Crimes and Torts committed on a Computer

Crimes and Torts committed on a Computer and Relating to Electronic Mail

 Data Alteration/ Destruction (Section 65 )

It means that if any person conceals, destroys or alters the computer source code which includes computer programs, computer commands, designs, computer network, when this source code is required to be mentioned by law then the person is said to be punished for tampering with the computer source document. Therefore, it is necessary that every organization should register its security code. Sometimes, it is difficult for an organization that the security code is their property or not. So, if they have the code, the person falling under this section is entitled to be punished for imprisonment of three years or fine of Rs. two lakh or both.

Crimes of alteration of computer data are:-

i.False Data Entry

ii.Data Leakage

iii.Virus

iv.Worms

v.Trap Doors

vi.Computer Forgery

vii.Program Piracy

viii.Fraud at Payment Points

ix.Program Manipulation

x.Software Piracy. 

Hacking

Hacking is labelled as amongst the most serious of all cyber crimes. It is said that hacking erodes the faith of people in information technology and the Internet. Hacking a computer system has been projected as a menace requiring harsh laws to act as deterrents. Such a general projection is somewhat misconceived. Hacking a computer simply implies getting into another’s computer without permission. Gaining unlawful access to another’s computer is hacking. Unauthorized entry into a computer belonging to another is hacking.It is equivalent to phone-tapping. Hackers see the weakness in the target computer programme and then find ways to enter and access therein. Anti hacking tools such as the ‘Firewall’ technology and intrusion detection systems are preventive measures that can be taken to protect a computer from being hacked. 

Firewall, like a wall of fire, prevents hacking. Intrusion detection systems will in addition also try to detect the source of hacking. Hacking perse, in simple terms, is criminal trespass into a computer that is a private property. Criminal trespass under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 is simply defined as entering into property in the possession of another with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy any person in

possession of such property, or having lawfully entered into or upon such property, by unlawfully remaining there with intent thereby to intimidate,insult or annoy any such person or with intent to commit an offence.Criminal trespass entails a punishment of imprisonment upto three months or fine upto rupees five hundred, or with both  Criminal trespass perse is thus a minor offence.

Hacking in various forms is already part of several offences, either as the means to their commission or as a consequence. For instance, hacking could be a tool and means to commit cheating, misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, theft, copyright violations,  spying into official secrets, or as part of the conspiracy to wage war against the State, that are all well defined offences. Some of the species of hacking have been defined as contraventions as well as criminal offences in the LT. Act, 2000 as amended by the I.T.

(Amendment) Act, 2008. In the original version of the I.T. Act, 2000, section 66 defined and punished hacking in the following terms:

“Hacking with Computer System – (1) Whoever with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person destroys or deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects is injuriously by any means, commits hacking.

(2) Whoever commits hacking shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine which may extend upto two lakh rupees, or with both”

The title of the aforesaid section 66 was a misnomer, which created confusion. It was widely believed as if section 66 was the only legal provision that dealt with the offence of hacking a computer system. This confusion has  been done away with, by certain amendments made by the I.T. (Amendment) Act, 2008. The words “Hacking with Computer System” have been deleted from section 66, the scope of which has been substantially widened:

“If any person, dishonestly or fraudulently, does any act referred to in

section 43, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may

extend to three years or with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees or with

both”.

The various species of the offence of hacking that are provided (even though not called ‘hacking’ specifically) for or may have elements of hacking, in the amended version of the I.T. Act, 2000 are:

• Access to a computer.
• Downloading, copying or extraction of data from a computer.
• Introducing computer virus and contaminants.
• Causing damage to a computer.
• Causing disruption of a computer.
• Causing denial of access to a computer.
• Affecting critical information infrastructure.
• Cyber terrorism.

In the leading metropolitan case of PAN CARDS, an individual was forging PAN CARDS to be used as identity proof. Offender forged more and more PAN CARDS for those people who were paying him more advance with fictitious addresses to claim the refund.

Computer Virus:

It is a program which is spread to the whole computer system, attaching copies of itself to ordinary programs. The latest case that took place on Feb 3, 2006 was the Kama Sutra Virus. Many countries’ networks were affected due to this virus.

“Kama Sutra” is a mass mailing worm that attempts to lower your security settings and disable anti-virus software. It arrives in your mailbox, pretending to be from someone you know, with a variety of subject lines, including: “My Photos”, “Funny”, “A Great Video”, “Hot Movie” and others. Once activated, on the 3rd day of each month, the worm begins overwriting Word and Excel documents, as well as .zip, .pdf, and others, and thus destroying their contents. In some instances, an infected computer may have the addition of the tray icon “Update Please wait” in the lower right hand corner of your screen. Kama Sutra has been rated a “low” risk by McAfee.com but may be upgraded soon due to the escalating rate of infection.

Black Mail

Now-a-days, people are blackmailing each other by putting up a message which contains virus in the other person’s system. The virus are also sent through mobile phones in order to destroy them.

Threatening e-mails

There are many cases of threatening e-mails with the growing and powerful instrument. It is

affecting the personal life of individuals and also disturbing the social environment as a whole. Recently, a person had sent a threatening e-mail from Tamil Nadu to Parliament mentioning that there was a bomb placed in Parliament premises.

Telecommunication Fraud

It is also increasing day-by-day. Information of telephone calls which is stored on a computer that is linked to a telecommunications system is valuable. The world of telecommunications is giving rise to many crimes. A new era of wireless devices has also come up. Crimes related to telecommunications are non-payment of calls once the service is activated, an unsigned number is provided to the user that does not have an account with the network, etc.

Financial frauds 

They are committed with the help of this crime. If the hacker comes to know about the

credit card details or other bank account details of the victim then he can place himself in the place of the victim and perform all fraudulent activities like transferring of money in his account.

Conspiracy to defraud

Under this fraud, two or more persons operate a computer bypassing a password which

they should not do. They do this act to transfer the funds in their own account. They have the intention to commit crime and this act is committed by two or more than two persons, so, at the time of trial, they all will be tried as they all are liable for this act. 

Worm: A computer worm is a type of malware whose primary function is to self-replicate and infect other computers while remaining active on infected systems.A computer worm duplicates itself to spread to uninfected computers. It often does this by exploiting parts of an operating system that are automatic and invisible to the user.Typically, a user only notices a worm when its uncontrolled replication consumes system resources and slows or halts other tasks. A computer worm is not to be confused with WORM, or write once, read many.

Computer worms often rely on vulnerabilities in networking protocols, such as File Transfer Protocol, to propagate.After a computer worm loads and begins running on a newly infected system, it will typically follow its prime directive: to remain active on an infected system for as long as possible and spread to as many other vulnerable systems as possible.

Trojan 

It is a type of malware that downloads onto a computer disguised as a legitimate program. The delivery method typically sees an attacker use social engineering to hide malicious code within legitimate software to try and gain users’ system access with their software.A simple way to answer the question “what is Trojan” is it is a type of malware that typically gets hidden as an attachment in an email or a free-to-download file, then transfers onto the user’s device. Once downloaded, the malicious code will execute the task the attacker designed it for, such as gain backdoor access to corporate systems, spy on users’ online activity, or steal sensitive data.Indications of a Trojan being active on a device include unusual activity such as computer settings being changed unexpectedly.

Logic Bomb

It is a piece of code intentionally inserted into a software system that will set off a malicious function when specified conditions are met. For example, a programmer may hide a piece of code that starts deleting files (such as a salary database trigger), should they ever be terminated from the company.

Software that is inherently malicious, such as viruses and worms, often contain logic bombs that execute a certain payload at a pre-defined time or when some other condition is met. This technique can be used by a virus or worm to gain momentum and spread before being noticed. Some viruses attack their host systems on specific dates, such as Friday the 13th or April Fools’ Day. Trojans and other computer viruses that activate on certain dates are often called “time bombs”.

To be considered a logic bomb, the payload should be unwanted and unknown to the user of the software. As an example, trial programs with code that disables certain functionality after a set time are not normally regarded as logic bombs.