The Internet occupies a central position in our lives. Today, there are
several disturbing things happening in cyberspace. One of the most important
issues concerning cyberspace today is that of cyber crime.
Cyber crime refers to all the activities done with criminal intent in
cyberspace. These could either be criminal activities in the conventional sense
or acts that evolved with the growth of the new medium. Because of the anonymous
nature of the Internet, it is possible to engage in a variety of criminal
activities with impunity and people with intelligence, have been grossly
misusing this aspect.
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There can be no single exhaustive definition about cybercrime. However, any
activity, which offends human sensibilities, can also be included in its ambit.
Child Pornography on the Internet constitutes one serious Cyber crime.
Similarly, online pedophiles, using the Internet to induce children into sex,
are cyber criminals too.
Cyber crimes could be against persons, property, and the government. Cyber
crimes have been committed right since the worldwide web came into existence.
However, September 11, 2001 has proven to be the turning point in the history of
cyber crime in the world.
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four planes in different parts of
the United States of America. Two of the said planes were used as explosive
devices to crash into the twin World Trade Center Towers resulting in thousands
of casualties.
The cumulative effect of the WTC attacks shook the conscience of the entire
humanity. The world witnessed in great shock and horror the extensive television
coverage of the September 11 attacks.
Investigations have revealed that the Internet was used extensively to plan
and carry out the said terrorist acts. This was also the first time that the
real impact of a cyber crime, planned through cyber space, was felt in the
actual world with quantifiable losses of property, invaluable databases,
networks and information apart from life.
The anger amongst the netizen community following the September 11 attacks
took the concrete shape of counter-offensive hacking attempts. The unfolding of
various events in the seven weeks after the September 11 seems to ratify my
thoughts that the world would get to see a tremendous increase in the volume of
hacking, cyber war and cyber terrorism activities.
While the September 11 attack also resulted in enhanced levels of awareness
concerning e-security and security on the networks, the same has also taken
concrete shape in the form of different countries adopting severe anti-terrorist
legislation. These include the United States of America whose Senate recently
passed the Anti-Terrorism Act.
We are going to see far more regulation on the Internet and as a departure
from previous times, there is not going to be much public uproar in giving
immense powers to the police for searching and tracking down terrorists on the
Internet. September 11 is also going to be a critical point in terms of
drastically transforming the rules of the game and the way cyber war and cyber
terrorism will be perceived over a period of time.
It remains to be seen as to how the world as a whole is likely to respond to
the challenge of fighting and preventing cyber terrorism and cyber war related
activities. It would also be interesting to note as to how the coming into force
of the International Cybercrime Treaty is likely to impact the scheme of things
in terms of enhancing cooperation between nations as a whole and in fighting
cybercrime. The future is wide open.
Pavan Duggal is a Cyberlaw consultant
and a practicing advocate at the Supreme Court of India