Author Name:   gauravsharma

The increased dependence on IT and communication technology for dynamic and fast business solutions has its own side effect. The effect of digital information technologies upon our world certainly poses endless benefits for the citizens of our growing global village. The dark side of it, not surprisingly, is the misuse of Information Technology for criminal activities. Cyber Crimes are a new genus of crimes, which use computers and networks for criminal activities...

Cyber Offences - A Technological Termite (With Special Reference To Offences Covered Under Information Technology Act, 2002)

What Are Cyber Crimes?
1 (a) & (b) Introduction and meaning:
A cyber criminal is here, there, anywhere, everywhere and yet nowhere, is law only real answer to virtual crimes?

The concept of cyber crimes 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 counter balanced by the sanction of the state.

Conventional crime:
Crime is a social and economic phenomenon and is as old as the human society. Crime is a legal concept and has the sanction of law. Crime or an offence is “a legal wrong that can be followed by criminal proceedings which may result into punishment.” The hallmark of criminality is that, it is breach of the criminal law.

Per Lord Akin “the criminal quality of an act cannot be discovered by reference to any standard but one: is the act prohibited with penal consequences”

A crime may be said to be any conduct accompanied by act or omission prohibited by law and consequential breach of which is visited by penal consequences.

Cyber Crime:
Cyber crime is the latest and perhaps the most complicated problem in the cyber world. “Cyber crime may be said to be those species, of which, genus is the conventional crime, and where either the computer is an object or subject of the conduct constituting crime”. “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 crimes.

A generalized definition of the 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 flowing kinds of activity such as financial crimes, sale of illegal articles, pornography, online gambling, intellectual property crime, email spoofing, forgery, cyber defamation, cyber stalking etc. the computer may however be target for unlawful acts in the following cases such as unauthorized access to computer, computer system / computer networks, theft of information contained in the electronic form, email bombing, data didling, salami attacks, logic bombs, Trojan attacks, internet time thefts, web jacking, theft of computer system, physically damaging the computer system.

1 (c) Reasons for increasing cases of cyber crimes:
Professor HLA Hart 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 cyber space we may say that computers are vulnerable so rule of law is required to protect them and safeguard them against the cyber crimes. The reason for the vulnerability of computer 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 easier.

2) Easy to access: The problem encountered in guarding a computer system from the unauthorized access is that there is every possibility of breach not due to human error but due to the complex technology. By secretly implanted logic bombs, key loggers that can steal access codes, advanced voice recognition, retina images etc. that can fool biometric system and bypass firewalls can be utilized to get pas many a security system.

3) Complex: The computer work on operating systems and this operating system in turn are composed of millions of codes. Human mind is fallible and it is not possible that there might not be lapse at any stage. The cyber criminal 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 and obvious problem as all the data are routinely destroyed. Further collection of data outside the territorial extent also paralyses this system of crime investigation.

1 (d) who are Cyber Criminals?
The cyber criminals constitute of various groups / categories. This division may be justified on the basis of the object that they have in their mind. The following are the category of cyber criminals.

Children and adolescents between the age group of 6 -18 years: The simple reason for this type of delinquent behavioral pattern in children is seen mostly due to the inquisitiveness to know and explore the things. Other cognate reason may be to prove themselves to be outstanding amongst other children in their group. Further the reason may be psychological even. E.g. the BAL BHARTI (Delhi) case was the outcome of harassment of the delinquent by his friends.

Organized hackers: These kinds of hackers are mostly organized together to fulfill certain objectives. The reason may be to fulfill their potential bias, fundamentalism etc. The Pakistanis are said to be one of the organized hackers in the world. They mainly target the Indian government sites with the purpose to fulfill their political objectives.

Professional hackers / crackers: Their work is motivated by the color of money. These kinds of hackers are mostly employed to hack the site of the rivals and get credible, reliable and valuable information. Further they are employed to crack the system of the employer basically as a measure to make it safer by detecting the loopholes.

Discontented employees: This group includes those people who have been either sacked by their employer or are dissatisfied with their employer. To avenge they normally hack the system of their employer.

2. Subject Matter Of Cyber Crimes
The subject matter of cyber crime may be broadly classified under the following three groups:
I. Against Individuals
a. Their person
b. Their property of an individual

II. Against organization
# Government.
# Firm, company, group of individuals

III. Against / Society at large: The following are the crimes which can be committed against the group
Against Individuals:-
# Harassment via e-mail
# Cyber stalking.
# Dissemination of obscene material.
# Defamation.
# Unauthorized control/ access over computer system.
# Indecent exposure.
# Email spoofing.
# Cheating and fraud.

Against Individual Property:-
# Computer vandalism.
# Transmitting virus.
# Netresspass.
# Unauthorized control / access over computer system.
# IPR crimes.
# Internet time thefts

Against Organization:-
# Unauthorized control / access over computer system.
# Possession of unauthorized information.
# Cyber terrorism against the government organization
# Distribution of pirated software etc.

# Against Society at large:-
# Pornography
# Polluting the youth through indecent exposure.
# Trafficking
# Financial crimes.
# Sale of illegal articles.
# Online gambling.
# Forgery.


Interface Of Cyber Crimes And Indian Law
1. Introductory: The Indian Parliament considered it necessary to give effect to the resolution by which the General Assembly of the UN Commission on International Trade Law adopted Model Law on E-Commerce. As a consequence of which the INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT 2000 was passed and enforced on 17th May 2000. The preamble of this Act states its objective to legalize e-commerce and further amend the IPC 1860, the Indian Evidence Act 1872, The Banker Books Evidence Act 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The basic purpose to incorporate the changes in these Acts is to make them compatible with the Act of 2000. So that they may regulate and control the affairs of the cyber world in an affective manner.

2. Statutory provisions which deal with the cyber offences (Section 65 to 67B) and (Sections 71 to 74):
Chapter XI of the IT Act, 2000 covers the cyber offences and they are as follows-
A. [Section 65] (Tampering with computer source documents):- Tampering with computer source documents.-Whoever knowingly or intentionally conceals, destroys or alters or intentionally or knowingly causes another to conceal, destroy or alter any computer source code used for a computer, computer programme, computer system or computer network, when the computer source code is required to be kept or maintained by law for the time being in force, shall be punishable with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine which may extend up to two lakh rupees, or with both.

Explanation.-For the purposes of this section, "computer source code" means the listing of programmes, computer commands, design and layout and programme analysis of computer resource in any form.

B. [Section 66] hacking with computer system:-
(1) Whoever with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person destroys or deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means, commits hacking.

(2) Whoever commits hacking shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine which may extend up to two lakh rupees, or with both.

C. [Section 67] Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form.-Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees.

D. [Section 67 A] Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form:- Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeal to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees.

E. [Section 67 B] Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form:- whoever –

a. publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted material in any electronic form which depicts children engaged in sexually explicit act or conduct; or

b. creates text or digital images, collects, seeks, browses, downloads, advertises, promotes, exchanges or distributes material in any electronic form depicting children in obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner;

c. cultivates, entices or induces children to online relationship with one or more children for and on sexually explicit act or in a manner that may offend a reasonable adult on the computer resources; or

d. facilities abusing children online, or

e. records in any electronic form own abuse or that of others pertaining to sexually explicit act with children

shall be punishable on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 5 yrs and with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees and in the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description of a term which may be extend to 7 yrs and also with fine which may extend to 10 lakh rupees.

F. [Section 71] Penalty for misrepresentation.-Whoever makes any misrepresentation to, or suppresses any material fact from, the Controller of the Certifying Authority for obtaining any license or Digital Signature Certificate, as the case may be, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.

G. [Section 72] Penalty for breach of confidentiality and privacy.-Save as otherwise provided in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, any person who, in pursuance of any of the powers conferred under this Act, rules or regulations made there under, has secured access to any electronic record, book, register, correspondence, information, document or other material without the consent of the person concerned discloses such electronic record, book, register, correspondence, information, document or other material to any other person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.

[Section 72 A] Punishment for disclosure of information for breach of lawful contract:- Any person including an intermediary who, while providing services under the terms of lawful contract, has secured access to any material containing personal information about another person, with the intent to cause or knowingly that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or wrongful gain discloses, without consent of the person concerned, or in breach of a lawful contract, such material to any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 yrs or with fine which m extend to 5 lakh rupees or with both.

H. [Section 73] Penalty for publishing Digital Signature Certificate false in certain particulars.-

(1) No person shall publish a Digital Signature Certificate or otherwise make it available to any other person with the knowledge that- (a) the Certifying Authority listed in the certificate has not issued it; or (b) the subscriber listed in the certificate has not accepted it; or (c) the certificate has been revoked or suspended, unless such publication is for the purpose of verifying a digital signature created prior to such suspension or revocation.

(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.

I. [Section 74] Publication for fraudulent purpose.-Whoever knowingly creates, publishes or otherwise makes available a Digital Signature Certificate for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.

Certain new cyber offences cover by Amendment Act 10 of 2009 of IT Act, 2000 and they are:
[Section 66A.] Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services: Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device,—

(a) Any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or

(b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device,

(c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.

[Section 66 B] Punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device:- Whoever dishonestly received or retains any stolen computer resource or communication device knowing or having reason to believe the same to be stolen computer resource or communication device, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to rupees one lakh or with both.

[Section 66C] Punishment for identity theft:- Whoever, fraudulently or dishonestly make use of the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine with may extend to rupees one lakh.

[Section 66 D] Punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource:- Whoever, by means for any communication device or computer resource cheats by personating, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to one lakh rupee.

[Section 66 E] Punishment for violation of privacy:- Whoever, intentionally or knowingly captures, publishes or transmits the image of a private area of any person without his or her consent, under circumstances violating the privacy of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years or with fine not exceeding two lakh rupees, or with both.

[Section 66 F] Punishment for cyber terrorism:-
(1) Whoever,—
(A) With intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India or to strike terror in the people or any section of the people by—

(i) Denying or cause the denial of access to any person authorized to access Computer resource; or

(ii) Attempting to penetrate or access a computer resource without authorization or exceeding authorized access; or

(iii) introducing or causing to introduce any computer contaminant; and by means of such conduct causes or is likely to cause death or injuries to persons or damage to or destruction of property or disrupts or knowing that it is likely to cause damage or disruption of supplies or services essential to the life of the community or adversely affect the critical information infrastructure specified under section 70, or

(B) knowingly or intentionally penetrates or accesses a computer resource without authorization or exceeding authorized access, and by means of such conduct brains access to information, data or computer database that is restricted for reasons for the security of the State or foreign relations, or any restricted information, data or computer database, with reasons to believe that such information, data or computer database so obtained may be used to cause or likely to cause injury to the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence, or to the advantage of any foreign nation, group of individuals or otherwise, commits the offence of cyber terrorism.

(2) Whoever commits or conspires to commit cyber terrorism shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for life.’

3. Extraterritorial jurisdiction (Section 75): Act to apply for offence or contravention committed outside India.-
(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), the provisions of this Act shall apply also to any offence or contravention committed outside India by any person irrespective of his nationality.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), this Act shall apply to an offence or contravention committed outside India by any person if the act or conduct constituting the offence or contravention involves a computer, computer system or computer network located in India.

4. Power to investigate offences (Section 78):
Power to investigate offences.-Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), a police officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police shall investigate any offence under this Act.

5. Criticism: the IT Act, 2000 was undoubtedly a welcome step at a time when there was no legislation on this specialized field. The Act has however during its applications has proved to be inadequate to a certain extent. The various loopholes or criticism of the Act are as follows-

The hurry with which the legislation was passed without sufficient public debate, did not really serve the desired purpose. Experts are of the opinion that one of the reasons for the inadequacy of the legislation has been the hurry in which it was passed by the parliament and it is also a fact that sufficient time was not given for a pubic debate.

The IT Act, 2000 in their very preamble and aim state that they are targeted at aiding e-commerce and are not meant to regulate cyber crime”, which is also one of the inadequacy to deal with cases of cyber crime.

Cyber torts: the recent cases including the cyber stalking, cyber harassment, cyber nuisance have shown that the IT Act, 2000 has not dealt with those offences. Further it is also contended that in future new forms of cyber crime will emerge which need to be taken care of.

Cyber crime in the Act is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive: There is need of dedicated legislation on cyber crime that can supplement the IPC. The IT Act, 2000 is not comprehensive & doesn’t even define the term cyber offences. “India as nation has to cope with an urgent need to regulate an punish those committing cyber crimes, but with no specific provisions to do so. Supporters of the IPC School vehemently argue that IPC has stood the test of time and that it is not necessarily to incorporate any special laws on cyber crimes. This is because it is debated by them that the IPC alone is sufficient for all kinds of crime. However, in practical terms the argument does not have appropriate backing. It has to be distinctively understood that cyber crime and cyber space are completely new whelms, where new possibilities and opportunities emerge by the day in the form of new kinds of crimes.

Ambiguity in the definition: The definition of hacking provided in section 66 of the Act is very wide and capable of misapplication. There is every possibility of this section being misapplied and in fact the Delhi court has misapplied in number cases.

Further section 67 is also vague to certain extent. It is difficult to define the term lascivious information or obscene pornographic information. Further our inability to deal with the cases of cyber pornography has been proved by the BAL BHARTI SCHOOL CASE.

Uniform Law: The need of the hour is worldwide uniform cyber law to combat cyber crimes. Cyber crime is a global phenomenon and therefore the initiative to fight it should come from the same level. E.g. the author of the love bug virus was appreciated by his countrymen.

Lack of awareness: One important reason that the Act of 2000 is not achieving complete success is the lack of awareness among the public about there rights. Further most of the cases are going unreported if the people are vigilant about their rights and the law definitely protect there rights. E.g. the Delhi high court in October 2002 prevented a person from selling the MICROSOFT PIRATDE SOFTWARE over an auction site. Achievement was also made in the case before the court of MM Delhi wherein a person was convicted for online cheating by buying Sony products using a stolen credit cards.

Jurisdictional issue: Jurisdiction is also one of the debatable issue in the cases of cyber crimes due to the very universal nature of cyber crime. With the ever – growing arms of cyber space the territorial concept seems to vanish. New methods of dispute resolution should give way to conventional methods. The Act of 2000 is very silent on these issues.

Extra territorial jurisdiction: Thought section 75 provides for the extra territorial operations of this law, but they could be meaningful only when backed with the provisions recognizing orders and warrants for information issued by competent authorities outside their jurisdiction and measure for cooperation for exchange of material and evidence of computer crimes between law enforcement agencies.

Raising the Cyber army: By raising the word cyber army by no means I want to convey the idea of virtual army rather I am laying emphasis on the need for a well equipped task force to deal with the new trends of hi tech crime. The government has taken a step in this direction by constitution cyber crime cells in all metropolitan and other important cities. Further the establishment of the cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of the CBI is definitely a welcome step in this direction. The IT Act of 2000 is silent on this aspect.

Cyber savvy Bench: Cyber savvy judges are the need of the day. Judiciary plays a vital role in shaping the enactment according to the order of the day. One such stage, which needs appreciation, is the PIL, which the kerela high court has accepted through an e-mail.

Dynamic form of cyber crime: Speaking on the dynamic nature of cyber crime FBI director Louis Freeh has said: “In short, even though we have markedly improved our capabilities to fight cyber intrusions the problem is growing even faster and we are falling further behind”. The de creativity of human mind can not be checked by any law. Thus the only way out is the liberal construction while applying the statutory provisions to cyber crime cases.

Hesitation to report offences: As stated above one of the fatal drawbacks of the Act has been the cases going unreported. One obvious reason is the non-cooperative police force. This was proved by the Delhi time theft case. “The police are a powerful force today which can play an instrumental role in preventing cyber crimes. At the same time, it can also end up wielding the rod and harassing innocents, preventing them from going about their normal cyber business”. For complete realization of the provisions of this Act a cooperative police is require.

4. Cases Of Cyber Crimes In India
As far as India is concerned although there are not so much cases on this technology as India is still at the nascent stage as far as this technology is concerned but still there are some cases which highlights that judiciary is serious towards these crimes and has a concern in the back of its mind-

Some of the cases are –
1. Chadrakant Kalyandass kakodar vs. State of Maharashtra. [AIR 1985 SC 881]
2. Ranjeet D. Udeshi Vs state of Maharashtra [(1985) 4 SCC 289]
3. Bobby art International & others Vs. Om pal singh hoon & others “Popularly know as Bandid queens case” [(1996 0 4 SCC 1]
All these cases related to the obscenity in the cyber space.

5. Attempts By Indian Side To Curb The Increasing Cases Of The Cyber Crimes Or To Provide Remedies To The Victims Of Cyber Crimes
Indian government have taken certain steps to curb the increasing cases of the cyber crimes out which the establishment of the cyber crime investigation cell in metropolitan states such as Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and same deserves mention:-

(i) Delhi
In keeping with the demand of the times, the cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of the CBI notified in September 1999, started functioning w.e.f 3/3/2000. The cell is headed by a superintendent of police. The jurisdiction of this cell is all India, and besides the offences under XI of the IT Act, 2000, it also has power to look into other high – tech crimes.

Postal Address/ Location:
Superintendent of Police, Cyber Crime Investigation Cell, Central Bureau of Investigation, 5th floor, Block No -3, CGO Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110001.

(ii) Mumbai:
The CCIC of Mumbai police was inaugurated on 18th December 2000 and it is functioning under the overall guidance of Commissioner of Police (crime) Addl. Commissioner of Police (Crime) and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Preventive).

Postal Address/Location:
Cyber Crime Investigation Cell, Annex II, 1st Floor, office of the Commissioner of Police,
D.N Road, Mumbai – 400001.

(iii) Bangalore:
A cyber crime cell was stared at corps of detectives - Head Quarters, Bangalore to deal with cyber crime, vide Govt notification No.HD 173 POP 99 dated 15/10/1999. The cyber crime cell started functioning at corps of detectives – Head Quarters, Bangalore from 21-10-1999, with one Deputy Superintendent of Police four Police Inspectors along with supporting staff.
Postal Address/Location:
Cyber Crime Investigation Cell, COD Annex Building, Carlton House, 1, Palace Road,
Bangalore – 560001
E-mail id: ccps@kar.nic.in

6. Precautions To Be Taken By The Internet Receivers To Avoid Or To Get Saved Of Becoming The Victim Of Cyber Offences
There are certain precautions which if each individual take than he protect himself/herself form becoming the victim of cyber crime. They are as follows:
Specific Precautions in case 419 emails or messages:
# Don’t send 419 coalition a copy of 419 solicitation received by you.
# do no respond to the 419er and do follow the instruction which are given on the Nigerian govt. website from protecting yourself.
# Never pay anything upfront for ANY reason.
# Never extend your credit for ANY reason.
# Never do anything until their check clears.
# Never expect ANY help from the Nigerian Government.

Do Not Respond To The 419 Solicitation.
# Notify your own nation’s national Law Enforcement Agency and your own nation’s foreign office.
# File a complaint with the Nigerian embassy or high commission in your nation.
# File a complaint via email with the central bank of Nigeria.
# For Loss cases only, you may file a complaint with the Nigerian Economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC).

General Precautions While Working On The Interne:
# Get educated. When arming yourself against cyber crime, it's important to become aware of the risks. By educating yourself on current illegal trends, you can better understand ways you can reduce the risk of becoming a target. Awareness is the strongest weapon you can obtain to protect yourself against cyber crime.
# Use vigilance. It's a good idea to always be vigilant when sharing personal information over the Internet. It's important to make sure you only share minimal, if any, personal information with people you do not know. Be conscientious of what information share even if you think you are being careful. Often criminals will talk with their victims for long periods of time, piecing together bits of personal information until they have a complete profile. People you associate with or meet online may not appear to be who they say they are, after all one never knows who is really sitting at the other end of a network connection.
# Be careful with passwords. Do not ever enter passwords or personal information on links you received in email since emails can be spoofed and/or used to "phish" for information.
# Protect your computer. It's also important you invest in installation of anti-virus, spy-ware and firewall software. There are many programs available that you can download for free, or you can purchase a proprietary one. There are several good websites available that can advise you on how to select the right one for you. One well-known website is C-Net.com, and can be accessed at: http://www.download.com/Antivi rus-Firewall-Spyware/?tag=dir
# Read privacy policies. Another tip is to read privacy policies of any online entity you conduct business with. Be aware of what is done with your personal information once you do share it with a company or # organization. While most of the businesses you work with are legit, occasionally a partnering organization may sell data to a third party undesirable business you may not want your information shared with. # Most of the time you can opt-out of your information being shared if you take the time to read privacy policies.
# Sailesh Kumar Zarkar, technical Advisor and network security consultant to the Mumbai Police Cyber Crime Cell, advocates the 5P’s mantra for online security: PRECAUTION, PREVENTION, PROTECTION AND PRESERVANCE.
# To prevent cyber stalking avoid disclosing any information pertaining to oneself.
# Always use latest and update anti-virus software to guard against virus attacks.
# Always keep backup volumes so that one may not suffer data lose in case of virus contamination.
# Never send your credit card number to any site that is not secured to guard against frauds.
# Website owners should watch traffic and check any irregularity on the site – putting host based intrusion detection devices on servers may dot this.

So these are certain precautions which must be taken by the netizens in order to protect themselves from becoming a victim of cyber crimes.

7. Conclusion
Giving birth to new technologies is the work of the inventors. Making use of those technologies for more advanced and drastic crimes is the craftwork of the criminals. Controlling such crimes is the result of the interplay of the functions of legislature, executive and judiciary. It is a circle. The Society grinds in between this circle with different emotions and reaction. Sometimes with awe as new inventions springs up, then with distrust when the invention is used for anti-social activities and then with hope as the Big Brother nails down the criminals with the shackles of law. That is how the telegraph was looked at. This is how the Internet is being looked at. This is how the future technologies will be looked at. However, the time frame between each activity is enormous. In between these timeframes, the wrongdoer is able to gain the maximum. However, as the wheels of justice become operational with proper oiling of law and evidence such unsociable activities are forced to reduce. Though, on a caution note the never tend to cease.

Conclusion Cum Suggestion
I would like to give suggestion that to curb cyber crimes, one is required to understand then in the perspective of technologies advancement and the ease with which they can be committed. The old adage of “AN EYE FOR AN EYE” would be equally applicable to reduce computer crimes. It should be “TECHNOLOGY FOR TECHNOLOGY”. If one is committing a crime by using technology, one will be blocked to do so by employing tehchnology. Law can merely supplant but cannot supplement the effort of determining of cyber criminal.

The  author can be reached at: gaurav.25@legalserviceindia.com

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