CYBER CRIMES

Cyber Crimes are unlawful acts where the computer is used either as tool or as a target or both.
When it is used as a target it is attacked to stal confidential information or assets.
When computer is used as a tool it aids the criminal in committing criminal traditional real
world crimes such as thefts.
Some of the crimes that are rather common, considering their capacity to cause harm to large
sections of the Society:
1. Financial Crimes:
Online Fraud and Cheating
Offers Jos and require you to disclose sensitive information.
Offers Merchandise which when purchased will are never delivered
Entice you to invest in Highly Profitable Schemes
Solicits Investment or Loans
Fraud committed taking advantage of Security Weakness in Computer Systems.
Gaining unauthorized access to computer and changing the vital data for financial gain
Duping a website and getting access to some ones bank account for financial gains
Forgery
These are committed by using the computer as a tool.
Printing of counterfeit currency notes, stamps and certificates and impersonating
another person on the computer

2. Information Theft:
Theft of confidential information is for reasons ranging from revenge to industrial
espionage
Information theft can be by both intruders and insiders
Confidential information is vulnerable to theft whether it is at rest in transit or is under
process

When at rest data can be copied onto removable media or compromised host systems.
Data in transit can be interpreted by intruders by hacking sensitive information like
passwords and credit card information.
Spyware installed by attackers on desktops and other devises can collect sensitive
information when it is being processed or being entered.
Unauthorized Access: Gaining access to the resources of a computer system or a
network without the permission of the owner or system administrator.
Hacking: Breaking into a computer or network using readymade computer program or
through social engineering techniques.
CYBER EXTORTION:
Is a crime involving an attack or threat of attacking against an enterprise generally using
Denial of Service attacks (DOS) or other kinds of attacks coupled with demand for
money to avert or stop the attack
DRUG TRAFFICKING:
Using emails and other internet technologies for selling illegal drugs
As the discomfort of fear felt during physical interaction is not there and the ease of
online sales is increasing this illegal activity is also booming up.
Weapons & Illegal Goods/Activities:
Criminal will posts information about the sale of an illegal article that he wants to sell
He contacts through Email IDs through which customers can contact him
After confirmation the seller and buyer will do the transaction
The face to face meeting happens only if necessary during the final transaction

3. HARRASSMENT:
Comments directed at someone that can be derogatory or offensive tantamount to
harassment.
These comments can be aimed at a particular person or Groups involving gender race
and religion and so on.

Harassment can be via email, cyber stalking, transmission of obscene or offensive

content and defamation.
Cyber Stalking:
This means pursuing a persons movement on the internet and posting email messages
that bombard him or her on the sites he or she frequently visits.
DOMAIN SQUATTING is the example of this.

Dissemination of Obscene or Offensive Content:

This includes dissemination of obscene material, indecent exposure, pornography and
polluting a persons image through indecent exposure among others.
Governments has also banned and placed limits on certain racist, politically subversive
and inflammatory material that incites hate crimes.
The degrees to which these communications are unlawful vary from country to country.
Use of computers for downloading and producing obscene images or photographs is
cyber pornography. This may form various forms and corrupts the mind of the
adolescents.
Defamation:
This is lowering a persons image in other estimate so that he or she is shunned or
exposed to ridicule. Doing this using a virtual medium is known as cyber defamation.
This is also called as Cyber Smearing.

4. Cyber Terrorism:
Cyber Terrorism is an act of terror committed through cyberspace or by using a
computer. A simple email propagating that there will be a bomb attack can be
considered as cyber terrorism.
A person who coerces a government to fulfill his political objectives by attacking
computer networks and information networks is called a cyber-terrorist.

 Cyber Extortion:
Crippling some companys services and demanding payments to restore their services.
The most common form of terrorist attack on the Internet is by Distributed Denial of
Service attacks and attacks on sensitive computer websites.
Cyber Terrorism is any act that:
Puts the public in fear
Affects the Harmony between different groups based on religion , language or anything
else
Puts pressure on the Government established by law
Endangers the integrity of the nation
Cyber Warfare:
The information systems and computer networks of a countrys army/navy/Air Force are
attacked in such cyber warfare.
Denial of Service (DOS):
When a computer is flooded with more requests than it can handle then Denial of service will
happen
When such attack is targeted towards a computer network by using internet it is called
distributed Daniel of service.
These attacks can be of 3 types:
Consumption of scarce, limited or non-renewable resources
Alternation or destruction of configured information
Physical destruction of Network Components

Intellectual Property Theft:

Intellectual Property means the ownership of rights related to software, copyright, trademark
and other such intangible assets.
When these rights of an owner are deprived of completely or partially it is said to be an
Intellectual Property Right violation.

Software Piracy
Trade Secret
Copyright
Trade Mark
Patent

5. Computer Vandalism:
Is a program that performs malicious function such as extracting a users password or
other data or erasing the hard disk
A vandal is the full executing entity itself which can be downloaded from the Internet in
the form of an ActiveX control, Java Applet, Browser Plug-In, or email attachment.
A virus is different from a vandal. Virus generally attaches to an executable program.