1. What
is Cybercrime?
A. Cybercrime
refers to all the activities done with criminal intent in cyberspace. Because
of the anonymous nature of the internet, miscreants engage in a variety of
criminal activities. The field of cybercrime is just emerging and new forms of
criminal activities in cyberspace are coming to the forefront with each passing
day.
2. Do we
have an exhaustive definition of Cybercrime?
A. No,
unfortunately we do not have an exhaustive definition of cybercrime. However,
any online activity, which offends human sensibilities, can be regarded as a
cybercrime.
3. What
are the various categories of Cybercrimes?
A. Cybercrimes
can be divided into three major categories −
- Cybercrimes
against persons,
- Cybercrimes
against property, and
- Cybercrimes
against Government.
4. Tell
us more about Cybercrimes against persons.
A. Cybercrimes
committed against persons include various crimes like transmission of child
pornography, harassment using e-mails and cyber-stalking. Posting and
distributing obscene material is one of the most important Cybercrimes known
today.
5. Is
Cyber harassment also a Cybercrime?
A. Cyber
harassment is a distinct cybercrime. Various kinds of harassment does occur in
cyberspace. Harassment can be sexual, racial, religious, or other. Cyber
harassment as a crime also brings us to another related area of violation of
privacy of netizens. Violation of privacy of online citizens is a Cybercrime of
a grave nature.
6. What
are Cybercrimes against property?
A. Cybercrimes
against all forms of property include unauthorized computer trespassing through
cyberspace, computer vandalism, transmission of harmful programs, and
unauthorized possession of computerized information.
7. Is
hacking a Cybercrime?
A. Hacking
is amongst the gravest Cybercrimes known till date. It is a dreadful feeling to
know that a stranger has broken into your computer system without your
knowledge and has tampered with precious confidential data.
The
bitter truth is that no computer system in the world is hacking proof. It is
unanimously agreed that any system, however secure it might look, can be
hacked. The recent denial of service attacks seen over the popular commercial
sites like E-bay, Yahoo, and Amazon are a new category of Cybercrimes which are
slowly emerging as being extremely dangerous.
Using
one's own programming abilities to gain unauthorized access to a computer or
network is a very serious crime. Similarly, the creation and dissemination of
harmful computer programs which do irreparable damage to computer systems is
another kind of Cybercrime.
8. What
is Cybercrime against Government?
A. Cyber
Terrorism is one distinct example of cybercrime against government. The growth
of Internet has shown that the medium of cyberspace is being used by
individuals and groups to threaten the governments as also to terrorize the
citizens of a country. This crime manifests itself into terrorism when an
individual hacks into a government or military maintained website.
9. Is
there any comprehensive law on Cybercrime today?
A. As
of now, we don’t have any comprehensive laws on cybercrime anywhere in the
world. This is the reason that the investigating agencies like FBI are finding
the Cyberspace to be an extremely difficult terrain. Cybercrimes fall into that
grey area of Internet law which is neither fully nor partially covered by the
existing laws. However, countries are taking crucial measures to establish
stringent laws on cybercrime.
10. Is
there any recent case which demonstrates the importance of having a cyber law
on cybercrime within the national jurisdictions of countries?
A. The
most recent case of the virus "I love you" demonstrates the need for
having cyber laws concerning cybercrimes in different national jurisdictions.
At the time of the web publication of this feature, Reuters has reported that
"The Philippines has yet to arrest the suspected creator of the 'Love Bug'
computer virus because it lacks laws that deal with computer crime, a senior
police officer said". The fact of the matter is that there are no laws
relating to cybercrime in the Philippines.
11. What
is Vishing?
A. Vishing
is the criminal practice of using social influence over the telephone system,
most often using features facilitated by Voice over IP (VoIP), to gain access
to sensitive information such as credit card details from the public. The term
is a combination of "Voice" and phishing.
12. What
is Mail Fraud?
A. Mail
fraud is an offense under United States federal law, which includes any scheme
that attempts to unlawfully obtain money or valuables in which the postal
system is used at any point in the commission of a criminal offense.
13. What
is ID Spoofing?
A. It
is the practice of using the telephone network to display a number on the
recipient's Caller ID display which is not that of the actual originating
station.
14. What
is Cyber espionage?
A. It
is the act or practice of obtaining secrets from individuals, competitors,
rivals, groups, governments, and enemies for military, political, or economic
advantage using illegal exploitation methods on the internet.
15. What
is the meaning of Sabotage?
A. Sabotage
literally means willful damage to any machinery or materials or disruption of
work. In the context of cyberspace, it is a threat to the existence of
computers and satellites used by military activities
16. Name
the democratic country in which The Cyber Defamation law was first introduced.
A. South
Korea is the first democratic country in which this law was introduced first.
17. What
are Bots?
A. Bots
are one of the most sophisticated types of crime-ware facing the internet
today. Bots earn their unique name by performing a wide variety of automated
tasks on behalf of the cyber criminals. They play a part in "denial of
service" attack in internet.
18. What
are Trojans and Spyware?
A. Trojans
and spyware are the tools a cyber-criminal might use to obtain unauthorized
access and steal information from a victim as part of an attack.
19. What
are Phishing and Pharming?
A. Phishing
and Pharming are the most common ways to perform identity theft which is a form
of cyber-crime in which criminals use the internet to steal personal
information from others.
20.
Mention some tips to prevent cyber-crimes.
- · Read the latest ways hackers create phishing scams to gain access to your personal information.
- ·
Install a firewall on your computer to keep unwanted threats and
attacks to a minimum.
- ·
Use caution while opening emails and clicking links. You should
read carefully while downloading content from unverified sources.
- ·
Create strong passwords for any websites where personal
information is stored.