Cyber Crime: Meaning and Definition

Crime is not per se a legal term. It derives its meaning and has a connotation in the background of a
society than the State as such. Thus, it defies an attempt to lay down a straight jacket definition with
clearly defined boundaries. However, usually it is put synonymous to something which is “a wrong”, “an
offence”, “a misdemeanour” or “a felony”. Crime is both a social and an economic phenomenon. It is as
old and historical as the human society itself. Many ancient books, right from the pre-historic days, and
mythological stories have spoken about crimes being committed by individuals; be it committed against
an individual like ordinary theft and burglary or against the nation at large like the crimes of spying,
treason, etc.

Certainly, the advent of Information and Communication Technology has lead to the emergence of a
new kind of crime called the Cyber Crime. To clearly understand the meaning of Cyber Crime, one
should first understand the meaning of the term Crime and then the meaning of Cyber Crime.

Meaning of Crime

Crime in any form does adversely affects the members of the society.

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary ,

Crime is an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is
commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law, especially - a
gross violation of law.

According to Oxford English Dictionary,

Crime is an action or activity or omission considered to be evil, shameful, or wrong; which constitutes an
offence and is punishable by law.

Blackstone defines Crime as an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law either forbidding or
commanding it.

Stephen observed,

“a crime is a violation of a right considered in reference to the evil tendency of such violation as regards
the community at large” .

Oxford Dictionary defines

Crime as an act punishable by law as forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare.

In a layman’s language, a crime can be defined as an unlawful act punishable by a State or other
authority. The term " crime" does not, under the modern criminal law, has a simple and universally
accepted definition, though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes.

Meaning of Cyber Crime

It is rightly said that everything has a cost associated with it and so is the case with growing popularity
and convenience of digital networks. The ease, convenience and swift communication provided by the
Information and Communication technology does also come at a cost. As the businesses and societ ies
are increasingly relying on computers and internet-based networking, the cyber crimes and digital attack
incidents have increased many fold.

These attacks are generally classified as crimes that involve the use of a computer or computer source
or computer networks. The instances of different cyber crimes being committed include the financial
scams carried out through the mode of computer, computer hacking, downloading pornographic images
from the internet, virus attacks, e-mail stalking and creating websites that promote racial hatred.

The term ‘Crime’ has neither been defined in the Information Technology Act, 2000 nor in the
Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 nor in any other legislation in India. In fact, it is quite
difficult, if not impossible, to define the word Crime. The word ‘Offence’ has been defined under the
Indian Penal Code, 1860 and also in quite a few other legislations too. In order to define Cyber Crime,
we can say, it is a crime associated with or committed with the help of computers. To put it in simple
words ‘an offence or a crime in which a computer is used can be said to be a cyber crime’. Interestingly,
even a petty offence like stealing or pick-pocket can be brought within the broader purview of cyber
crime if the basic data or aid to such an offence is given through a computer or the information stored in
a computer used (or misused) by the offender. The I.T. Act, 2000 does define words like computer,
computer network, data, information and all other associated terms that form a part of the term cyber
crime, about which we will now be discussing in detail.

In a cyber crime, the computer or the data itself is either a target or the object of an offence or a tool
employed in committing some offence, and thus providing the necessary inputs for that offence. All such
acts of crime come under the broad definition of the term Cyber Crime.

Cyber crimes are technology based crimes wherein the computer or internet itself is used as a weapon
or means to commit such crimes. They are organized and white collar crimes like cyber frauds, hacking,
data theft, phishing, identity theft, etc. Cyber crimes are committed with the help of technology and
cyber criminals have a deep understanding of technology. In fact, cyber criminals are technocrats who
understand the intricacies of Information Technology. Cyber crimes do not know or recognise any
territorial boundary or barrier.

In general, a Cyber Crime can be classified into the following three categories:

1. Target Cyber Crime : It is a crime wherein a computer is the target of the offence.

2. Tool Cyber Crime : It is a crime wherein a computer is used as a tool in committing the offence.

3. Computer incidental : It is a crime wherein the computer plays only a minor role in the commission of
the offence.

Accordance to the Information Technology Act, 2000 a Cyber Crime can be defined as “an act or
omission that is punishable under the Information Technology Act, 2000" . This however is not an
exhaustive definition as the Indian Penal Code also covers certain cyber crimes, such as email spoofing
and cyber defamation, sending threatening emails, etc.