The rise of computers and advances in technology have paved the way for the genesis of a new genre of crime. High-tech crime involves an attempt to pursue illegal activities through the use of advanced electronic media.
The concept of cyber crime is not radically different from the concept of conventional crime. The first cyber crimes occurred in India, Japan and China at 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.
Cyber crimes may include unauthorised access to data, illegal interception of data being transmitted, unauthorised damage, deletion, deterioration, alteration or suppression of data, interference with the functioning of a computer system, misuse of devices, forgery and electronic fraud.
A recent survey showed that a new cybercrime is being registered every 10 seconds in Britain. Some crimes performed online even surpassed their equivalents in real world. In addition, experts believe that about 90 percent of cybercrimes stay unreported.
According to a study performed by Shirley McGuire, a specialist in psychology at the University of San Francisco, the majority of teenagers who hack and invade computer systems are doing it for fun rather than with the aim of causing harm. Shirley McGuire mentioned that quite often parents cannot understand what motivates teenage hackers.
Results of an anonymous experiment conducted by her on more than 4,800 students in San Diego were presented at the American Psychological Association conference. It says that 38 percent of teenagers were involved in software piracy. Eighteen percent of all youngsters confessed to entering and using the information stored on other PCs or websites. Thirteen percent of all the participants mentioned they made changes in computer systems or computer files.
Cyber crime is mostly a property related crime: it has no direct contact with the victims and involves less visible and tangible kinds of property such as information, data and computer networks. Victims come to know about their losses way later after the actual commission of crimes. Profits from high-tech crimes are vast. Hackers are able to steal greater amounts with greater comfort; a single act can victimise many people in many places all at once.
The cyber thugs find it easy to evade detection and prosecution. They can carry their illegal activities without any geographical limitations and can easily move on to a new target.
Cyber crimes can be divided into the following three categories.
1. Cyber crimes against a person: Cyber crimes committed against people include various crimes like transmission of child-pornography and harassment through e-mail. The trafficking, distribution, posting, and dissemination of obscene material including pornography constitutes one of the most important cyber crimes known today. Cyber harassment is a distinct cyber crime. Harassment can be sexual, racial, religious, or other. This also brings us to another related area--violation of citizen which is a crime of grave nature.
2. Cyber crimes against property: The second category includes computer vandalism (destruction of others' property) and transmission of harmful programs. A Mumbai-based upstart engineering company became a victim of this kind of crime when a competing company stole the technical database from their computers with the help of a corporate cyber-spy.
3. Cyber crimes against the government: Cyber terrorism is one distinct kind of crime in this category. The growth of internet has shown that the medium of cyberspace is being used by individuals and groups to threaten international governments and terrorise citizens of a country. This crime manifests itself into terrorism when an individual "cracks" into a government or military website. In a report of expressindia.com, it was stated that the internet is becoming a boon for the terrorist organisations.
To prevent the above crimes, steps should be taken to prevent them immediately.
Cyber crimes pose a special problem to law enforcement agencies for two reasons. First, these crimes are not easily detected since the offenders can quietly commit them from any computer terminal, usually from the comfort of their own homes. Second, most law enforcement agencies are not equipped to deal with these problems due to lack of technical know-how.
Compared to other countries in the world, internet technology has come to Bangladesh quite late. But, the country does not lag behind when it comes to cyber crimes.
The police have recently planned to set up a special unit to curb cyber crimes. The matter has become more urgent since an e-mail message was sent to Bangla daily Prothom Alo, issuing a life threat to the then leader of the Opposition and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on August 23, 2004.
Another mail was sent to the police headquarters on Aug 25, threatening the then prime minister Khaleda Zia, her son Tarique Rahman and BNP lawmakers. The police took the mails seriously and decided to set up a cyber crime control unit, which will be the country's first policing unit against cyber crime. Two young men, a private university student and a software engineer, were arrested in connection with the e-mail threatening Khaleda and another youth for threatening Hasina. The first two have reportedly said that they had sent the mail for fun. As there is no nationwide computer infrastructure, no watchdog or security system has yet been developed in Bangladesh.
To address the problem, it is essential to push through a stringent law. And, after a long wait, many discussions and criticism, the Information Technology Act, 2006 was passed in parliament. IT specialists think it is possible to take effective measures against cyber crimes, including pornography, by properly enforcing this law.
Under the law, an offender is liable to long-term imprisonment and huge fine. But, not a single case could be filed yet under this law. The law enforcement agencies, however, have launched some activities in this regard and they are hopeful of doing some good jobs pretty soon. According to the National Security Intelligence (NSI), measures are being taken to keep watch on cyber cafés and internet-related activities. So, it has become necessary to formulate proper laws against internet crime as soon as possible and provide proper training to law enforcers to fight such crimes.
The concept of cyber crime is not radically different from the concept of conventional crime. The first cyber crimes occurred in India, Japan and China at 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.
Cyber crimes may include unauthorised access to data, illegal interception of data being transmitted, unauthorised damage, deletion, deterioration, alteration or suppression of data, interference with the functioning of a computer system, misuse of devices, forgery and electronic fraud.
A recent survey showed that a new cybercrime is being registered every 10 seconds in Britain. Some crimes performed online even surpassed their equivalents in real world. In addition, experts believe that about 90 percent of cybercrimes stay unreported.
According to a study performed by Shirley McGuire, a specialist in psychology at the University of San Francisco, the majority of teenagers who hack and invade computer systems are doing it for fun rather than with the aim of causing harm. Shirley McGuire mentioned that quite often parents cannot understand what motivates teenage hackers.
Results of an anonymous experiment conducted by her on more than 4,800 students in San Diego were presented at the American Psychological Association conference. It says that 38 percent of teenagers were involved in software piracy. Eighteen percent of all youngsters confessed to entering and using the information stored on other PCs or websites. Thirteen percent of all the participants mentioned they made changes in computer systems or computer files.
Cyber crime is mostly a property related crime: it has no direct contact with the victims and involves less visible and tangible kinds of property such as information, data and computer networks. Victims come to know about their losses way later after the actual commission of crimes. Profits from high-tech crimes are vast. Hackers are able to steal greater amounts with greater comfort; a single act can victimise many people in many places all at once.
The cyber thugs find it easy to evade detection and prosecution. They can carry their illegal activities without any geographical limitations and can easily move on to a new target.
Cyber crimes can be divided into the following three categories.
1. Cyber crimes against a person: Cyber crimes committed against people include various crimes like transmission of child-pornography and harassment through e-mail. The trafficking, distribution, posting, and dissemination of obscene material including pornography constitutes one of the most important cyber crimes known today. Cyber harassment is a distinct cyber crime. Harassment can be sexual, racial, religious, or other. This also brings us to another related area--violation of citizen which is a crime of grave nature.
2. Cyber crimes against property: The second category includes computer vandalism (destruction of others' property) and transmission of harmful programs. A Mumbai-based upstart engineering company became a victim of this kind of crime when a competing company stole the technical database from their computers with the help of a corporate cyber-spy.
3. Cyber crimes against the government: Cyber terrorism is one distinct kind of crime in this category. The growth of internet has shown that the medium of cyberspace is being used by individuals and groups to threaten international governments and terrorise citizens of a country. This crime manifests itself into terrorism when an individual "cracks" into a government or military website. In a report of expressindia.com, it was stated that the internet is becoming a boon for the terrorist organisations.
To prevent the above crimes, steps should be taken to prevent them immediately.
Cyber crimes pose a special problem to law enforcement agencies for two reasons. First, these crimes are not easily detected since the offenders can quietly commit them from any computer terminal, usually from the comfort of their own homes. Second, most law enforcement agencies are not equipped to deal with these problems due to lack of technical know-how.
Compared to other countries in the world, internet technology has come to Bangladesh quite late. But, the country does not lag behind when it comes to cyber crimes.
The police have recently planned to set up a special unit to curb cyber crimes. The matter has become more urgent since an e-mail message was sent to Bangla daily Prothom Alo, issuing a life threat to the then leader of the Opposition and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on August 23, 2004.
Another mail was sent to the police headquarters on Aug 25, threatening the then prime minister Khaleda Zia, her son Tarique Rahman and BNP lawmakers. The police took the mails seriously and decided to set up a cyber crime control unit, which will be the country's first policing unit against cyber crime. Two young men, a private university student and a software engineer, were arrested in connection with the e-mail threatening Khaleda and another youth for threatening Hasina. The first two have reportedly said that they had sent the mail for fun. As there is no nationwide computer infrastructure, no watchdog or security system has yet been developed in Bangladesh.
To address the problem, it is essential to push through a stringent law. And, after a long wait, many discussions and criticism, the Information Technology Act, 2006 was passed in parliament. IT specialists think it is possible to take effective measures against cyber crimes, including pornography, by properly enforcing this law.
Under the law, an offender is liable to long-term imprisonment and huge fine. But, not a single case could be filed yet under this law. The law enforcement agencies, however, have launched some activities in this regard and they are hopeful of doing some good jobs pretty soon. According to the National Security Intelligence (NSI), measures are being taken to keep watch on cyber cafés and internet-related activities. So, it has become necessary to formulate proper laws against internet crime as soon as possible and provide proper training to law enforcers to fight such crimes.
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