CYBER CRIME AND SECURITY

"The modern thief can steal more with a computer than with a gun. Tomorrow's terrorist
may be able to do more damage with a keyboard than with a bomb".

Cyber crime is a serious phenomenon threatening the security of societies and the
international community as a whole. International cooperation has been particularly
active to face this dangerous plague, to determine pre-emptive measures and punish the
perpetrators. Since information and communication technologies, currently
representing the basic infrastructure for all computer-based facilities, have become
global media of communication used by states and companies alike, ignoring these
technologies is tantamount to excluding oneself from the international community.

Tackling cyber crimes is then crucial, since individuals, institutions and even
governments are further exposed to these crimes; cyber crime is, in fact, committed on a
larger scale than conventional crime. At a time of technological progress, society is
increasingly aware of its potentially negative repercussions. As information and
communication technologies provide major platforms for transactions, government and
company infrastructure become potential victims of cyber crime. This crime is also
drawing near individuals, threatening their personal data in banks or government
institutions. While technology has largely contributed to progress and development, it
also led, one way or another, to the development of new ways to commit crime through
electronic means. Hence, criminals took advantage of technology and exploited
cyberspace and the computer to commit crimes.

What is cybercrime?

 Cyber crimes are defined as criminal actions resulting from or committed through
information technology, the computer or any other electronic means. Experts define
cyber crime as “any illegal, unethical, or unauthorized behaviour involving the
transmission or automatic processing of data”. . Based on these definitions, the
computer can be a tool for crime such as theft and fraud, a channel or a location of
crime such as data destruction, and an object of crime such as the theft of computer
chips.

 The computer can then be used to commit a conventional crime such as individual
or mechanical fraud, phishing, stealing patterns of invention, counterfeiting or
facilitating prostitution. It can also be used to commit unconventional crimes such as
website hacking, content destruction, data theft, and credit card theft.

 The computer might also be used to commit complex criminal activities, such as
money laundering. This crime is of major importance for law enforcement
authorities in technologically-advanced states namely, which fear that financial
transactions are often impossible to trace, while ebanking systems allow clients to
access bank accounts from anywhere in the world and execute a number of
transactions in several directions in just a few seconds.

 Terrorist organizations are using the internet and other electronic media to spread
and market their terrorist ideas, recruit the young to execute terrorist activities,
share messages and instructions between terrorists, access information networks to
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collect data and updates, use the internet to train the executors, broadcast terrorist
activities and advertise for them.
 Harassment-Whereas content may be offensive in a non-specific way, harassment
directs obscenities and derogatory comments at specific individuals focusing for
example on gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation. This often occurs
in chat rooms, through newsgroups, and by sending hate e-mail to interested
parties. Any comment that may be found derogatory or offensive is considered
harassment.
 Obscene or offensive content -The content of websites and other electronic
communications may be distasteful, obscene or offensive for a variety of reasons. In
some instances these communications may be illegal. Many jurisdictions place limits
on certain speech and ban racist, blasphemous, politically subversive, libellous or
slanderous, seditious, or inflammatory material that tends to incite hate crimes.

As cyber crimes pose complicated legal, economic, social and security dilemmas, the
international community sought, in recent years, to take a set of international and
regional measures, namely the creation of a communication network for sharing
information on these crimes.

Cyber security

In a networked world, there are no real safe harbours—if you are on the network, you
are available to everyone else on the network as economies become more dependent on
information and communications technology , they are becoming more vulnerable to
network attacks (e.g., threats to the Internet, as well as other private and public
networks). The most serious cyber security risks are those that threaten the functioning
of critical information infrastructures, such as those dedicated to financial services
,control systems for power, gas, drinking water, and other utilities; airport and air traffic
control systems; logistics systems; and government services.

Cyber security is a collective concern that is comprehensive in scope—the Internet has

no national boundaries. Whereas security is typically regulated at the government level,
cyber security is at once national, international, public and private in character. In fact,
the capacity for cyber risk management and security lies largely in the hands of private
entities that manage and operate most Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) infrastructure. Such security cannot be adequately assured by market forces or
regulation; rather, it requires a novel mix of solutions involving a range of stakeholders
working both in their own domains and in concert.. However, it is imperative that
countries develop improved lines of
communication based on trust to discuss cyber security both within and among
themselves.

CYBER-SECURITY RISKS
New risk factors and challenges to data and communications networks seem to be
evolving as rapidly as the spread of high-speed Internet infrastructure.
 Computer worms and viruses. Debilitating worms and computer viruses have
demonstrated destructive capabilities for a number of years, as evidenced by the
damage caused by such programs as Sasser, Blaster, Netsky, Welchia and Code
Red.
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 Weak links in the global information infrastructure. Potentially, any market

with a combination of high capacity PCs, broadband connections, and poor
network security (typical of most home computers with permanent Internet
connections) can be used to wreak havoc on ICT dependent infrastructure
anywhere on the globe via the Internet backbone. Such weak links create
significant vulnerabilities in inadequately protected country networks that are,
unfortunately, prevalent in many developing nations. Such networks include
both low-bandwidth and very high-capacity networks.
 Hacker-activists. Activists and protestors have proven themselves capable of
temporarily disrupting ICT-based services of governments and international
organizations.
 Potential military operations. The potential significance of ICT-based services
as a part of military “information operations” has been recognized in military
and national security doctrines for at least a decade. For example, hostile cyber
actions have taken place in the past between India and Pakistan, Azerbaijan and
Armenia, and Japan and the People’s Republic of China.
 Rapid evolution of information and communication technologies. Changing
technological developments, such as Internet protocol (IP) technology, are
radically changing the way that backbone telecommunications services are
provided. The increased interdependence between providers of backbone
services and providers of services dependent on this backbone creates multiple
entry points for network security breaches. Similarly, peer-to-peer technologies
that allow millions of end-users to become service providers (e.g., by sharing
music and other files) create similar opportunities for security breaches.

Cyber security is essentially about managing future risk and responding to current and
past incidents and attacks. Cyberspace security is crucial for maintaining the continuity
of these vital services and for preserving the public’s trust in information systems. It
requires new levels of communication and cooperation, not only among government
agencies and departments but also between government and the private sector. It
involves protecting the nation’s critical infrastructures from intrusion or attack as well
as using the infrastructure as a tool with which law-enforcement, defence, and public-
health agencies can gather, analyze, and disseminate information.