IT ACT AND CYBER CRIME

IT Act 2000 – An Overview

• Information Technology Act, 2000 is India’s mother legislation regulating the use of computers, computer systems and computer networks as also data and information in the electronic format.

• It is developed to promote the IT industry, regulate ecommerce, facilitate e-governance and prevent cybercrime

• Cyber law encompasses laws relating to – Cyber crimes Electronic and digital signatures Intellectual property Data protection and privacy

Cyber crime on the rise• As per the cyber crime data maintained by the National Crime Records

Bureau (NCRB), following were the total Cyber Crime cases registered under the Information Technology Act 2007- 217 cases 2008- 288 cases 2009- 420 cases 2010- 966 cases

• The age-wise profile of persons arrested in cyber crime cases showed that 58.6% of the offenders were in the age group 18–30 years (695 out of 1184) and 31.7% of the offenders were in the age group 30-45 years

• One in three adults online Indians (32%) have been either social or mobile cybercrime victims.

Types of Cyber Crime being committed

• Email spoofing It is one that appears to originate from one source but actually has been sent from another false source.• Web jacking/ HackingThis occurs when someone forcefully takes control of a website (by cracking the password and later changing it). The actual owner of the website does not have any more control over what appears on that website.

Types of Cyber Crime being committed

• Cyber DefamationIndia’s first case of cyber defamation was reported when a company’s employee started sending derogatory, defamatory and obscene e-mails about its Managing Director. The e-mails were anonymous and frequent, and were sent to many of their business associates to tarnish the image and goodwill of the company, Later he was Identified and accordingly penalized. • Cyber stalkingCyber 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 and constantly bombarding the victim with emails etc.

Types of Cyber Crime being committed

• Email bombingEmail bombing refers to sending a large number of emails to the victim resulting in the victim’s email account or mail servers crashing. Example: In one case, a foreigner who had been residing in Simla, India for almost thirty years wanted to avail of a scheme introduced by the Simla Housing Board to buy land at lower rates. When he made an application it was rejected on the grounds that the scheme was available only for citizens of India. He decided to take his revenge. Consequently he sent thousands of mails to the Simla Housing Board and repeatedly kept sending e-mails till their servers crashed• Virus / worm attacksViruses 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.

Cyber PornographyAccessing pornography or sharing obscene content is illegal and punishable under the

lawIn pornography, the service provider,

misrepresents his identity and dispatches a mail to a child user of computer for sending

photographs for a carrier of fashion or modeling, with an offer of incentive or

money and sometimes they assure their victims that such pictures are for personal or

confidential use. When they receive such pictures they interpolate the same through

graphic program and convert them to pornographic pictures such as putting the face of the victim on the nude body of the

person or convert them into intimate postures and release through Modem for

hacking by users, with out the knowledge of the victim.

Social Networking Sites- Source to Cyber Crime

• The recent incident of a 17-year-old girl from a south Delhi Public School alleging that she was sexually assaulted by two MNC employees , whom she had befriended on a social networking website, is a reminder on how the internet can be a source of danger for young generation.

Emergency Contact

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team Department of Information Technology,

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India

Electronics Niketan, 6 CGO Complex, Lodhi Road,New Delhi – 110003 ph. – 011-24368572