researches have demonstrated the serious consequences of cyber harassment. The victims often develop lower self-esteem, increased suicidal ideation, and a variety of adverse emotional responses. A major damaging effect of online abuse is a victim avoiding his/her friends, family and social activities. The suicide of Megan Taylor Meier, a Missouri teenager in 2006, was attributed to cyberbullying through the social networking site MySpace.

Stop Online Harassment Before Its Too Late

Follow these steps to ensure you always remain one step ahead of your invisible enemy:

Never give out your primary email id to anyone you do not trust or know
Never put any sensitive information on personal pages on social networking sites
Be careful when posting messages in an online forum
Do not fall for phishing emails that claim your account has been suspended or needs to be updated – they are scams
If anything looks too good to be true, it probably is
In case of breach of online identity, report it immediately to the law enforcement officials. Make sure you have all the documents with you
Contact a lawyer who is well versed in tackling cyber crimes

Online abuse and harassment can leave a permanent scar on your life. The internet is not what it used to be any more. Although we need the internet in our daily lives, we should also exercise proper caution before furnishing our personal and business details. After all your online identity is just as important as your offline one. If you think your identity is violated in the cyberspace, get legal advice immediately.

To many involved in criminal dense, cyber crime is the bane of the 21st Century. It accounts for millions in ill-gotten earnings each year. Vast criminal networks spanning the global are now actively involved in cyber crimes of one sort or another. The potential for future earnings is almost unlimited and the relatively safety that the Internet provider cyber criminals means that it is extremely hard to catch. Victims mount up. However, things were not always this way.

In the early days of cyber crime the world of cyber crime was seen as a rather harmless prank by computer geeks showing off how much they knew about the working of computer networks. It was tantamount to a dare, you say it cannot be done and we will show you how it can. Relatively little harm was intended and criminal defense lawyers did not have their work cut-out showing this. Indeed, few if any specific criminal laws were on the statutes that regulated cyber crimes in the early days and most of the criminal defenses were bog-standard.

As times changed, so did the nature of the cyber crime. More technological advances and cheaper access to hardware and software meant that the Internet became a domain anyone could access. More sinister fraud came to the attention of the authorities. Child related crimes, such as child pornography, became known widely. With the escalation of the criminal element of the cyber crime, new laws were needed and specialist criminal defense lawyers were required.

However, even only as recently as the last five years cyber crime was still controllable. Cyber crime was not a major revenue earner for criminal gangs in the late 20th Century. It has only been since the millennium that things have changed.

Nonetheless, without globally implement criminal sanctions in place against the actions of cyber criminals, the ultimate criminal defense still exists, namely jurisdiction. Unlike a crime committed in the real world, it is physically possible for a criminal to be in two places at once when it comes to cyber crimes. You can commit a crime in the US while you sit comfortably in your apartment in Russia. Consequently, universal laws will be needed if a criminal defense mechanism is going to be put in place to combat these growing problems.

With the prevalent use of the computer, come the possibility and the occurrence of many kinds of cyber crimes. To describe, cyber crimes are criminal activities which makes use of the internet technology to obtain unlawful or un-permitted access to a computer system or internet-related accounts with the purpose of damaging or altering computer or personal data. It involves illicit activities such as identity theft, data interference, electronic frauds, and abuse of devices. Although it may not always consist of damage to physical property, it may at the same time comprise of the intention to manipulate private data as well as critical information for a particular organization or person. Along with this, an individual needs to realize that the ever-continual discovery that leads to the progressive development of many things is some of the weapons used by many internet criminals to get through with their illegal activities. This article will provide basic information about different types of cyber crimes.

One of the most common types of cyber crimes is the act of trying to obtain confidential information such as account usernames, credit card information, and secret codes through acting as real and legal entities. This act known as phishing is accomplished by sending fraudulent emails or requiring individuals to provide confidential information in a bogus website. Most of the time, these cyber criminals make use of websites that are created to be mistaken as the website that they are trying to imitate; they are doing this to make the users confident and feel safe in providing their personal information.

Identity theft is also one of the most dangerous and deceptive schemes that one can encounter if they are not vigilant with their actions. A lot of people have been robbed of great amounts of money and other benefits because illicit minded individuals have used their identity. To be more precise, identity theft is the act of pretending to be somebody else by using your identity as if it is their own. For example, once your bank or credit card information has been stolen, it would be easier for a person to obtain goods and services by using your own information. Typically, identity theft is carried out in order to pursue illegal migration, blackmail and sometimes terrorism.

The popularity of using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as using instant messaging services and using chat rooms, joining forums and other internet forums make way for the possible undertaking of cyber stalking. This act can be defined as an action that is accomplished with the aim to torture other individuals through the use of the internet. Individuals who are prone to posting their daily activities and other personal information through these sites are at the greater risk of being harassed by others who are gathering this information to be used on them.

Indeed, there are plenty of cyber crimes that are transpiring at present. This all the more proves that people have to be extra careful with their actions when they are online. You have to understand that with the great benefits that internet technology can provide to many individuals, it also present possible threats that can bring damaging effects to an individual’s life if they are not wary of their actions.