Cyber crime against women, Part II:
From the perspective of amended IT Act
by Debarati Halder
Introduction: Since the inception of Indian information technology Act, in 2001, cyber crime has grown not only in numbers but also in characters in India. Women however remained the most chosen victims of cyber crimes in India since then. Way back in 2007 when I wrote about cyber crime against women in India for the CLT , I never dreamt Indian women would respond so much in the coming future to the growing awareness towards protecting themselves from the online crimes. As I have categorized the online crimes against women in my previous article, it is necessary here to have brief run into them to understand where we stand now. I had mentioned six types of crimes that happen online against women. These are: 1. Harassment via email, 2. Cyber stalking, 3.cyber pornography, 4.defamation, 5.morphing and 6.email spoofing.1 But then, the categories of online crimes targeting women have expanded and the wave has neither left India alone. These new generation offences are cyber flames, cyber eve teasing, cyber flirting, cyber cheating, etc. Most of them happen in the social networking websites, public chat rooms, groups or forums. Apparently these are “vegetable” offences; I term them “vegetables” because most perpetrators as well as victims do not understand that there is any thing wrong in it. But no, in reality, they are not so. Each of these offences are “offences” if they are seen from “cyber decency” perspective. Many of us do remember the tragic death of Kaushambi, the root cause of which was infact cyber flirting. Similarly there are many cases where the woman victim keeps on receiving harassing messages, pornographic images and even obscene materials. Believe it or not, many ex spouses, broken heart boy friends or girl friends have also taken to internet to take revenge. Since late 2004, young as well as adult men took up such nasty pranks, thinking these are nothing but simple ways of ego satisfaction. The number of offences grew. The offenders, understanding that these are no more child plays, started becoming “anonymous” or even hiding under camouflaged names to continue their game. The main reason: the absence of proper law.
1. Chhattisgarh Government formulates Cyber Cafe Act
The Raman Singh government has formulated ‘Chhattisgarh Cyber Cafe Act-2009’ to effectively curb criminal activities in the cyberspace. A notification issued by the state Home department in this regard, also warned the cyber cafe owners and internet users to be liable for stringent legal action for any violation of the provisions in the act.
2. Woman gets obscene mail from own id
A little common sense and some cyber-crime investigation helped the Powai police nab a hacker with the assistance of the Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS). The investigation began after a woman employed with a shipping company found obscene pictures and emails sent to her official email from her personal rediff account.
3. Hyderabad City police launch ‘delete spam’ campaign
With the city recording a high number of cyber crimes, the city police ask the Net users to be more cautious while surfing the Internet. Their advice to the people is not to fall prey to temptation to earn easy money but delete whatever spam mail you get.
4. UT cyber crime cell gets first conviction
Cyber justice made its entry into the city when a Nigerian national — Bright — was convicted for duping a Mohali-resident in an online lottery scam case. He had also been booked under Section 14 of the Foreigner Act.
5. Four cyber crime cases reported in Bangalore
Four cyber crime cases registered in Cyber Crime Police station of CID (Criminal Investigation Department). A loss of about Rs 4 lakhs through phishing and hacking cases were reported. The hackers have drawn an amount of Rs 2.20 lakh from Srinath Imarati, an administrative officer with a private firm, Bearing Point, to four other accounts by making 10 transactions. His account was with ICICI bank of CMH road branch.
2. 77 arrested in Florida cybercrime sweep
Two men from Broward and one from Miami-Dade were among 77 charged statewide in a cybercrime sweep that yielded allegedly obscene materials.
3. Five Spammers Plead Guilty to Multi-Million Dollar E-Mail Stock Fraud Scheme
Five people pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Detroit for their roles in a wide-ranging international stock fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mails, or “spamming.”
4. Google interprets number of searches on Michael Jackson as a cyber attack
The extraordinary volume of searches by the name of the singer Michael Jackson on the Internet has led Google to interpret this phenomenon as a “cyber attack”. Instead of a list of results, millions of users who typed the name of Michael Jackson in the bar of the site have encountered the error message “your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application”.
5. Man charged with child pornography possession
Attorney General Bill McCollum has announced that a Pensacola man has been arrested on charges of possessing and promoting child pornography. Michael Whaley was taken into custody Wednesday by law enforcement with the Attorney General's CyberCrime Unit and the U.S. Marshall Service's Fugitive Task Force.
1. EU wants new cyber crime legislation
The European Commission wants to introduce harsher penalties for cyber criminals, potentially increasing jail sentences to five years. At a meeting of industry body the Messaging Anti Abuse Working Group in Holland, Radomir Jansky, a senior cyber crime official in the Commission, said new legislation was vital.
2. U.S. and Europe Jointly Establish Cyber-Crime Force
The U.S. Secret Service plans to unveil Tuesday plans for a pan-European task force charged with preventing identity theft, computer hacking and other computer-based crime. The unit will be based in Rome, teaming up with an Italian anti-cyber-crime police unit and the Italian post office Poste Italiane SpA, which has developed software that can track electronic payments as it moves beyond traditional mail delivery.
3. Al-Qaeda planning cyber war against Britain, warns Lord West
Al-Qaeda is intent on using the internet to launch a cyber-warfare campaign against Britain, Lord West, the Security Minister, has warned.
4. British users most likely to flag offensive material, says YouTube
British YouTube users are amongst the most sensitive in the world, executives at the site have claimed. Amid demands for an independent regulator to police its content they said Britons are amongst the most likely to object to footage hosted on the site.
5. UK's PM plan to thwart cyber attacks
The Government is due to publish details of plans to confront the threat from online attacks by foreign governments and organised criminal gangs. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will announce the creation of a national cyber security centre and the appointment of a cyber security chief.
1. Complaint about poor services not libel, expert says
Citizens are encouraged to continue to file complaints about poor public services despite the controversial detention of a housewife, who is charged with libel for posting her grudge with a hospital’s service on the Internet.
2. UAE under constant threat from cyber criminals
Organised cyber crime is the biggest security threat globally, and the UAE is not immune, according to a senior security expert from Trend Micro. While Internet usage in the UAE has grown by 212 percent since 2000, an estimated 49.8 percent of the country's citizens are prone to cyber crime today, according to the security firm.
3. SKorea to set up cyber warfare command: official
South Korea's military is looking to launch a cyber warfare command designed to fend off computer attacks from North Korea and other countries, officials said on Friday. The plan will be included in a military reform package to be presented to President Lee Myung-Bak, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP.
4. Australian Enterprises Lose $600m Due To Cyber-Crime
Cyber-crime is doing irreparable damage to Australian businesses as it annually costs them over A$600m, according to a new study by AIC (Australian Institute of Criminology).
5. Anti-Piracy Groups Target Australia’s Children
Several prominent film and TV anti-piracy groups and other industry bodies have teamed up to create yet another group, this time with the aim, among other things, to teach Australia’s children that copyright infringement is wrong.
1. China Linked to 70 Percent of World’s Spam, Says Computer Forensics Expert
Nearly three-quarters of the Web sites advertised in computer spam studied by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Spam Data Mine so far in 2009 are tied to China, according to Gary Warner, UAB’s director of research in computer forensics. Warner has dubbed the trend the “spam crisis in China.”
2. Power grid at risk from hackers: U.S.
The U.S. electricity supply is at "increasing" risk from computer hackers, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said yesterday following reports cyber-spies from China and Russia have targeted the grid.
3. Indian Banks start to strengthen online security
If you are scared of making an online banking transaction because your friend told you how he lost thousands in a fraud, relax. Banks are now strengthening their security measures for online customers. HDFC Bank, for one, has roped in RSA, a security infrastructure provider, to counter any phishing, pharming and Trojan related threats for online banking customers.
4. How to pick the right password
Computer logins, e-mail , bank accounts, travel websites, onlineretailers, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Digg all require apassword to keep your business private. But how much thought do yougive to that magic word?
5. Need for 1.80 lakh cyber security professionals
Owing to significant rise in the number of cyber crimes, the country needs approximately 1.80 lakh security professionals to deal with the menace, said Harold D'Costa, director of Intelligent Quotient Security System (IQSS) on Wednesday while giving a live demonstration on how emails, websites or even phone numbers could be easily hacked. He stressed that everyone should have basic knowledge of cyber crime.
