Chapter 1

Introduction to
Cybercrime
Introduction

Internet has undeniably opened a new way

of exploitation known as cybercrime
involving the use of computers, the
Internet, cyberspace and the worldwide
web (WWW).
CYBERCRIME
Cybercrime: Definition and Origins of the Word

The definitions of computer crime:

“Cybercrime is an illegal behavior, directed by means of electronic operations,
that targets the security of computer systems and the data processed by them
“.
1. Any illegal act where a special knowledge of computer technology is
essential for its perpetration, investigation or prosecution.
2. Any traditional crime that has acquired a new dimension or order of
magnitude through the aid of a computer, and abuses that have come into
being because of computers.
3. Crime completed either on or with a computer.
4. Any threats to the computer itself, such as theft of hardware or software,
sabotage and demands for ransom.

The term “cybercrime” relates to a number of other terms such as:

• Computer-related crime
• Computer crime
• Other synonyms for cyber are: fake, replicated,
pretend,imitation, virtual, computer generated

• Origin of the word is cybernetics -> deals with information

and its uses
Two types of attack are prevalent in cybercrimes:

1. Techno-crime: A premeditated act against a system or systems, with the

intent to copy, steal, prevent access, corrupt or otherwise deface or damage
parts of or the complete computer system.
2. Techno-vandalism: These acts of “brainless” defacement of websites
and/or other activities, such as copying files and publicizing their contents
publicly, are usually opportunistic in nature.

Cybercrimes differ from most terrestrial crimes in four ways:

(a) how to commit them is easier to learn
(b) they require few resources relative to the potential damage caused
(c) they can be committed in a jurisdiction without being physically present in it

Cyberterrorism is defined as “any person, group or organization who, with

terrorist intent, utilizes accesses or aids in accessing a computer or
computer network or electronic system or electronic device by any available
means, and thereby knowingly engages in or attempts to engage in a terrorist
act commits the offence of cyberterrorism.”
How cybercrimes are planned and how they actually take
place
• Cyberterrorists usually use computer as a tool, target or both
for their unlawful act to gain information.

• Internet is one of the means by which the offenders can gain

priced sensitive information of companies, firms, individuals,
banks and can lead to intellectual property (IP), selling illegal
articles, pornography, etc.
• This is done using:
 Phishing, Spoofing, Pharming, Internet Phishing, wire
transfer, etc.

.
 Cybercrime and Information Security
Indian Information Technology Act (ITA 2008) provides a new
focus on “Information Security in India.”

 “Cybersecurity” means protecting information, equipment,

devices, computer, computer resource, communication device
and information stored therein from unauthorized access.

 For anyone trying to compile data on business impact of

cybercrime, there are number of challenges.
o There is always a difficulty in attaching a quantifiable
monetary value to the corporate data and yet corporate
data get stolen/lost.
o Most organizations abstain from revealing facts and figures
about “security incidents” including cybercrime.
o Organizations perception about “insider attacks” seems to
be different than that made out by security solution vendor.
o Awareness about “data privacy” too tends to be low in most
organizations.
Who are Cybercriminals?
Cybercriminals are those who conduct activities such as; credit
card fraud; cyberstalking; defaming another online; gaining
unauthorized access to computer systems; ignoring copyright,
software licensing and trademark protection; overriding
encryption to make illegal copies; software piracy and stealing
another’s identity to perform criminal acts.
1. Type I: Cybercriminals – hungry for recognition
1. Hobby hackers
2. IT professionals
3. Politically motivated hackers hacktivisits
4. Terrorist organizations.

2. Type II: Cybercriminals – not interested in recognition

1.Psychological perverts
2.financially motivated hackers
3.organized criminals
3. Type III: Cybercriminals – the insiders
1. former employees seeking revenge
2. competing companies using employees to gain economic
advantage through damage or theft.
Classifications of Cybercrimes

1. Cybercrime against individual

2. Cybercrime against property
3. Cybercrime against organization
4. Cybercrime against Society
5. Crimes emanating(arise) from Usenet
newsgroup(online discussion forums):
1.Cybercrime against individual
• E-mail Spoofing
• Phishing
• Spamming
• Cyberdefamation
• Computer sabotage
• Pornographic offenses
• Password sniffing
E-Mail Spoofing
• A spoofed E-Mail is one that appears to originate
from one source but actually has been sent from
another source.
•
• Email spoofing is a cyber crime that
involves sending emails with a fake sender address
to trick recipients into believing the email is from a
trusted source.

• The goal is to deceive the recipient into taking an

action, such as visiting a website, downloading
malware, or entering account credentials.
PHISHING
Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to
obtain sensitive information or data,
such as usernames, passwords and
credit card details, by disguising
oneself as a trustworthy entity in an
electronic communication
SPAMMING

• People who create electronic spam are called spammers.

• Spamming is the use of messaging systems to send an

unsolicited bulk message to large numbers of recipients for
the purpose of commercial advertising, for the purpose of
non-commercial proselytizing, or for any prohibited purpose.
Search engine spamming

 Spamming is alteration or creation of a document with the

intent to deceive an electronic catalog or a filing system.

 Some web authors use “subversive techniques” to ensure

that their site appears more frequently or higher number in
returned search results.

Cyber Security by Nina Godbole/Sunit Belapure

Copyright  2011 Wiley India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cyberdefamation
• “Cyberdefamation” occurs when defamation takes place with the help of computers
and/or the According to the IPC Section 499:

1. It may amount to defamation to impute(blame) anything to a deceased person, if

the imputation would harm the reputation of that person if living, and is intended
to be hurtful to the feelings of his family or other near relatives.

2. It may amount to defamation to make an imputation concerning a company or an

association or collection of persons as such.
4.No imputation is said to harm a person’s reputation unless that imputation directly
or indirectly, in the estimation of others, lowers the moral or intellectual character of
that person, or lowers the character of that person in respect of his caste or of his
calling, or lowers the credit of that person, or causes it to be believed that the body of
that person is in a loathsome state or in a state generally considered as disgraceful.

• The law on defamation attempts to create a workable balance between two equally
important human rights

1. The right to an unimpaired reputation

2. The right to freedom of expression
Case Study:

State of Tamil Nadu Vs Suhas Katti

The case is related to the posting of obscene, defamatory and annoying
message about a divorced woman in the Yahoo message group. E-mails
were also forwarded to the victim for information by the accused through a
false e-mail account opened by him in the name of the victim. The posting
of the message resulted in annoying phone calls to the lady in the belief
that she was soliciting.
"The accused is found guilty of offences under section 469, 509 IPC and
67 of the IT Act 2000, and the accused is convicted and sentenced for the
offence to undergo RI for 2 years, under 469 IPC, and to pay a fine of
Rs.500/- and for the offence u/s 509 IPC sentenced to undergo 1 year
simple imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.500/- and for the offence u/s
67 of the IT Act 2000 to undergo RI for 2 years and to pay a fine of
Rs.4000/-. All sentences to run concurrently."
The accused paid the fine amount, and he was lodged at Central Prison,
Chennai. This is considered as the first case convicted under section 67 of
the Information Technology Act 2000 in India.
Internet Time Theft

 Internet time theft occurs when an unauthorized person uses the Internet hours
paid for by another person.
 It comes under hacking because the person gets access to someone else’s ISP
user ID and password, either by hacking or by gaining access to it by illegal
means

 Examples: browsing thee internet, online shopping, using social media,

checking non-work emails

Salami Attack/Salami Technique

 These attacks are used for committing financial crimes.

 A salami attck is a financial crime that involves making small,seemingly
insignificant changes to accounts over time to accumulate a large amount of
money.
 Ex: No account holder will probably notice this unauthorized debit, but the bank
employee will make a sizable amount every month.

Data Diddling
 A data diddling attack involves altering raw data just before it is processed by a
computer and then changing it back after the processing is completed.
 Electricity Boards in India have been victims to data diddling programs inserted
when private parties computerize their systems.
Forgery
• Forging counterfeit currency notes, postage and revenue stamps,
marksheets, etc. using sophisticated computers, printers and scanners.

Web Jacking
• Web jacking occurs when someone forcefully takes control of a website (by
cracking the password and later changing it).
Newsgroup Spam/Crimes Emanating from Usenet Newsgroup
• The advent of Google Groups, and its large Usenet archive, has
made Usenet more attractive to spammers than ever.
• Spamming of Usenet newsgroups actually predates E-Mail Spam.

Industrial Spying/Industrial Espionage

• “Spies” can get information about product finances, research and
development and marketing strategies, an activity known as
“industrial spying.”
• “Targeted Attacks” - applies very well to organizations that are
victim of focused attacks aiming at stealing corporate data,
Intellectual Property or whatever else that may yield a
competitive advantage for a rival company.
• There are two distinct business models for cybercrime applied to
industrial spying
Hacking

Hacking in cyber security refers to the misuse of devices like computers,

smartphones, tablets, and networks to cause damage to or corrupt
systems, gather information on users, steal data and documents, or
disrupt data-related activity.

hackers is who is highly skilled in coding and modifying computer

software and hardware systems.

 Hackers write or use ready-made computer programs to attack the

target computer.

 They possess the desire to destruct and they get enjoyment out of
such destruction.

 Some hackers hack for personal monetary gains, such as stealing

credit card information, transferring money from various bank
accounts to their own account followed by withdrawal of money.

.
Cracker: A cracker is a person who breaks into computers. Crackers
should not be confused with hackers. The term “cracker” is usually
connected to computer criminals. Some of their crimes include
vandalism, theft and snooping in unauthorized areas.

Phreaking: This is the notorious art of breaking into phone or other

communication systems. Phreaking sites on the Internet are popular
among crackers and other criminals.

Online Frauds
Types of crimes under the category of hacking
 Spoofing website and E-Mail security alerts
 Hoax mails about virus threats
 lottery frauds
 Spoofing.
Spoofing websites and E-Mail security threats
o Fraudsters create authentic looking websites that are actually nothing but
a spoof.
o The purpose of these websites is to make the user enter personal
information which is then used to access business and bank accounts
o This kind of online fraud is common in banking and financial sector.
o It is strongly recommended not to input any sensitive information that
might help criminals to gain access to sensitive information, such as bank
account details, even if the page appears legitimate.
Virus hoax E-Mails
o The warnings may be genuine, so there is always a dilemma
whether to take them lightly or seriously.
o A wise action is to first confirm by visiting an antivirus site such
as McAfee, Sophos or Symantec before taking any action, such
as forwarding them to friends and colleagues.

Lottery frauds

o Typically letters or E-Mails that inform the recipient that he/she

has won a prize in a lottery.
o To get the money, the recipient has to reply, after which another
mail is received asking for bank details so that the money can
be directly transferred.

.
Pornographic Offenses
“Child pornography” includes:
1. Any photograph that can be considered obscene and/or
unsuitable for the age of child viewer;
2. film, video, picture;
3. computer-generated image or picture of sexually explicit
conduct where the production of such visual depiction involves
the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

 As the broad-band connections get into the reach of more and

more homes, larger child population will be using the Internet
and therefore greater would be the chances of falling victim to
the aggression of pedophiles.
Software Piracy
 Theft of software through the illegal copying of genuine
programs or the counterfeiting and distribution of products
intended to pass for the original.
Those who buy pirated
software have a lot to lose:
(a) getting untested software
that may have been copied
thousands of times over
(b)the software, if pirated,
may potentially contain
hard-drive-infecting viruses
(c) there is no technical
support in the case of
software failure, that is,
lack of technical product
support available to
properly licensed users
(d)there is no warranty
protection,
(e) there is no legal right to
use the product, etc. .
Computer Sabotage
• It is the use of the Internet to hinder the normal functioning of
a computer system through the introduction of worms, viruses
or logic bombs.
• It can be used to gain economic advantage over a
competitor, to promote the illegal activities of terrorists or to
steal data or programs for extortion purposes.
• Logic bombs are event-dependent programs created to do
something only when a certain event (known as a trigger
event) occurs. Some viruses may be termed as logic bombs.

E-Mail Bombing/Mail Bombs

 It refers to sending a large number of E-Mails to the victim to
crash victim’s E-Mail account or to make victim’s mail servers
crash (in the case of a company or an E-Mail service provider).
 Computer program can be written to instruct a computer to
do such tasks on a repeated basis.
Computer Network Intrusions

 Computer Networks pose a problem by way of security threat because

people can get into them from anywhere.
 The cracker can bypass existing password protection by creating a
program to capture logon IDs and passwords.

 The practice of “strong password” is therefore important.

Password Sniffing

 Password Sniffers are programs that monitor and record the name and
password of network users as they login, jeopardizing(harm) security at
a site.

 Sniffing is a process of
Capturing packets of data
Being sent across a
network.

.
 Credit Card Frauds

 Millions of dollars may be lost annually by

consumers who have credit card and calling card
numbers stolen from online databases.

Identity Theft

 Identity theft is a fraud involving another person’s

identity for an illicit purpose.
 This occurs when a criminal uses someone else’s
identity for his/her own illegal purposes.
 The cyberimpersonator can steal unlimited funds
in the victim’s name without the victim even
knowing about it for months, sometimes even for
years!
Cybercrime: The Legal Perspectives
 computer-related crime was defined in the broader meaning as:
any illegal act for which knowledge of computer technology is
essential for a successful prosecution.
 Legal perspective refer to various viewpoints, interpretation and
framework through which laws are applied to address crimes
committed in cyberspace.
 Different legal systems define which activities are considered
cybercrime, such as hacking, phishing, data theft and damaging
digital infrastructure etc.
 Legal framework vary between countries but they often include
laws about unauthorized access, online fraud.
This problem can be resolved in two ways:
1. Divide information systems into segments bordered by state
Cybercrimes: An Indian Perspective
With over 900 million internet users, India was the
second largest online market in the world,

there are 45 million Internet users in India

 37% - from cybercafes
 57% of users are between 18 and 35 years.
 A point to note is that the majority of off enders were
under 30 years.
 About 46% cybercrime cases were related to
incidents of cyberpornography
 In over 60% of these cases, off enders were
between 18 and 30 years.
Cybercrime and the Indian ITA 2000

 The first step toward the Law relating to E-Commerce at international

level to regulate an alternative form of commerce and to give legal
status in the area of E-Commerce.
Hacking and the Indian Law(s)
 Cybercrimes are punishable under two categories: the ITA 2000
and the IPC.
The number of cybercrimes in India has been increasing in recent
years:
2023
In 2023, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) reported
1,556,218 cybercrime complaints.

2024
In the first four months of 2024, the I4C reported 740,957
cybercrime complaints.

A Global Perspective on Cybercrimes

Cybercrime is a growing threat to the global economy and is
considered one of the top risks facing the world:

Economic impact
Cybercrime is estimated to cost the global economy over $8 trillion
in 2023, and could reach over $11 trillion. By 2026, the cost is
CYBERCRIME ERA: SURVIVAL MANTRA FOR THE
NETIZENS
• The term “Netizen” was coined by Michael Hauben.
• Quite simply, “Netizens” are the Internet users.
• Therefore, by corollary, “Netizen” is someone who spends
considerable time online and also has a considerable presence
online (through websites about the person, through his/her active
blog contribution and/or also his/her participation in the online
chat rooms).
• The 5P Netizen mantra for online security is:
a. Precaution
b. Prevention
c. Protection
d. Preservation