Explained: What is Cyber Crime, its Types and Laws in India

What is cyber crime?

A criminal activity that uses computer as instrumentality or means for perpetuating further crimes. It is defined as an unlawful act wherein the computer is tool or target or both.

Q. What are various modes or manners of committing cyber crime?

Unauthorized access to computer systems or networks / Hacking, Theft of information contained in electronic form, Email bombing, Salami attack, Denial of Service attack, Virus / worm attacks, Logic bombs, Internet time thefts.

Q. What are the various types of cyber crime?

Crime against government such as cyber terrorism. Crime against persons such as cyber pornography, cyber stalking, cyber defamation. Crime against property such as online gambling, intellectual property infringement, phishing, credit card frauds.

Q. What is an IP spoofing?

A technique used to gain unauthorized access to computers, whereby the intruder sends messages to a computer with an IP address indicating that the message is coming from a trusted host.

Q. What is phishing?

Phishing is the criminal and fraudulent act of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, password and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity or person in an electronic communication.

Q. What are the laws governing Cyber Crimes in India?

Cyber Crime can involve criminal activities, such as theft, fraud, forgery, defamation and mischief, all of which are subject to the IPC. The abuse of computers has also given birth to a gamut of new age crimes that are addressed by the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Q. How to report a Cyber Crime?

You need to provide the following possible information, along with an application letter addressing the head of cyber crime investigation cell when filing a complaint, Name, Mailing address, contact. Specific details on how the offence was committed in case of emergency you can contact local police station.

Q. What is Cyberstalking?

Cyberstalking, which is simply an extension of the physical form of stalking, is where the electronic mediums such as the Internet are used to pursue, harass or contact another in an unsolicited fashion.

Q. What is financial crime and modes of committing such crime?

Financial Crimes are defined as a crime against property, involving the unlawful conversion of the ownership of property to one’s own personal use and benefit. By using social engineering techniques or sophisticated technical methods such as “phishing”, fraudsters are able to plunder bank accounts across the world.(The author, Prachi Mishra, is a Supreme Court lawyer and Additional Advocate General, Chhattisgarh)

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