Introduction

What is Cyber Crime?
A Cyber Crime is an evil having its origin in the growing dependence on computers in modern life. Cyber Crime has been an artifact of computer systems for a number of decades. However, the phenomenon of Cyber Crime did not truly come into being until the advent of the computer network. Information moving from across physical distances was much easier to intercept than that on a standalone system. Moreover, attaching a system to a network provided would-be criminals an access point into other vulnerable systems attached to the same network. But even in the early days of networked computing, Cyber Crime was rare. The relative rarity of computers, combined with the highly specialized knowledge needed to use them prevented widespread abuse. The Cyber Crime problem emerged and grew as computing became easier and less expensive.
Computer crimes are criminal activities, which involve the use of information technology to gain an illegal or an unauthorized access to a computer system with intent of damaging, deleting or altering computer data. Computer crimes also include the activities such as electronic frauds, misuse of devices, identity theft and data as well as system interference. Computer crimes may not necessarily involve damage to physical property. They rather include the manipulation of confidential data and critical information. Computer crimes involve activities of software theft, wherein the privacy of the users is hampered. These criminal activities involve the breach of human and information privacy, as also the theft and illegal alteration of system critical information. The different types of computer crimes have necessitated the introduction and use of newer and more effective security measures.

The internet in India is growing rapidly. It has given rise to new opportunities in every field we can think of – be it entertainment, business, sports or education. There are two sides to a coin. Internet also has its own disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages is Cyber Crime – illegal activity committed on the internet. The internet, along with its advantages, has also exposed us to security risks that come with connecting to a large network. Computers today are being misused for illegal activities like e-mail espionage, credit card fraud, spam’s, software piracy and so on, which invade our privacy and offend our senses. Criminal activities in the cyberspace are on the rise.
A simple yet sturdy definition of Cyber Crime would be “unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both”. Defining Cyber Crime, as “acts that are punishable by the Information Technology Act 2000” would be unsuitable as the Indian Penal Code also covers many cyber crimes, such as e-mail spoofing, cyber defamation etc.
Although the term Cyber Crime is usually restricted to describing criminal activity in which the computer or network is an essential part of the crime, this term is also used to include traditional crimes in which computers or networks are used to enable the illicit activity.