M.M. Rashidul Haque :
Internet has become the backbone of all kinds of communication systems and it is also one of the most important sources of knowledge in the present digitalized world. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies.
Definition of cyber crime : The degree of overlap between organized crime and cybercrime is likely to increase considerably in the next few years. This is something that needs to be recognized by business and government as an emerging and very serious threat to cyber-security. Cyber crime can broadly be defined as a criminal activity involving an information technology infrastructure, including illegal access (unauthorized access), illegal interception, data interference (unauthorized damaging, deletion, deterioration, alteration or suppression of computer data), and systems interference, misuse of devices, forgery (theft), and electronic fraud. This includes anything from downloading illegal music files to stealing millions of dollars from online bank accounts. Cyber crime also includes non-monetary offenses, such as creating and distributing viruses on other computers or posting confidential business information on the Internet. In short, it is unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both.
Types of Cyber Crimes : When any crime is committed over the Internet it is referred to as a cyber crime. There are many types of cyber crimes and the most common ones are explained below:
Hacking: This is a type of crime wherein a person’s computer is broken into so that his personal or sensitive information can be accessed. In the United States, hacking is classified as a felony and punishable as such. This is different from ethical hacking, which many organizations use to check their Internet security protection. In hacking, the criminal uses a variety of software to enter a person’s computer and the person may not be aware that his computer is being accessed from a remote location.
Theft: This crime occurs when a person violates copyrights and downloads music, movies, games and software. There are even peer sharing websites which encourage software piracy and many of these websites are now being targeted by the FBI. Currently, the justice system is addressing this cyber crime and there are laws that prevent people from illegal downloading.
Cyber Stalking: This is a kind of online harassment wherein the victim is subjected to a barrage of online messages and emails. Typically, these stalkers know their victims and instead of resorting to offline stalking, they use the Internet to stalk. However, if they notice that cyber stalking is not having the desired effect, they begin offline stalking along with cyber stalking to make the victims’ lives more miserable.
Identity Theft: This has become a major problem with people using the Internet for cash transactions and banking services. In this cyber crime, a criminal accesses data about a person’s bank account, credit cards, social security, debit card and other sensitive information to siphon money or to buy things online in the victim’s name. It can result in major financial losses for the victim and even spoil the victim’s credit history.
Malicious Software: These are Internet-based software or programs that are used to disrupt a network. The software is used to gain access to a system to steal sensitive information or data or causing damage to software present in the system.
Cyber Defamation: This occurs when defamation takes place with the help of computers and or the Internet e.g. someone publishes defamatory matter(s) about someone on websites or sends e-mail to his friends containing defamatory information.
E-mail spoofing: A spoofed email is that email which appears to originate from one source but actually has been sent from another source. This can also be termed as e-mail forging.
Child soliciting and abuse: This is also a type of cyber crime wherein criminals solicit minors via chat rooms for the purpose of child pornography. The FBI has been spending a lot of time monitoring chat rooms frequented by children with the hopes of reducing and preventing child abuse and soliciting.
Bangladesh has by now already become a victim of cyber crime. The incident of Bangladesh bank heist is one of the proven evidences.
Legal response to cyber crime in Bangladesh
In order to facilitate e-commerce and encourage the growth of information technology, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006 was enacted making provisions with a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment or fine up to taka 10 million or both.
However, recently the National Parliament amended the ICT Act 2006, raising penalties for cyber crimes setting a minimum of 7 years imprisonment and a maximum of 14 years or a fine of Tk. 1 crore or both. The bill made offences under sections 54, 56, 57 and 61 of the ICT Act, 2006 cognizable and non-bailable, empowering law enforcers to arrest anyone accused of violating the law without a warrant, by invoking section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. All such offences were non-cognizable in the ICT Act, 2006. However, all concerned apprehend of the misuse of the power by the police. The ICT Act, 2006 as amended in 2013 is obviously a brilliant achievement of Bangladesh in the field of cyber law. Critics point out that still there remain certain specific limitations of the said Act as under:
(1) The Act remains silent about various intellectual property rights like copy right, trade mark and patent right of e-information and data.
(2) The enactment has a major effect on e-commerce and m-commerce in Bangladesh. But it keeps itself mum as to the electronic payment of any transaction.
(3) The legislation was initially supposed to be applied to crimes committed all over the world; but nobody knows how this can be achieved in practice.
(4) Spamming has become a peril in the West as such they have made anti spamming provisions in cyber law. However, there is no anti-spamming provision in our Act.
(5) Domain name is the major issue which relates to the internet world thoroughly. But the ICT Act, 2006 does not define ‘domain name’ and the rights and liabilities relating to this.
(6) The Act does not address any crime committed through using mobile phones.
(7) This law made e-mails as evidence, conflicting with the country’s Evidence Act that does not recognize e-mails as evidence.
A session judge or an additional session judge will preside over the Cyber Tribunal and a bench of three members including a chairman who will be an ex or acting judge or a competent person to be a judge of Supreme Court and an ex or acting Dist. Judge and an ICT expert, two other members of the bench, will preside over the Cyber Appellate Tribunal and like the other criminal cases Public Prosecutors will prosecute on behalf of the state in this regard. The problem is that judges and the lawyers are the experts of laws, not of technology, more specifically of internet technology. So judges as well as the lawyers should be trained and made expert in technological knowledge for ensuring the justice of technological disputes.
International perspective on cyber crime : Cyber crime is becoming ever more serious. Findings from Computer Crime and Security Survey show an upward trend that demonstrates a need for a timely review of existing approaches to fighting this new phenomenon in the information age. Each state are reacting to the need of cyber laws. As expressed below-
USA – The United States, to protect the interests of internet businesses, the US Congress has enacted new laws to regulate activities on the internet. With the first digital signature law in the world, the US has established a number of regulations on cybercrime, such as the “National Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996”, the “Cyberspace Electronic Security Act of 1999” and the “Patriot Act of 2001”. In addition a number of agencies have been set up in the US to fight against cybercrime, including the FBI, National Infrastructure Protection Center, National White Collar Center, Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Unit and so on. The FBI has set up special technical units and developed Carnivore.
England – Two cyber crimes related Acts have been passed by the British Parliament the Data Protection Act of 1984 and the Computer Misuse Act of 1990. The former one deals with actual procurement and use of personal data while the latter defines the laws, procedures and penalties surrounding unauthorized entry into computers. The British government has applied technologies of filtering and rating to protect manors from inappropriate material on the Web.
Canada – in 2001, the Canadian Parliament passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act that has two sections. The first section defines unlawful entry into a computer system and interception of transmissions. The second section criminalizes the actual destruction, alteration, or interruption of data.
Norway – In Norway a Bill on a new Criminal Law (2008-2009) has introduced a provision on identity theft, using the term Identity Infringements that reads as follows:”With a fine or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years shall whoever be punished, that without authority possesses of a means of identity of another, or acts with the identity of another or with an identity that easily may be confused with the identity of another person, with the intent of a) procuring an economic benefit for oneself or for another person, or b) causing a loss of property or inconvenience to another person.”
India – The Indian Government has in 2003 announced plans on a comprehensive law for cybercrimes.
(i) Whoever with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person destroys or deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means, commits hack.
(ii) Whoever commits hacking shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine which may extend up to two lakh rupees, or with both.
The estimated number of internet users in the early years of the twenty-first century is over a billion. In this global village, consumers, companies, and governments from around the world must further develop ways to protect the sensitive personal and business information and detect those, whether here or abroad, that conspire to exploit technology for criminal gain. Most of the developing countries like Bangladesh have limitations in access to information and the available access is not affordable because of the inadequacy of the existing infrastructure as well as the non-availability of appropriate education. The challenges are posed by the lack of an integrated computer security system and education about computer security. Therefore, there is a need for co-operation; collaboration and investment for security, which also develop the culture of security needs for assuring the security issue. The BTRC has to play a strong role in curbing cyber crimes as people of the country are in favor of bringing cyber criminals to book before they commit crimes like serial bombing, smuggling out national resources and extortion. Bangladesh Government should established one strong cyber police force squad. It is the duty of the government to provide security to all the citizens.
Internet has become the backbone of all kinds of communication systems and it is also one of the most important sources of knowledge in the present digitalized world. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies.
Definition of cyber crime : The degree of overlap between organized crime and cybercrime is likely to increase considerably in the next few years. This is something that needs to be recognized by business and government as an emerging and very serious threat to cyber-security. Cyber crime can broadly be defined as a criminal activity involving an information technology infrastructure, including illegal access (unauthorized access), illegal interception, data interference (unauthorized damaging, deletion, deterioration, alteration or suppression of computer data), and systems interference, misuse of devices, forgery (theft), and electronic fraud. This includes anything from downloading illegal music files to stealing millions of dollars from online bank accounts. Cyber crime also includes non-monetary offenses, such as creating and distributing viruses on other computers or posting confidential business information on the Internet. In short, it is unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both.
Types of Cyber Crimes : When any crime is committed over the Internet it is referred to as a cyber crime. There are many types of cyber crimes and the most common ones are explained below:
Hacking: This is a type of crime wherein a person’s computer is broken into so that his personal or sensitive information can be accessed. In the United States, hacking is classified as a felony and punishable as such. This is different from ethical hacking, which many organizations use to check their Internet security protection. In hacking, the criminal uses a variety of software to enter a person’s computer and the person may not be aware that his computer is being accessed from a remote location.
Theft: This crime occurs when a person violates copyrights and downloads music, movies, games and software. There are even peer sharing websites which encourage software piracy and many of these websites are now being targeted by the FBI. Currently, the justice system is addressing this cyber crime and there are laws that prevent people from illegal downloading.
Cyber Stalking: This is a kind of online harassment wherein the victim is subjected to a barrage of online messages and emails. Typically, these stalkers know their victims and instead of resorting to offline stalking, they use the Internet to stalk. However, if they notice that cyber stalking is not having the desired effect, they begin offline stalking along with cyber stalking to make the victims’ lives more miserable.
Identity Theft: This has become a major problem with people using the Internet for cash transactions and banking services. In this cyber crime, a criminal accesses data about a person’s bank account, credit cards, social security, debit card and other sensitive information to siphon money or to buy things online in the victim’s name. It can result in major financial losses for the victim and even spoil the victim’s credit history.
Malicious Software: These are Internet-based software or programs that are used to disrupt a network. The software is used to gain access to a system to steal sensitive information or data or causing damage to software present in the system.
Cyber Defamation: This occurs when defamation takes place with the help of computers and or the Internet e.g. someone publishes defamatory matter(s) about someone on websites or sends e-mail to his friends containing defamatory information.
E-mail spoofing: A spoofed email is that email which appears to originate from one source but actually has been sent from another source. This can also be termed as e-mail forging.
Child soliciting and abuse: This is also a type of cyber crime wherein criminals solicit minors via chat rooms for the purpose of child pornography. The FBI has been spending a lot of time monitoring chat rooms frequented by children with the hopes of reducing and preventing child abuse and soliciting.
Bangladesh has by now already become a victim of cyber crime. The incident of Bangladesh bank heist is one of the proven evidences.
Legal response to cyber crime in Bangladesh
In order to facilitate e-commerce and encourage the growth of information technology, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006 was enacted making provisions with a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment or fine up to taka 10 million or both.
However, recently the National Parliament amended the ICT Act 2006, raising penalties for cyber crimes setting a minimum of 7 years imprisonment and a maximum of 14 years or a fine of Tk. 1 crore or both. The bill made offences under sections 54, 56, 57 and 61 of the ICT Act, 2006 cognizable and non-bailable, empowering law enforcers to arrest anyone accused of violating the law without a warrant, by invoking section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. All such offences were non-cognizable in the ICT Act, 2006. However, all concerned apprehend of the misuse of the power by the police. The ICT Act, 2006 as amended in 2013 is obviously a brilliant achievement of Bangladesh in the field of cyber law. Critics point out that still there remain certain specific limitations of the said Act as under:
(1) The Act remains silent about various intellectual property rights like copy right, trade mark and patent right of e-information and data.
(2) The enactment has a major effect on e-commerce and m-commerce in Bangladesh. But it keeps itself mum as to the electronic payment of any transaction.
(3) The legislation was initially supposed to be applied to crimes committed all over the world; but nobody knows how this can be achieved in practice.
(4) Spamming has become a peril in the West as such they have made anti spamming provisions in cyber law. However, there is no anti-spamming provision in our Act.
(5) Domain name is the major issue which relates to the internet world thoroughly. But the ICT Act, 2006 does not define ‘domain name’ and the rights and liabilities relating to this.
(6) The Act does not address any crime committed through using mobile phones.
(7) This law made e-mails as evidence, conflicting with the country’s Evidence Act that does not recognize e-mails as evidence.
A session judge or an additional session judge will preside over the Cyber Tribunal and a bench of three members including a chairman who will be an ex or acting judge or a competent person to be a judge of Supreme Court and an ex or acting Dist. Judge and an ICT expert, two other members of the bench, will preside over the Cyber Appellate Tribunal and like the other criminal cases Public Prosecutors will prosecute on behalf of the state in this regard. The problem is that judges and the lawyers are the experts of laws, not of technology, more specifically of internet technology. So judges as well as the lawyers should be trained and made expert in technological knowledge for ensuring the justice of technological disputes.
International perspective on cyber crime : Cyber crime is becoming ever more serious. Findings from Computer Crime and Security Survey show an upward trend that demonstrates a need for a timely review of existing approaches to fighting this new phenomenon in the information age. Each state are reacting to the need of cyber laws. As expressed below-
USA – The United States, to protect the interests of internet businesses, the US Congress has enacted new laws to regulate activities on the internet. With the first digital signature law in the world, the US has established a number of regulations on cybercrime, such as the “National Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996”, the “Cyberspace Electronic Security Act of 1999” and the “Patriot Act of 2001”. In addition a number of agencies have been set up in the US to fight against cybercrime, including the FBI, National Infrastructure Protection Center, National White Collar Center, Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Unit and so on. The FBI has set up special technical units and developed Carnivore.
England – Two cyber crimes related Acts have been passed by the British Parliament the Data Protection Act of 1984 and the Computer Misuse Act of 1990. The former one deals with actual procurement and use of personal data while the latter defines the laws, procedures and penalties surrounding unauthorized entry into computers. The British government has applied technologies of filtering and rating to protect manors from inappropriate material on the Web.
Canada – in 2001, the Canadian Parliament passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act that has two sections. The first section defines unlawful entry into a computer system and interception of transmissions. The second section criminalizes the actual destruction, alteration, or interruption of data.
Norway – In Norway a Bill on a new Criminal Law (2008-2009) has introduced a provision on identity theft, using the term Identity Infringements that reads as follows:”With a fine or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years shall whoever be punished, that without authority possesses of a means of identity of another, or acts with the identity of another or with an identity that easily may be confused with the identity of another person, with the intent of a) procuring an economic benefit for oneself or for another person, or b) causing a loss of property or inconvenience to another person.”
India – The Indian Government has in 2003 announced plans on a comprehensive law for cybercrimes.
(i) Whoever with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person destroys or deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means, commits hack.
(ii) Whoever commits hacking shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine which may extend up to two lakh rupees, or with both.
The estimated number of internet users in the early years of the twenty-first century is over a billion. In this global village, consumers, companies, and governments from around the world must further develop ways to protect the sensitive personal and business information and detect those, whether here or abroad, that conspire to exploit technology for criminal gain. Most of the developing countries like Bangladesh have limitations in access to information and the available access is not affordable because of the inadequacy of the existing infrastructure as well as the non-availability of appropriate education. The challenges are posed by the lack of an integrated computer security system and education about computer security. Therefore, there is a need for co-operation; collaboration and investment for security, which also develop the culture of security needs for assuring the security issue. The BTRC has to play a strong role in curbing cyber crimes as people of the country are in favor of bringing cyber criminals to book before they commit crimes like serial bombing, smuggling out national resources and extortion. Bangladesh Government should established one strong cyber police force squad. It is the duty of the government to provide security to all the citizens.
(M. M. Rashidul Haque Chinmoy is a LLB (Hons) Second Year student, University of London, Dhaka, Bangladesh)