What is cybercrime?

Cybercrime is any criminal activity in which a computer or network is the source,

target or tool or place of crime. According to The Cambridge English Dictionary,
cyber crimes are the crimes committed with the use of computers or relating to
computers, especially through the internet. Crimes which involve use of
information or usage of electronic means in furtherance of crime are covered under
the ambit of cybercrime. Cyberspace crimes may be committed against persons,
property, government and society at large.

The common types of cyber crimes are:-

1. Hacking – An unauthorized user who attempts to or gains access to an
information system is known as a hacker. Hacking is a cyber crime even if
there is no visible damage to the system because it is an invasion in to the
privacy of data.
There are 3 different classes of Hackers.
a)      White Hat Hackers – They are those hackers who believe that information
sharing is good, and that it is their duty to share their expertise by facilitating
access to information. However there are some white hat hackers who are just “joy
riding” on computer systems.

b)      Black Hat Hackers – Black hat hackers cause damage after intrusion. They
may steal or modify data or insert viruses or worms which damage the system.
They are also known as crackers.

c)      Grey Hat Hackers – These type of hackers are typically ethical but
occasionally they can violate the hacker ethics. They will hack into networks,
stand-alone computers and software. Network hackers try to gain unauthorized
access to private computer networks just for challenge, curiosity, and distribution
of information.

2. Cyber Stalking – Cyber stalking involves use of internet to harass someone.

The   behavior includes false accusations, threats etc. Normally, majority of cyber
stalkers are men and the majority of victims are women.

3. Spamming – Spamming is sending of unsolicited bulk and commercial

messages over the internet. Although irritating to most email users, it is not illegal
unless it causes damage such as overloading network and disrupting service to
subscribers or creates negative impact on consumer attitudes towards Internet
Service Provider.
 4. Cyber Pornography – With the increasing approach of internet to the people,
there is also a increase in the victimization of Women and children for sexual
exploitation through internet. Pedophiles (a person 16 years of age or older who is
primarily or exclusively sexually attracted to children who have not begun puberty)
use the internet to send photos of illegal child pornography to targeted children so
as to attract children to such funs and later they are sexually exploited for gains.
5. Cyber Phishing – It is a criminally fraudulent process in which cyber criminal
acquires sensitive information such as username, passwords and credit card details
by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
6. Software Piracy – It is an illegal reproduction and distribution of software for
business or personal use. This is considered to be a type of infringement of copy
right and a violation of a license agreement. Since the unauthorized user is not a
party to the license agreement it is difficult to find out remedies. There are
numerous cases of software piracy. Infact according to one report New Delhi’s
Nehru market is the Asia’s largest market where one can easily find pirated
software.
7. Corporate Espionage – It means theft of trade secrets through illegal means
such as wire taps or illegal intrusions.
8. Money Laundering – Money laundering basically means the moving of
illegally acquired cash through financial and other systems so that it appears to be
legally acquired. This is possible prior to computer and internet technology and
now times electronic transfers have made it easier and more successful.
9. Embezzlement – Internet facilities are misused to commit this crime. It is the
unlawful misappropriation of money, property or any other thing of value that has
been entrusted to the offender’s care, custody or control.
10. Password Sniffers – These are programs that monitor and record the name and
password of network users as they log in, jeopardizing security at a site. Whoever
installs the sniffer can impersonate an authorized user and log in to access on
restricted documents.
11. Spoofing – Spoofing is the act of disguising one computer to electronically
“look” like another compute, in order to gain access to a system that would be
normally is restricted.
12. Credit Card Fraud – In U.S.A. half a billion dollars have been lost annually
by consumers who have credit cards and calling card numbers. These are stolen
from on-line databases. In present world this cyber crime is emerged as a major
threat as numerous cases had been filed in almost every major developed and
developing country.
13. Web Jacking – The term refers to forceful taking of control of a web site by
cracking the password.
14. Cyber terrorism – The use of computer resources to intimidate or coerce
government, the civilian population or any segment thereof in furtherance of
political or social objectives is called cyber terrorism. Individuals and groups quite
often try to exploit anonymous character of the internet to threaten governments
and terrorize the citizens of the country. 
Development of Cyber Crime:-
CyberCrime is neither defined in the IT Act 2000 nor in the I.T. Amendment Act
2008 nor in any other legislation in India. To define cybercrime, we can say, it is
just a combination of crime and computer. To put it in simple terms ‘any offense or
crime in which a computer is used is a cybercrime’. Interestingly even a petty
offense like stealing or pick-pocket can be brought within the broader purview of
cybercrime if the basic data or aid to such an offense is a computer or information
stored in a computer used (or misused) by the fraudster. It could be hackers
vandalizing one’s site, viewing confidential information or stealing trade secrets or
intellectual property with the use of the internet. It can also include ‘denial of
services’ and viruses attacks preventing regular traffic from reaching your site.

CYBER CRIME CASES IN INDIA

 Pune Citibank Mphasis Call Center Fraud
It is a case of sourcing engineering. US $ 3, 50,000 from City bank accounts of
four US customers were dishonestly transferred to bogus accounts in Pune, through
internet. Some employees of a call centre gained the confidence of the

US customers and obtained their PIN numbers under the guise of helping the
customers out of difficult situations. Later they used these numbers to commit
fraud. By April 2005, the Indian police had tipped off to the scam by a U.S. bank,
and quickly identified the individuals involved in the scam. Arrests were made
when those individuals attempted to withdraw cash from the falsified accounts,
$426,000 was stolen; the amount recovered was $230,000.

Court held that Section 43(a) was applicable here due to the nature of unauthorized
access involved to commit transactions.

 State of Tamil Nadu Vs Suhas Katti

The case related to posting of obscene, defamatory and annoying message about a
divorcee woman in the yahoo message group. E-Mails were also forwarded to the
victim for information by the accused through a false e-mail account opened by
him in the name of the victim. The posting of the message resulted in annoying
phone calls to the lady in the belief that she was soliciting.  Based on a complaint
made by the victim in February 2004, the Police traced the accused to Mumbai and
arrested him within the next few days. This is considered as the first case in the
state of Tamil Nadu, in which the offender was convicted under section 67 of
Information Technology Act 2000 in India.

 The Bank NSP Case

The Bank NSP case is the one where a management trainee of the bank was
engaged to be married. The couple exchanged many emails using the company
computers. After some time the two broke up and the girl created fraudulent email
ids such as “Indian bar associations” and sent emails to the boy’s foreign clients.
She used the banks computer to do this. The boy’s company lost a large number of
clients and took the bank to court. The bank was held liable for the emails sent
using the bank’s system.

 SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Jogesh Kwatra

In this case, the defendant Jogesh Kwatra being an employee of the plaintiff
company started sending derogatory, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, filthy and
abusive emails to his employers as also to different subsidiaries of the said 
company all over the world with the aim to defame the company and its Managing
Director. The Delhi High Court restrained the defendant from sending derogatory,
defamatory, obscene, vulgar, humiliating and abusive emails either to the plaintiffs
or to its sister subsidiaries all over the world including their Managing Directors
and their Sales and Marketing departments. Further, Hon’ble Judge also restrained
the defendant from publishing, transmitting or causing to be published any
information in the actual world as also in cyberspace which is derogatory or
defamatory or abusive of the plaintiffs. This order of Delhi High Court assumes
tremendous significance as this is for the first time that an Indian Court assumes
jurisdiction in a matter concerning cyber defamation and grants an injunction
restraining the defendant from defaming the plaintiffs by sending defamatory
emails.

 Sony.Sambandh.Com Case
A complaint was filed by Sony India Private Ltd, which runs a website called
www.sonysambandh.com, targeting Non Resident Indians. In May 2002, someone
logged onto the website under the identity of Barbara Campa and ordered a Sony
Colour Television set and a cordless head phone. She gave her credit card number
for payment and requested that the products be delivered to Arif Azim in Noida.
After one and a half months the credit card agency informed the company that this
was an unauthorized transaction as the real owner had denied having made the
purchase. The company lodged a complaint for online cheating at the Central
Bureau of Investigation. The court convicted Arif Azim for cheating under Section
418, 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code. This was the first time that a cyber
crime has been convicted. The judgment is of immense significance for the entire
nation. Besides being the first conviction in a cyber crime matter, it has shown that
the Indian Penal Code can be effectively applied to certain categories of cyber
crimes which are not covered under the Information Technology Act 2000.