CYBER LAW

MODULE III
BY SHREEPARNA CHAKROBORTY
 THE UPSWING OF CYBER CRIMES

“There is no shield that cannot be pierced; no

fort that cannot be breached; and no
computer system that cannot be hacked”

- Douglas R. Hofstadter
 CONTENTS

1. Cyber Crime and Computer Crime,

2. Reason for Cybercrime,
3. Modes of Cybercrime,
4. Classification of Cybercrime,
5. Cybercrime against: State, individual, institution.
 CYBER CRIME
Even after various amendments to the Information Tecnology Act, 2000, it
01 does not provide the definition of the term “cyber crime”. However, the
same can be defined as “any illegal behaviour that is committed by means
of, or in relation to, a computer system or network, including such crimes as
illegal possession, and offering or distributing information by means of a
computer system or network. The same is resonated in Chapter XI, Section 9
02 of the IT Act as “Whoever knowingly or intentionally conceals, destroys or
alters or intentionally or knowingly causes another to conceal, destroy or
alter any computer source code used for a computer, computer programme,
computer system or computer network, when the computer source code is
required to be kept or maintained by law for the time being in force”

COMPUTER CRIME
02 The proliferation and integration of computers into every aspect of society has inevitably
led to computer related criminal activity. A Computer Crime can be defined as an illegal
action by a perpetrator by intention to cause a loss to a victim in which a computer
system specifically is used as a tool. A computer can be a weapon for an unlawful act
04 where the offence reflects a modification of a conventional crime making use of
information technology and modern communication tools such as Intellectual Property
crimes, Web Spoofing, Credit card fraud etc. On the other hand, it can also be the victim
of crimes like virus/worm attacks, Salami attacks, internet theft etc.
 MENS REA BEHIND CYBER CRIMES

01 02
There must have been
on the part of the The hacker should have
hacker, intention, to been aware of the same
secure access, though at the time he or she
his intention can be tried to secure the
directed on any access.
computer and not a
particular computer.
Cybercrime is defined as a crime in which a computer is the object of the
crime (hacking, phishing, spamming) or is used as a tool to commit an
offense (child pornography, hate crimes). Cybercriminals may use
computer technology to access personal information, business trade
secrets or use the internet for exploitative or malicious purposes.
Criminals can also use computers for communication and document
or data storage. Criminals who perform these illegal activities are
often referred to as hackers.
Cybercrime may also be referred to as computer crime.
 HISTORY OF CYBER CRIME
The first recorded cyber crime took place in the year 1820. That is not surprising
considering the fact that the abacus, which is thought to be the earliest form of a
computer, has been around since 3500 B.C. in India, Japan and China. The era of
modern computers, however, began with the analytical engine of Charles
Babbage. In 1820, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a textile manufacturer in France,
produced the loom. This device allowed the repetition of a series of steps in the
weaving of special fabrics. This resulted in a fear amongst Jacquard's employees
that their traditional employment and livelihood were being threatened. They
committed acts of sabotage to discourage Jacquard from further use of the new
technology. This, in broader aspect, is considered as the first recorded cyber
crime!
 Categories of Cyber Crime
Generally, there are three major categories of cybercrimes that you need to know about.
These categories include:
Crimes Against People. While these crimes occur online, they affect the lives of actual people.
Some of these crimes include cyber harassment and stalking, distribution of child pornography,
various types of spoofing, credit card fraud, human trafficking, identity theft, and online related
libel or slander.
Crimes Against Property. Some online crimes happen against property, such as a computer or
server. These crimes include DDOS attacks, hacking, virus transmission, cyber and typo squatting,
computer vandalism, copyright infringement, and IPR violations.
Crimes Against Government. When a cybercrime is committed against the government, it is
considered an attack on that nation's sovereignty and an act of war. Cybercrimes against the
government include hacking, accessing confidential information, cyber warfare, cyber terrorism,
and pirated software.
“The main idea in favour of cyber offences does not
turn on the protection of information but rather
springs from the need to protect the integrity and
security of computer systems from attack by
unauthorized persons seeking to enter those
systems, whatever may be their intention or motive”
—Law Commission of England
 Relation with I.T Law

Most of these types of cybercrimes have been addressed by the IT ACT

of 2000 and the IPC. Cybercrimes under the IT ACT include:
Sec. 65, Tampering with Computer Source Documents.
Sec. 66, Hacking Computer Systems and Data Alteration.
Sec. 67, Publishing Obscene Information.
Sec. 70, Unauthorized Access of Protected Systems.
Sec. 72, Breach of Confidentiality and Privacy.
Sec. 73, Publishing False Digital Signature Certificates.
Cyber
Spam
Stalking

1 2 3 4 MODES OF CYBER CRIME

Obscenity Phishing

AND MANY MORE…

 CYBER STALKING

There are many cases of cyber stalking across the world and it’s
especially common with teenagers and young adults. Usually the
victim and the stalker know each other. The victim is usually
subjected to online harassment in forms of online messages and
emails. The aim of online stalking is to make the victim miserable
or exert control as a perverse way of being in contact with the
victim, just like ordinary stalking.
Cyberstalking is stalking that takes place using electronic devices or the internet. It is the
technological harassment directed towards a specific individual. There are several forms of
cyberstalking that can take place including:
• Placing orders for delivery in someone else's name
• Gathering personal information on the victim
• Spreading false rumors
• Encouraging others to join in the harassment
• Threatening harm through email
• Creating fear and paranoia for someone else
• Hacking into online accounts
Cyberstalking can cause extreme distress for the victim. It can impact their career,
personal relationships, and quality of life. Oftentimes victims do not know who the
perpetrator is and start wondering if they're being watched or followed. The common
denominator amongst cyberstalking cases is that they are typically against the law,
unsolicited by the victim, and unrelenting.
 CASE LAWS
In July 2015, the Metropolitan Magistrate court convicted a senior executive of a private company in a
cyber stalking case for four months imprisonment. This case became first conviction case of cyber
crime in the state of Maharashtra. Additional Metropolitan Magistrate N R Natu convicted and
sentenced Yogesh Prabhu to four months imprisonment for cyber stalking his colleague working in a
cargo handling firm in Panvel. The complainant stated in her complained that the stalker had sent her
pornographic images and videos. She also said that she was getting scared as somebody was stalking
her movements. ―When she went to watch movie at Adlabs, she received an email asking her ―How was
the movie you enjoyed it?‖ Another email said why she did not come to temple Prabhadevi on that
particular day? Where were she went she got email asking about her visit which scared her and she
lodged a complaint. A few days later she started getting emails of pornographic images and movies
which shattered her. During the course of investigations the CCIC first traced the IP address of the
server from where the emails were sent. The trail led police to her office in Panvel and another IP
address was of Gurgaon. Both the IP address was found to be of the same company having its office in
Panvel and Gurgaon. Police than wrote to the Gmail server asking them to provide the details of the
account holder. During the course of investigations police learnt that Prabhu and the victim used to see
each other and wanted to tie knot but due to their age differences, victim‘s family were not keen on their
relationship. Everything ended between them but Prabhu continue to like her and started stalking her.
He used to follow her and then immediately send her emails of her locations and other details which
scared her
 CONTD..
The gravity of cyber stalking came into focus in India with Ritu Kohli’s Case, is the first
case in India dealing with cyber stalking. The Delhi Police arrested Manish Kathuria the
culprit of the case. In the said case, Manish was stalking a person called Ritu Kohli on the
Net by illegally chatting on the website www.mirc.com with the name of Ritu Kohli.
Manish was regularly chatting under the identity of Ritu Kohli on the said Website, using
obscene and obnoxious language, was distributing her residence telephone number and
inviting chatter to chat with her on telephone. Consequently Ritu Kohli was getting
obscene calls from different chatters from various parts of India and abroad. Ritu Kohli
reported the matter to the police and the Delhi Police swung into action. The police had
registered the case under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code for outraging the modesty
of Ritu Kohli. But Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code only refers to word, gesture or act
intended to insult modest of a woman. But when same things are done on internet, then
there is no mention about it in the said section. None of the conditions mentioned in the
section cover cyber stalking. Ritu Kohli‘s case was an alarm to the Government, to make
laws regarding the aforesaid crime and regarding protection of victims under the same.
 OBSCENITY

Obscenity refers to a narrow category of pornography that violates

contemporary community standards and has no serious literary, artistic,
political or scientific value.
Cyber obscenity is a trading of sexually expressive materials within
cyber space. Legally cyber obscenity is also termed as 'pornography'.
According to the honourable Supreme court of India- “ Obscenity has a
tendency to deprave and corrupt those, whose minds are open to such
immoral influence”.
section 67-B was added to the IT Act, 2000. Section 67-B criminalizes every
type of pornography. Section 67A and 67B are the only sections which are
non- bailable as per section 77B of the Act, whereas others are bailable.
 CASE LAWS
1. The test of obscenity was first laid down in the case of Regina V. Hicklin (1868) 3
QB 360 as the tendency ―to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such
influences and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall‖, and it was
understood that this test would apply only to the isolated passage of the work.
2. In Miller v. California 413 US 15(1973) , the Supreme Court of United States in
landmark judgment gave the basic guidelines and three point tests to determine
obscenity in the work i.e.
• That the average person, applying contemporary ―community standards‖, would
find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
• That the work depicts or describes, in an offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory
functions, as specifically defined by applicable state law or applicable law.
• Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or
scientific value.
 Ranjeet D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra AIR 1965 SC 881
However, in India miller test was not adopted by the Supreme Court, instead it has adopted the Hicklin’s
Test in leading case of Ranjeet D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra; the Supreme Court has decided many
issues pertaining to the obscenity. The apex court doesn‘t consider obscenity a vague concept but a
word which is well-understood even if persons differ in their attitude to what is obscene and what is not.
The apex court has stated that ―In judging a work, stress should not be laid upon a word here and a word
there, or a passage here and a passage there. Though the work as a whole must be considered, the
obscene matter must be considered by itself and separately to find out whether it is so gross and its
obscenity so decided that it is likely to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to influences of
this sort. In this connection the interests of contemporary society and particularly the influence of the
impugned book on it must not be overlooked. Where, obscenity and art are mixed, art must so
preponderate as to throw the obscenity into a shadow or the obscenity so trivial and insignificant that it
can have no effect and may be overlooked. It is necessary that a balance should be maintained between
―freedom of speech and expression‖ and ―public decency or morality‖; but when the latter is
substantially transgressed the former must give way.‖
The court however, sounded a note of caution that treating with sex and nudity in art and literature
cannot be regarded as evidence of obscenity without something more. In the words of court ―It is not
necessary that the angels and saints of Michelangelo should be made to wear breeches before they can
be viewed. If the rigid test of treating with sex as the minimum ingredient were accepted hardly any
writer of fiction today would escape the fate Lawrence had in his days. Half the book-shops would close
and the other half would deal in nothing but moral and religious books.‖
 SPAM

Spam is a term used to refer to junk email. Various federal and state laws,
which vary by state, regulate spam. The main federal legislation is the
Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act
(CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-187), which took effect on January
1, 2004.
It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any
electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the
commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or
service,” including email that promotes content on commercial websites.
 CASE LAWS
In the first-ever judicial order in India on the issue of spam, the Delhi High Court has restrained a party
from "causing transmission of unsolicited bulk electronic mail" to any user of the services of an Internet
Services Provider (ISP). In the case of Tata Sons v. Amait Kumar Gupta, Justice R.C. Chopra has passed
an interim injunction against McCoy Infosystems Pvt Ltd and its proprietors and agents from indulging in
the activity of jamming the VSNL Internet server. A suit was instituted by Tata Sons, on behalf of VSNL,
wherein it was alleged that through the Unsolicited Bulk Commercial E-mail (UBCE), McCoy
Infosystems Pvt Ltd and the other defendants were intentionally "trespassing" on VSNL's property despite
being black-listed for habitual transmission of UBCE. The plaintiffs argued that the transmission of UBCE
by McCoy Infosystems Pvt Ltd into the VSNL systems was directly responsible for denying VSNL access
to use of its own property. As such, the defendants were causing an electronic nuisance to VSNL and
breaching the terms and conditions of the services provided by it.

It may be noted that the said interim order is in the nature of a temporary restraint, and it may be some
time until the entire court proceedings are completed, which include submissions by all the parties and a
final hearing, before the final judgement is issued. Nevertheless, the order of the Delhi High Court is
significant – firstly, it recognizes that spamming is a problem and needs regulation, and secondly, in the
absence of a specific law, judicial recognition through interpretation of other laws may be necessary.
It is interesting to note that VSNL had obtained the said order on the basis of arguments addressed under
the traditional tort law principles of trespass to goods as well as the law of nuisance.
 PHISHING

Phishing scams are attempts by scammers to trick you into giving out your personal
information such as bank account numbers, passwords and credit card numbers.
These scammers will contact you out of the blue, via email, text message, phone call
or even through social media, pretending to be a legitimate business such as your
bank, telephone company or even internet provider.
The scammer may ask you to update them on your details so they can refresh their
systems, they may even ask you to fill out a survey as you have the chance to win a
prize at the end. But here is where the scammer can get access to your email
address, phone number and more.
Another way these scammers get hold of your information is to tell you that
„unauthorised or suspicious activity has been happening on your account‟, and they
will then ask you for your information so they can “sort it out”.
In fact they are going to steal from you. Phishing attacks work the same as fraudulent
phone calls which people are being educated on.
 CASE LAWS
Recently in a landmark judgment in India in the case of Uma Shankar v.
ICICI Bank, the Adjudicator of Tamil Nadu has passed an award for payment
of Rs. 12.85 lakhs to a petitioner who alleged a fraudulent withdrawal from
his ICICI Bank account. Bank contended that the issue involved customer
negligence and did not fall under the jurisdiction of the adjudicator. The
Adjudicator held that an offence is made out under ITA 2000 and it falls
under the jurisdiction of the adjudicator. The honorable adjudicator proceeded
to accept the petitioners argument that the Bank had not exercised due
diligence and therefore was liable under Section 85 of the Act to pay the
compensations.
 Hacking and Online
Scams
In simple terms, a hacker is an intruder who accesses your computer system without your
permission. Hackers do this for a number of reasons, whether that‟s for greed, fame or
power, as it shows people they are clever enough to get into something they shouldn‟t
have.
However, some will be able to break into systems and steal personal banking information
and corporation financial data. Hackers tend to be computer programmers and have an
advanced understanding of computers.
Online scams, are basically scams that happen online.
Whether that‟s tricking you into giving out personal details online by an ad popping up
telling you you have won something and asking for your card details to pay for shipping.
Sadly, you‟ll never receive anything but you‟ll start noticing weird transactions coming from
your bank account.

.
 ABHINAV GUPTA PETITIONER V. STATE OF HARYANA
2008 CRLJ 4536
The Court discussed hacking in great detail. A hacker is a computer expert whose intrinsic curiosity
persuades him to break in computers. Hacking is computer trespass. To make hacking an offence
dependents on mens rea. Base on the intention, hackers are divided into two groups : (1) Hackers who
have no intent to do any criminal activity. These hackers do not consider breaking into a computer
system a crime. They consider themselves members of an elite meritocracy based on ability and trade
hacker techniques. They are skilled computer users who penetrate computer, with a sole purpose to
gain knowledge about computer system and their actual working. (2) Crackers who intend to engage
in criminal activity. This dichotomy of hacker and cracker has come on the scene in 1985 to
distinguish between ―benign‖ hackers from hackers who have malicious intention. Crackers
maliciously sabotage computers, steal information located on secure computers, and cause disruption
to the networks for personal or political motives. Computer break-ins have been on the rise.

For a cyber crime to fall under Section 66 of the Act, one must observe whether criminal intent was
present or not. An act is intentional if it exists in idea before it exists in fact. Hacking signifies
mischief with the computer resource. It is a mischief regarding destruction or alteration of any
information residing in a computer resource. Section 66 of the Act defines hacking activity in a
comprehensive manner. It takes hacking activity exclusively associated with the computer resource.
 CONTD..
The essentials of hacking are :
(a) Whoever
(b) Intention or knowledge
(c) Causing wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person.
(d) Destroying or altering any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or
utility or affects it injuriously by any means.
It involves an invasion of right and diminution of the value or utility of ones information residing in a
computer resource. The hacker must have contemplated this when he hacked a computer
resource. Hacking involves mental act with destructive animus.

The accused while in the employment of the complainant company was using the complainant,
computers, computer systems and computer networks and had got the confidential trade secrets being
the designs and drawings of engineering department and had apparently downloaded/transferred the
same on the local PC by using which he uploaded the said confidential designs and date on personal
E-mail ID and thereafter, shared with outsiders.

The Court held that the petitioner was not authorized to download any work, pending or authorized, on
his personal devices. As per his appointment letter, during the course of his employment with the
complainant, he was not to divulge any information of a confidential nature relating to the business of
the company or any associated company, except in case of necessity for the purpose of carrying out
duties.
 CONTD..
On analysing the entire matter, it appeared that the petitioner as a cracker, stole information located on
secure computers either for his personal motives or for sending the same to his new employer.

To elicit, how and in what manner and for what purpose the confidential trade secrets were stolen by
the petitioner by downloading, custodial interrogation being qualitatively more elicitation-oriented is
required. The skill employed in such process being technical in nature can be known or disinterred by
mode of custodial interrogation of the petitioner. The Investigating Officer cannot be expected to be
conversant with such technicalities or hyper-technicalities. So, if the petitioner is admitted to
anticipatory bail, he under the umbrella thereof will feel well protected and ensconced and would not
divulge the technicalities used in hacking or cracking the confidential data from the complainant's
computer system. The grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner would hamper the investigation.
Hence, anticipatory bail was denied.
 Transferring
Malwares
Malwares are malicious softwares which can be transferred onto
your system. These softwares are written with the intent of
causing harm to data and devices. Malware is the other name for
different types of viruses such as a „trojan‟ and „spyware‟.
Malware is often done through a range of viruses that will get
into your computer to cause havoc, by damaging your computer,
tablet, phone; so the culprits can steal credit card details and
other personal information.
 CASE LAWS
In the case of Joydeep Moitra v. Manager, Yes Bank Ltd., the issue of malware in ATMs was dealt
with. The complainant swapped his debit card in the said ATM with PIN but screen was unmoved for
a while and back in its previous mode automatically. So, complainant again tried but the result was the
same. In such circumstances, other customers knocked the ATM door from outside. So, complainant
allowed next customer who faced the same result. Complainant left the ATM immediately. But on the
same date complainant got one SMS stating that Rs. 10,000 was debited from his account.

The Court observed that any ATM can be controlled by such devices which are generally used by the
hackers and there are certain methods by which one transaction can be controlled even by standing
outside the ATM Kiosk or by placing such devices within that room. But nowhere the YES Bank
Authority has submitted any such evidence that the ATM which had been used by the complainant had
its anti-devices to check and control any sort of act made by the hacker by adopting malware system
or FIS system or by placing any device to control the transaction.

All over the world the computer specialists have come to a conclusion that there are thousands of
system to hack the ATM and ATM related transaction by controlling the running process of the
machine at the time of operating that machine by any customer and it is common practice and in fact
Kolkata area Detective Department of Kolkata Police also searched out that certain devices are used
by the hacker for controlling the operation by placing them outside the ATM Kiosk, probably in this
case malware system was applied for which even after swapping the debit card, the machine did not
operate.
 CONTD..
Practically malware system is nothing but one remote which controls the entire Kiosk and at present in
West Bengal or in India, this procedure is very much used prior to that the procedure for hacking
was/is to place a device, but that system has been now changed. The malware procedure is very much
dangerous procedure and in fact all over world daily crores of rupees are withdrawn by the hacker by
adopting malware process as and when customers are trying to withdraw the money from any ATM.
But in India most of the ATMs anti-devices (FIS) has not been fixed and for which opposite parties
have not produced such certificate that FIS is fixed with that ATM.
 Social Media Hack &
Spamming
Social media hacking is often done by people having a personal vendetta against someone
else. It is also done to access personal information about someone without their knowledge
and use that information to connect to other users. it‟s an invasion of privacy.
Social media spamming comes when a person makes a fake account and becomes friends or
followed by the average person. This then gives the fake account the freedom to spam
inboxes with bulk messaging, this can be done for spreading malware.
Spamming can also spread malicious links created with the intent to harm, mislead or damage
a user or their device. Clicking on the malicious link, which may be advertising a new iPhone or
weight loss treatment, means you could be downloading malware which can lead to the theft
of personal information.
Whilst you can easily report such behaviour to the social media platform and they should
remove the user, or you can block them from seeing your content, it‟s easy for people to set
up new bot accounts in minutes and begin their attack again.
 CASE LAWS
In the case of Lakshminarayan K v. Global Security Response Team Pvt. Ltd., the Complainant raised
consumer complaint against OP alleging deficiency in service in not protecting the devices given to
him from hacking and sought for refund of Rs.35,000/- paid towards said services.

The Complainant had approached M/s.Truth labs to do suitable tests to confirm the actual status of the
devices and to this end he had submitted a Samsung mobile and Dell laptop to them. The Complainant
has requested them to examine his email accounts and social media accounts and confirm if they were
also hacked. Accordingly M/s.Truth lab confirmed that the devices were accessed and remote
monitored, in other words hacked. M/s.Truth lab also confirmed that Complainants email account and
social media account continued to remain hacked.

The Court held that the Complainant was entitled for refund of the amount with interest at 6% p.a.
from the date of receipt till realization and to pay Rs.10,000/- towards compensation and Rs.5,000/-
towards litigation cost within 60 days from the date of receipt of this order, failing which, the amount
so awarded shall carry interest at 9% p.a. from the date of complaint till realization.
 Email Bombing
An email bomb is a form of internet abuse. Email
bombing is an overload of emails directed to one
email address, this will cause the person receiving
the emails server to become sluggish or even crash.
They may not necessarily be stealing anything from
you but having a sluggish server can be a real pain
and hard work to fix
Virus Dissemination
This is particularly a sneaky form of cyber crime. It not only gets a piece
of malware (a virus of some sort) onto one part of the victim‟s system,
but it spreads across other pieces of software.
Without a full and proper quarantine process and safe environment to
test in (a sandbox), the next time you open a piece of undiagnosed-as-
infected software, the process starts all over again.
 Internet Theft & Logic
Bombs
Internet theft is the broader term for any type of theft that happens over the internet,
which can be done through many ways such as fake ads, fake emails, viruses and
snooping. The aim of internet theft is to steal your personal information and use it to
then steal money out of your bank account or make purchases using your details.

Logic bombs act in the same way as a virus, but are small programs or sections of a
program, which are triggered by an event. This event can be a certain date or time, a
certain percentage of disk space filled, the removal of a file and so on.
A program could then delete critical sections of code, rendering your software as
useless. The people who implement logic bombs are most commonly installed by
insiders who already had access to the system.
Identity Theft
Identity theft is one of the most common types of cyber crime. The main reason identity theft occurs
is with the view of creating fraud for financial gains. Criminals usually steal identity information of
others such as credit card information, addresses, email addresses and more. With this information
they can pretend to be someone else and create new bank accounts.

Child Soliciting & Abuse

Child soliciting and abuse online is a type of cybercrime where criminals solicit children via chat
rooms for the purpose of pornography. It can also come in forms of material that shows or describes
sexual abuse towards children. A child is regarded as someone who is under the age of 16. This type of
cyber crime is heavily monitored by the police.
It can be a threat to companies as well as individuals because the perpetrators may be looking to
adopt another persona online.

Ransomware
Ransomeware affects companies at large and has recently affected the NHS and other big corporations
all over the world. Ransomware enters your computer network and encrypts files, meaning you don‟t have
any access to them. The attacker will send you a notification demanding a large sum of money for you to
then get your data back. The criminals aim is that they will get enough people to pay to ransom fee to get
a quick buck.
 Eavesdropping & Surveillance

Eavesdropping without the consent of the parties is a crime and can be done online
or over the phone. The most common way to eavesdrop is to wiretap, which is the
practice of connecting a listening device ,usually to a telephone line, that allows the
criminal to monitor conversation secretly.

Software Piracy

Nowadays, thanks to the internet, you can find almost any movie, song or software
for free online. Software piracy is the unauthorised use and distribution of
computer software. Even though using pirated material may seem good because
it‟s free, it comes with a range of risks. These risks include: Trojans, viruses, worms
and other forms of malware. But it‟s also stealing as no proceeds go to the
producers of the content.
 ANTONY CLEMENT RUBIN V. JANANI
KRISHNAMURTHY 2018 SCC ONLINE MAD 13520
Writ petitions under article 226 of the Constitutions of India praying that in these circumstances stated
therein and in the respective affidavits filed their with the High Court will pleased to—

(i) issue a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to declare that linking of Aadhaar or anyone
of the Government authorized identity proof as mandatory for the purpose of authentication
while obtaining any email or user account (Social Media Accounts - Facebook, Instagram,
YouTube and Twitter or Utility Accounts, Paytm, Uber, Ola, Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail) thereof
and to appoint an special and skilled task force to monitor into the rising instances of all sorts of
cyber defamations and cyber stalking and to protect the innocent victimized E-Citizens of India
every day.

(ii) Directing the respondents to declare that linking of Aadhaar or anyone of the Government
authorized identity proof as mandatory for the purpose of authentication while obtaining any
email or user account (Social Media Accounts-Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter or
Utility Accounts-Paytm, Uber, Ola, Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail) thereof and to appoint an
special and skilled task force to monitor into the rising instances of all sorts of cyber defamations
and cyber stalking and to protect the innocent victimized E-Citizens of India.
 CONTD..
The Court was of the prima facie view that the Information Technology Act, 2000 Act and rules made
thereunder, have to be implemented, in letter and spirit, and therefore, decided to enlarge the scope of
the writ petition. Social media like, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Google from whom
information is sought for investigation, Cyber Crime, Commissioner of Police, are required to be
heard, as to why they should not be made as party respondents, to these writ petitions.
 PETITIONER V. RESPONDENT
2017 MHC 1012
The suit was filed to grant an order of interim injunction restraining the respondents / defendants from
infringing the file ―Jolly LLB 2‖ and the work of blocking all websites / web pages including websites
mentioned in Schedule A hosting contents that relate to plaintiff's copyright protected cinematographic
film "Jolly LLB 2‖.

In the affidavit filed in support of the applications, the applicant stated that as producer of the movie,
he had invested a huge amount towards the production and also engaged leading artist to act in the
said movie. He had further stated that he is the sole owner of the film "Jolly LLB 2" having right to
distribute it in theatres and other modes including internet, mobile, TV and other digital medias. He
has also stated that many of his earlier movies, which he has listed in the affidavit, were subjected to
infringement and video piracy. In order to safeguard the present movie ―Jolly LLB 2‖, he has stated
that he had also engaged a team to gather information relating to internet piracy and infringing web
sites and he has listed about 225 web sites, which are indulging in internet piracy and they caused him
a huge loss.
 CONTD..
It is further stated that the defendants herein are website providers, who are providing access to web
pages, containing recording, camcording and re-producing the audio songs, audio-visual clips, audio-
visual songs and full cinematographic films that are screened in theatres and then copying/reproducing
them through various medium including but not limited to CDs, DVDs, VCDs, Blu-ray Discs,
computer hard drives, pen drives etc., and unlawfully distributing the same for a meagre sum to the
general public without any authority and right. Further, the defendants 43 to 50 are involved in
uploading of such illegally recorded cinematographic films on internet thereby allowing general public
to download the same at free of costs.

The Court was of the view that the applicant had made out a prima facie case and the balance of
convenience was in favour for grant of interim injunction. Further, denial of grant of injunction would
cause serious loss to the producer. On these grounds, interim injunction was granted.
THE WEB OF CYBER CRIME
 CYBER CRIME AGAINST STATE
Cyber Terrorism:
Cyber terrorism is a major burning issue in the domestic as well as global concern. The common form of
these terrorist attacks on the Internet is by distributed denial of service attacks, hate websites and hate e-
mails, attacks on sensitive computer networks etc. Cyber terrorism activities endanger the sovereignty and
integrity of the nation.

Cyber Warfare:
It refers to politically motivated hacking to damage and spying. It is a form of information warfare
sometimes seen as analogous to conventional warfare although this analogy is controversial for both its
accuracy and its political motivation.

Distribution of pirated software:

It means distributing pirated software from one computer to another intending to destroy the data and
official records of the government.

Possession of Unauthorized Information:

It is very easy to access any information by the terrorists with the aid of internet and to possess that
information for political, religious, social, ideological objectives.
 MEHID MASROOR BISWAS V. STATE OF
KARNATAKA 2017 SCC ONLINE KAR 1
The petitioner was accused of ―Cyber Terrorism‖ punishable under section 66F by tweeting to
promote and support the claim of the terrorist organization ISIL/ISIS through the twitter handle
―@shamiwitness‖.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the allegation made against the petitioner does not satisfy
Cyber terrorism and the petitioner had not used any cyber weapons like Radio Frequency,
electromagnetic bomb or computer viruses, etc. There were no allegations as to the fact that the
petitioner had sent viruses and delivered to any computer, or he having hacked into any computer,
password protected the information system and then deleted all data. There are also no allegations that
on account of him, access to any person to computers is denied or he penetrated or hacked into
computer resource.

The prosecution alleged that the petitioner's twitter handle was one of the popular handles for ISIS
sympathizers. By using the twitter handle, the accused spoke to British Jihadis regularly before they
left to join ISIS and after they arrived, and if they died, he praised them as ‗martyrs‘. He used to get
updates from ISIS frontlines and had constant interactions with the faces of ISIS. Thousands of
updates were being posted to the account every month usually from his mobile phone and his fixed-
line broadband connection.
 CONTD..
The accused had tweetted about five times about the execution of US aid worker Peter Kassig. He
also wrote about Iftikhar Jaman a British Jihadist from Portsmouth killed fighting for Islamic State
that, ―you bros (brothers) talked the talk, walked the walk‖. By doing so, he was able to incite his
followers on twitter to support the activities of ISIL/ISIS in its goal towards establishing Islamic
State.

It was also submitted that the accused was using softwares like VPN and Ghost IP to successfully
mask his IP address and his identity; and to delete incriminating materials on a regular basis used ‗C
Cleaner‘ and other softwares. He had regularly browsed the internet pages where ISIS posted
messages in Arabic on the website ‗just paste‘ and he would immediately translate them to English
by using Google Translate Software and tweet them. The learned State Public Prosecutor submitted
that these are the instances which will pose threat to the Nation and the society .

The Court noted that efforts made by the petitioner was for the specific purpose of destabilizing the
Nation and Society. Destabilizing the web of the Society and the State cannot only be by verbal
method, but also be done by using soft and illegal method like the one used by the petitioner which
affects the social harmony. The paramount importance is always security and safety of Nation and
society. The materials in the hands of the prosecution against which the charge sheet is filed, which
is placed before the Court, were considered sufficient for the purpose of rejecting the bail petition of
the petitioner.
 CYBER CRIME AGAINST INDIVIDUALS
Cyber-Stalking: It means to create physical threat that creates fear to use the
computer technology such as internet, e-mail, phones, text messages, webcam,
websites or videos.

Dissemination of Obscene Material: It includes Indecent exposure/

Pornography (basically child pornography), hosting of web site containing these
prohibited materials. These obscene matters may cause harm to the mind of
the adolescent and tend to deprave or corrupt their mind.

Defamation: It is an act of imputing any person to lower down the dignity of the
person by hacking his mail account and sending some mails with using vulgar
language to unknown persons mail account.
 CYBER CRIME AGAINST INDIVIDUALS (Contd…)
Hacking: It means unauthorized control/access over computer system and act of hacking
completely destroys the whole data as well as computer programs. Hackers usually hacks
telecommunication and mobile network.

Cracking: It is one of the serious cyber crimes known till date . The term “cracking”
means trying to get into computer systems in order to steal, corrupt, or illegitimately view
data.
It also means that a stranger has broken into your computer systems without your
knowledge and consent and has tampered with precious confidential data and information.

E-Mail Spoofing: A spoofed e-mail may be said to be one, which misrepresents its origin. It
shows its origin to be different from which actually it originates. For example, a spoofed
email may pretend to be from a well-known shopping website, asking the recipient to
provide sensitive data, such as a password or credit card number. Alternatively, a spoofed
email may include a link that installs malware on the user's device if clicked.
 CYBER CRIME AGAINST INSTITUTION

Cybercrime against organization and society mainly

includes unauthorized access of computer by the
means of password sniffing, denial of service attacks,
malware attacks, industrial spying/espionage which is
Espionage, according to Merriam-Webster, is “the
practice of spying or using spies to obtain information
about the plans and activities especially of a foreign
government or a competing company.” Take this into
the cyber world, hackers from around the globe use
cyber warfare for economic gain.
 Why do you need to protect
yourself?
• Cyber criminals are out there and will do anything to make money
and steal useful information. As we are becoming more digital,
we are opening ourselves up to more and more types of cyber
crime.
• There are many ways to protect yourself from cyber attacks.
Protecting yourself will make you less vulnerable to cyber attacks
and therefore prevent you from getting your personal
information stolen, robbed, having your data encrypted and so
on.
 How will you protect
yourself?
• Install anti-virus packs and make sure you keep renewing them once the term
of subscription expires. The best companies to get such subscriptions from
are Norton, AVG, McAfree, Kaspersky and Quick Heal.
• Keep your password a secret. Do not share the password of your computer,
mobile phone, facebook profile etc. with anyone.
• Do not click on unknown links. Do not open any link or attachment from an
unknown person or user.
• Do not chat with unknown persons over the internet. If you get a chat request
or a text from any unknown user or person on social media, do not reply.
• Reject friend requests from unknown people or Refrain from accepting friend
requests from people you do not know.
• Use secured websites only. Do not click on websites that do not start with
https//:, where the letter, „s‟ stands for „secured‟.

• Protect your identity on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram etc. Do not
put too much of information about yourself for people to see.

• Use strong passwords for your social media accounts and electronic devices.
Don‟t repeat the same passwords everywhere.

• Keep the software of your electronic devices updated. This stops viruses and
malwares from entering your device.

• Manage your social media settings to keep your private data secure. Do not
allow public access to your personal information.
THANK YOU