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Cyber Crime & its Categories
Article in Indian Journal Of Applied Research · October 2011
DOI: 10.15373/2249555X/MAY2013/39
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Computer Science
RESEARCH PAPER Volume : 3 | Issue : 5 | May 2013 | ISSN - 2249-555X
Cyber Crime & its Categories
KEYWORDS
Kejal Chintan
Vadza
Asst. Prof. at Sutex Bank College of Computer Applications & Science,Amroli, Surat,Gujarat -
395009
ABSTRACT Cyber Crime research paper includes basic introduction about internet related crimes and its various cate
Introduction to Cyber Crimes: these websites is to make the user enter
Cyber Crime can be defined as unlawful acts personal information. This informa- tion is then
committed by using the computer as a tool or as a used to access business and bank accounts. If
target or as both. Cy- ber crimes can involve criminal you ever get an email containing an embedded
activities that are traditional in nature, such as theft, link, and a request for you to enter secret details,
fraud, forgery (copy), defamation (insult) and treat it as suspi- cious. Do not input any
mischief, all of which are subject to the Indian Penal sensitive information that might help provide
Code. The abuse of computers has also given birth to access to your accounts, even if the page
a gamut (range) of new age crimes that are
addressed by the Information Technology Act, 2000 130 INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED
(introduced on 17th Oct 2000)
RESEARCH
5.1) Cyber crime can be categorized mainly in two
ways:
· Using the Computer as a Target:-using a
computer to at- tack other computers. e.g.
Hacking, Virus/Worm attacks, DOS attack etc.
· Using the computer as a weapon:-using a
computer to commit real world crimes. e.g. Cyber
Terrorism, IPR viola- tions, Credit card frauds, EFT
frauds, Pornography etc.
Moreover we further categorized as follows:
1. Unauthorized Access:
Access means gaining entry into, instructing or
com- municating with the logical, arithmetical, or
memory function resources of a computer,
computer system or computer network.
Unauthorized access would therefore mean any
kind of access without the permission of either
the rightful owner or the person in charge of a
computer, computer system or computer
network.
2. Hacking & Cracking:
Every act committed towards breaking into a
computer and/or network is hacking. Hackers
write or use ready- made computer programs to
attack the target computer. They possess the
desire to destruct and they get the kick out of
such destruction. Some hackers hack for personal
monetary gains, such as to stealing the credit
card infor- mation, transferring money from
various bank accounts to their own account
followed by withdrawal of money. Crackers may
steal or modify data or insert viruses or worms
which damage the system. By hacking web
server taking control on another person’s website
called as web hijacking
3. Cyber Fraud/Online Fraud:
The net is a boon for people to conduct business
effective- ly, very quickly. Net is also an open
invitation to fraudsters and online frauds are
becoming increasingly out of control.
1. Spoof websites and email security alerts
Fraudsters create authentic looking websites that
are actually noth- ing but a spoof. The purpose of
appears legitimate. No reputable company ever
sends emails of this type.
2. Virus hoax emails
It is a sad fact of life that there are those who enjoy
ex- ploiting the concerns of others. Many emailed
warnings about viruses are hoaxes, designed purely
to cause con- cern and disrupt businesses.
These warnings may be genuine, so don’t take them
lightly, but always check the story out by visiting an
anti- virus site such as McAfee, Sophos or Symantec
before taking any action, including forwarding them
to friends and colleagues.
3. Lottery Frauds
These are letters or emails, which inform the
recipient that he/ she has won a prize in a lottery. To
get the mon- ey, the recipient has to reply. After which
another mail is received asking for bank details so that
the money can be directly transferred. The email
also asks for a processing fee/ handling fee. Of
course, the money is never trans- ferred in this case,
the processing fee is swindled and the banking details
are used for other frauds and scams.
4. Spoofing
Spoofing means illegal intrusion, posing as a
genuine user. A hacker logs-in to a computer
illegally, using a dif- ferent identity than his own. He
is able to do this by hav- ing previously obtained
actual password. He creates a new identity by
fooling the computer into thinking he is the genuine
system operator. The hacker then takes con- trol of
the system. He can commit innumerable number of
frauds using this false identity.
In short spoofing refers to thing that appears to
have been originated from one source when it was
actually sent from another source
5. Credit Card Fraud
Online Transaction has become a normal thing in
day to- day life. Knowingly or unknowingly passing
credit card information over internet can land you in
trouble. If elec- tronic transactions are not secured
the credit card num- bers can be stolen by the
hackers who can misuse this card by impersonating
the credit card owner.
4. Cyber Theft:
Stealing of financial and/or personal information
through the use of computers for making its
fraudulent or other illegal use.
Identity Theft:-
Identity theft occurs when someone appropriates
another’s personal information without their knowledge
to commit theft or fraud. Identity theft is a vehicle for
perpetrating other types of fraud schemes.
RESEARCH Volume : 3 | Issue : 5 | May 2013 | ISSN -
Theft of Internet Hours:- pornog- raphy is a very unfortunate reality of the
Unauthorized use of Internet hours paid for by Internet. The Internet is being highly used by its
another per- son. abusers to reach and abuse children sexually,
worldwide.
Theft of computer system (Hardware):-
This type of offence involves the theft of a computer, Pedophiles use a false identity to trap the
some part(s) of a computer or a peripheral attached children/teen- agers
to the com- puter.
5. Cyber Terrorism:
Targeted attacks on military installations, power
plants, air traffic control, banks, trail traffic control,
telecommu- nication networks are the most likely
targets. Others like police, medical, fire and
rescue systems etc.
Cyber terrorism is an attractive option for modern
terror- ists for several reasons.
1. It is cheaper than traditional terrorist methods.
2. Cyberterrorism is more anonymous than
traditional ter- rorist methods.
3. The variety and number of targets are enormous.
4. Cyberterrorism can be conducted remotely, a
feature that isespecially appealing to terrorists.
5. Cyberterrorism has the potential to affect directly a
larger number of people.
6. Flowing of Virus, Trojan horse, Worm & Logical
Bombs:
The program that act like something useful but do
the things that are quiet damping. The programs of
this kind are called as Trojans. Trojans come in two
parts, a Client part and a Server part. When the victim
(unknowingly) runs the server on its machine, the
attacker will then use the Client to connect to the
Server and start using the trojan.TCP/IP protocol is the
usual protocol type used for communications, but
some func- tions of the trojans use the UDP protocol
as well.
A program that has capability to infect other
programs and make copies of itself and spread into
other programs is called virus. Viruses can often
spread without any readily visible symptoms. A virus
can start on event-driven effects (for ex- ample,
triggered after a specific number of executions), time-
driven effects (triggered on a specific date, such as
Friday the 13th) or can occur at random. Action of a
virus can be display a message to prompt an action
which may set of the virus,Erase files,Scramble data
on a hard disk,Cause erratic screen behavior,Halt the
PC…..etc
Programs that multiply like viruses but spread from
computer to computer are called as worms. For ex.
Anna Kournikova worm(feb-2001)The first
computer virus ever to be see was called
BRAIN and it appeared in 1986. Some famous
viruse are… Jerusalem (1987), Dark Avenger
(1989), Michel- angelo (1991), Concept (1995),
Melissa , CIH (1999), The Love Letter (2000),
CodeRed, Nimda (2001), SirCam-Nimda…Etc.
Logical bombs are event dependent programs. This
implies that these programs are created to do
something only when a certain event (known as a
trigger event) occurs. E.g. even some viruses may be
termed logic bombs because they lie dormant all
through the year and become active only on a
particular date (like the Chernobyl virus).
7. Cyber Pornography:
Pornography’ is “describing or showing sexual
acts in order to cause sexual excitement through
books, films, etc.” This includes pornographic
websites; pornographic material produced using
computers and use of internet to download and
transmit pornographic videos, pictures, photos,
writings etc. There are more than 420 million
individual pornographic webpages today. Child
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subset of electronic spam .
8. Defamation:
Defamation can be understood as the 3. Email bombing
intentional in- fringement of another E-mail “bombing” is characterized by abusers
person’s right to his good name. Defamation repeatedly sending an identical email message to a
can be understood as tarnishing the image, particular address.
respect or dignity of any person in front of
right thinking members of the society. 5. Sending threatening emails
Email is a useful tool for technology savvy criminals
Cyber Defamation occurs when thanks to the relative anonymity offered by it. It
defamation takes place with the help of becomes fairly easy for anyone with even a basic
computers and / or the Internet. E.g. knowledge of computers to be-
someone publishes defamatory matter about
someone on a website or sends e-mails INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH
containing defamatory information to all of that 131
person’s friends A matter defaming a person is
sent to the said person directly is not
defamation however if the said mail is sent
through CC or BCC to third parties and if the
contents tarnish (blemish/dull) the image of the
recipient it is defamation. Publication of
defamatory articles and mat- ter on a website
are defamation. Cyber defamation is also
called as Cyber smearing.
9. Cyber Stalking:
Cyber Stalking can be defined as the
repeated acts har- assment or threatening
behavior of the cyber criminal towards the
victim by using Internet services. (OR Cyber
stalking involves following a person’s
movements across the Internet by posting
messages (sometimes threaten- ing) on the
bulletin boards frequented by the victim,
entering the chat-rooms frequented by the
victim, con- stantly bombarding the victim
with emails etc.)
Stalking in General terms can be referred to as
the repeated acts of harassment targeting the
victim such as…
1. Following the victim
2. Making harassing phone calls
3. Killing the victims pet
4. Vandalizing victims property
5. Leaving written messages or objects
Stalking may be followed by serious violent acts
such as physical harm to the victim and the
same has to be treated and viewed seriously. It
all depends on the course of conduct of the
stalker. Both kinds of stalkers – online and offline -
have desire to control the victim’s life.
Cyber-stalking refers to the use of the Internet, e-
mail, or oth- er electronic communications device
to stalk another person. It is a relatively new form
of harassment, unfortunately, rising to alarming
levels especially in big cities like Mumbai.
10. E-mail & IRC related crimes:
1. Email spoofing
Email spoofing refers to email that appears to
have been originated from one source when it
was actually sent from another source. Please
Read
2. Email Spamming:
Email “spamming” refers to sending email to
thousands and thousands of users - similar to a
chain letter is called email spamming. Email
spam targets individual users with direct mail
messages. Email spam lists are often created
by scanning Usenet postings, stealing Internet
mailing lists, or searching the Web for
addresses. Email spam, also known as junk
email or unsolicited bulk email (UBE), is a
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come a blackmailer by threatening someone via e- legiti- mate network traffic
mail. attempts to disrupt connections between two
machines, thereby preventing access to a service
6. Defamatory emails attempts to prevent a particular individual from
Cyber-defamation or even cyber-slander as it is access- ing a service
called can prove to be very harmful and even fatal to attempts to disrupt service to a specific system or
the people who have been made its victims. OR per- son.
Defamation is defined as communication to third
parties of false statements about a person that injure
the reputation of or deter others from associating
with that person.A commu- nication is not
defamatory unless it is published to someone other
than the target.
7. Email frauds
Email Fraud is the intentional deception made for
personal gain or to damage another individual
through email. Almost as soon as email became
widely used, it began to be used as a means to
defraud people. Email fraud can take the form of a
“con game” or scam.
8. IRC related
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a protocol for real-
time Inter- net text messaging (chat) or
synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for
group communication in discussion forums, called
channels, but also allows one-to-one commu-
nication via private message as well as chat and data
trans- fer, including file sharing. “Chat room” is
another name for an Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
channel
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Crime:
· Criminals use it for meeting coconspirators.
· Hackers use it for discussing their exploits /
sharing the techniques
· Pedophiles use chat rooms to allure small children
Three main ways to attack IRC are: attacks,
clone attacks, and flood attacks.
11. Spamming:
Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of
the same message, in an attempt to force the
message on people who would not otherwise
choose to receive it. Most spam is commercial
advertising. For ex. get-rich- quick schemes.
There are two main types of spam, and they have
dif- ferent effects on Internet users. 1)Cancellable
Usenet / Usenet spam & 2) Email-spam
1. Cancellable Usenet spam is a single message
sent to 20 or more Usenet newsgroups.
2. Email “spamming” refers to sending email to
thou- sands and thousands of users - similar to a
chain letter. Email spam, also known as junk
email or unsolicited bulk email (UBE), is a subset
of electronic spam . One sub- set of UBE is UCE
(unsolicited commercial email). Spam- mers
collect email addresses from chatrooms,
websites, customer lists, newsgroups, and viruses
which harvest users’ address books, and are sold
to other spammers. They also use a practice
known as “email appending” or “epending” in
which they use known information about their
target (such as a postal address) to search for the
target’s email address.
12.Denial of Service attacks:-
Flooding a computer resource with more requests
than it can handle. This causes the resource to
crash thereby denying access of service to
authorized users.
Examples include
attempts to “flood” a network, thereby preventing
132 INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED
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13.Forgery: In addition to Personal information some other type
Counterfeit currency notes, postage and revenue of infor- mation which useful for business and
stamps, mark sheets etc can be forged using leakage of such infor- mation to other persons may
sophisticated computers, printers and cause damage to business or person, such
scanners.Also impersonate an- other person is information should be protected.
considered forgery.
14.IPR Violations: Generally for protecting secrecy of such information,
These include software piracy, copyright parties while sharing information forms an
infringement, trademarks violations, theft of agreement about he pro- cedure of handling of
computer source code, patent violations. information and to not to disclose such
etc.Cyber Squatting- Domain names are also
trademarks and protected by ICANN’s domain
dispute resolution policy and also under
trademark laws. Cyber Squatters registers
domain name identical to pop- ular service
provider’s domain so as to attract their users
and get benefit from it.
15.E-commerce/ Investment Frauds:-
Sales and Investment frauds. An offering that
uses false or fraudulent claims to solicit
investments or loans, or that provides for the
purchase, use, or trade of forged or counterfeit
securities. Merchandise or services that were
purchased or contracted by individuals online
are never delivered. The fraud attributable to
the mis- representation of a product advertised
for sale through an internet auction site or the
non-delivery of products purchased through an
Internet auction site. Investors are enticed to
invest in this fraudulent scheme by the prom-
ises of abnormally high profits.
16.Sale of illegal articles:
This would include trade of narcotics, weapons
and wild- life etc., by posting information on
websites, auction websites, and bulletin boards
or simply by using email
communication.Research shows that number of
people employed in this criminal area. Daily
peoples receiving so many emails with offer of
banned or illegal products for sale.
17.Online gambling:
There are millions of websites hosted on servers
abroad, that offer online gambling. In fact, it is
believed that many of these websites are
actually fronts for money laundering.
18.Data diddling:
Data diddling involves changing data prior or
during in- put into a computer.
In other words, information is changed from the
way it should be entered by a person typing. in
the data, a vi- rus that changes data, the
programmer of the database or application, or
anyone else involved in the process of having
information stored in a computer file.
It also include automatic changing the financial
informa- tion for some time before processing
and then restoring original information.
19.Physically damaging a computer system:
Physically damaging a computer or its
peripherals either by shock, fire or excess
electric Supply etc.
20.Breach of Privacy and
Confidentiality: Privacy
Privacy refers to the right of an individual/s to
determine when, how and to what extent his or her
personal data will be shared with others.
Breach of privacy means unauthorized use or
distribution or disclosure of personal information like
medical records, sexu- al preferences, financial
status etc.
Confidentiality
It means non disclosure of information to
unauthorized or unwanted persons.
132 INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED
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information to third parties or use it in such a way
that it will be disclosed to third parties.
Many times party or their employees leak such
valuable in- formation for monitory gains and causes
breach of contract of confidentiality.
Special techniques such as Social Engineering are
commonly used to obtain confidential information.
REFERENCE Ref: (book cyber crime in india – Dr. M. Dasgupta.) | |
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INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH
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