CYBER CRIMES IN COVID PANDEMIC TIME

ABSTRACT

We are now slowly overcoming the dreadful situation created by COVID-19. Still we have not forgotten about the time were we sat at home and worked form there and our children learned through online classes without going to the schools. It is a true fact that the cyber crimes in our society has increased to its peak during these COVID pandemic time. Because when all of us stayed at home it became easier for the cyber criminals to commit cyber crimes easily. The cyber crimes such as phishing, virus attacks, hacking, ransom ware attacks, spreading fake news, movie piracy, cyber stalking, e-commerce frauds etc have increased to its peak during this COVID pandemic time. Even though laws are there to punish such cyber criminals for committing such cyber crimes but, our cyber laws are not strong enough and as a result such cyber crimes are still increasing day by day. Here we’ll analyse about the increased number of cyber crimes in this COVID era and various types of cyber crimes and cyber crimes mentioned under the Information technology Act, 2000 and their punishments.

KEYWORDS???

Cyber crimes, types of cyber crimes, COVID-19, Information Technology Act 2000, Indian Penal Code

INTRODUCTION

The wide spreading of ‘Covid-19’ had brought people’s life to a standstill. The pandemic had brought a drastic change in the system of education, work sector etc. Going to the office and working were converted to ‘Work from home method’. Attending direct classes from schools and colleges were converted to ‘online classes’. So we started spending more time in the ‘digital world’ for various purposes. Buying various products, doing bank transactions etc were more done through internet. We also started to watch more movies, series etc through internet as there were lots of time available with us. So as we spend more time in the digital world the ‘cyber crimes’ has also increased. Some started committing cyber crimes knowingly; but some others became part of it unknowingly.

VARIOUS TYPES OF CYBER CRIMES AND THEIR EFFECTS IN PANDEMIC TIME

As the professionals started working from home, all the private and confidential documents of their company which they have to work on were available at their desktops. So there duties also increased to keep those things in a confidential manner without any leakage of the details regarding the secret documents and files. ‘Hacking’ was done by expert cyber criminals to obtain such confidential data’s without the permission of the concerned authority.

‘Viruses attacks’ is another important crime which is increased now a day’s. Various ‘virus spreading files’ sent by the criminals through various means has the capacity to destroy our data’s, files and even operating system software. ‘Phishing’ is another one. Here an email will be sent to you from an unknown source which contains a link and if we unknowingly open that link, all our personal data’s including bank details will be in the ‘hands of the cyber criminal’[1]. ‘Cyber bullying’ is another important cyber crime that has increased during this pandemic time. The term ‘cyber bullying’ means harassing or bullying through social media platforms or by the use of devices such as mobile, computers etc... ‘Credit card or debit card frauds’ are also one of the important cyber crimes that have to be noted. It means another person’s credit or debit card information is gathered through unauthorized sources and funds are being taken from that.

Spreading “fake news” through various social media such as ‘what’s app’, ‘face book’ etc is another crime. During this pandemic time we have read about various cases in which the respective authority had taken action against the people who spread ‘fake news’ and create a negative impact among the public. The patients were also at the risk of the “ransom ware attack”. Not only small hospitals were affected but even attempts to steal the passwords from “WHO” were done. Through such attacks they mainly aimed at obtaining patients test details including important medical files of patients in which there exist a greater chance of misuse.

Various “E- Commerce frauds” are also reported during these times. Here they give attractive offers to the customers and if the customer orders the product after paying the price the product is not delivered at any time. “Cyber stalking” is another important cyber crime found. Here, ‘the victim is threatened or harassment is done by some person or group of people which includes vandalism, accusation, identity theft etc’. “Movie piracy” is another one. As theatres were not open the movies are releasing in “OTT platforms” which made easier for the ‘cyber criminals’ to avail the pirated copy of the movie within few hours after its release.

Children who are more frequently using internets are being targeted by the online sex offenders. This includes seeking to groom[2] and sextort[3] individual children, through to broader infiltration in online classes[4] now referred as “zoom bombing”. ‘Child Pornography’ is prohibited by law. But cases related to ‘child pornography’ are reported more during this pandemic time. ‘Espionage’ is another cyber crime. It means an act in which various information’s of the real owner of the data or information is being taken without his/her permission.

Colonial pipeline ransom ware arrack, Kaseya ransom ware heist, Stolen Pfizer/ BioNTech Covid 19 vaccine data leaked, Irish health service hit by major ransom ware attack, scammers accidentally reveal fake Amazon data[5] etc…are some of the cyber crimes that got the attention of the world in the year of 2021.

CYBER CRIMES UNDER THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT???????????????

“The Information Technology Act 2000” is the specific act in India which deals with ‘Cyber crimes, its punishment and available remedies’. ‘Section 66’ of the Information Technology Act deals with, ‘causing damage to a person’s computer source documents and its punishment’. ‘Punishment for publishing offensive information’ is mentioned under ‘section 67’. ‘Section 66E’ and ‘Section66F’ deals with ‘punishment for ransom ware attacks’. ‘Section 70’ of the IT Act states about, ‘the punishment given for unauthorized access to a protected system’. ‘Section72’ deals with ‘breach of confidentiality and regarding piracy issues’. ‘Section 73’ mentions about, ‘the punishment for publishing false digital signature certificate’.

Apart from the punishments mentioned under the Information Technology Act, 2000 there are punishments for such cyber crimes in Indian Penal Code also. ‘Section 505’ of IPC and “Section 54” of “Disaster management Act 2005”, prohibits the spreading of fake news. There are also various other sections in IPC which deals with the punishments of various cyber crimes.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research entails a thorough analysis of the various cyber crimes that were commonly reported during this COVID pandemic time. A clear examination has been made about the different types of cyber crimes and the various groups of people and various fields that were affected by these cyber crimes. The punishments which are awarded to these cyber criminals have been also thoroughly looked into. This study aims at providing insightful knowledge regarding the increased number of cyber crimes in our society and helps the readers to know about it and take necessary precautions for not becoming victims of such cyber crimes.??????

SUGGESTIONS

·?????Instead of using simple passwords use strong passwords for your computers.

·?????Don’t ever disclose the PIN number of your bank ATM card or Net banking or Gpay etc to anybody.

·?????Always keep your computer software updated.

·?????Change the passwords of your social media accounts regularly.

·?????Change your email password regularly and don’t forget to sign it out when you are not using it.

·?????You should take measures for protecting yourselves against the identity thefts.

·?????Make others aware about these cyber crimes and tell them to take necessary precautions for not becoming victims of such cyber crimes.

·?????Contact the cyber cell or some local police stations if you have become the victim of some cyber crime.

·?????Report to the concerned authorities immediately if some child pornography cases have came into notice.

·?????The movie makers should not leave the movie piracy cases and they should move to the courts against such movie piracy.

·?????Laws should be made stronger so that the cyber criminals will not increase further.

·?????Punishments for such cyber crimes must be enhanced.

CONCLUSION

So, it is very much evident that the “cyber crimes” have increased during this ‘Covid pandemic time’. When all of us stayed home and started to spent more time in the digital world, the ‘cyber criminals’ have utilized the opportunity for committing such crimes. It is the anonymity that exists in the internet world that creates a sense of thinking in such criminals to do more and more ‘cyber crimes’. So there exists a need to control such ‘cyber crimes’. There is a need for our “cyber laws” to be altered and should impose more strict punishments on each ‘cyber crime’ by mentioning each of them separately. Our government must also take steps to prevent such crimes. So, in this modern era there exist a need to prevent such ‘cyber crimes’, only then we can ensure a safe and peaceful life for all citizen.???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

REFERENCES

[1] LEGAL SERVICE INDIA E JOURNAL, https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-4998-cyber-crime-in-india-an-overview.html (last visited May 8, 2022)

[2] E SAFETY COMMISSIONER, https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/big-issues/unwanted-contact (last visited May 8, 2022)?

[3] E SAFETY COMMISSIONER, https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/image-based-abuse/take-action/deal-with-sextortion ( last visited on May 7, 2022)

[4] TECH CRUNCH, https://tcrn.ch/3buz3gW (last visited May7, 2022)

[5] COMPUTERWEEKLY.COM, https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252510733/Top-10-cyber-crime-stories-of-2021 (last visited May 8, 2022)