Technology

History and Evolution of Cyber Crime

Cyber Crime is not an old crime for the world. It is defined as any criminal activity that takes place through computer or internet or other technology recognized by the Information Technology Act. Cybercrime is the most prevalent crime playing a destructive role in modern India. The all total types criminals in all over world are not only causing huge damage to the society and the government but are also managing to hide their identity to a great extent. There are many illegal activities that are carried out on the internet by technically skilled criminals. Taking a broad interpretation it can be said that, cybercrime includes any illegal activity where computer or internet is either a tool or target or both.

The term cybercrime can be judicially interpreted in some judgments passed by the courts in India, however it is not defined in any act or statute passed by the Indian legislature. Cybercrime is an uncontrollable evil which has its basis in the misuse of the increasing dependence on computers in modern life. The use of computers and other allied technology in daily life in all over world is increasing rapidly and it has become a necessity that facilitates the convenience of the user. It is a medium that is infinite and bottomless. Whatever good internet does to us, it has some dark side too. Some of the newly emerged cyber crimes are cyber-stalking, cyber-terrorism, e-mail spoofing, e-mail bombing, cyber pornography, cyber defamation etc. Some of the traditional crimes can also fall under the category of cyber crime if they are committed through computer or internet.

1. It would be a surprise for everyone who uses palmtops and microchips today to know that during the 1950s, the first successful computer was built and the size of the computer was so huge that it used to take up the space of the entire room and they were very expensive to operate. The functioning of these computers was not understood by a large number of people and only a select few expert people had direct access to such computers, and had the knowledge to operate them. For obvious reasons, computer technology was extremely expensive and beyond the purchasing capacity of almost the entire population until IBM came into existence, wherein it introduced its standalone “personal computer” in 1981 and made many people aware of the rewards of quick data access and manipulation. Till that time, only a few people had realized this.

2. In India, personal computers became affordable and became a household commodity in the early 21st century. The Internet was first introduced after World War II by the US Department of Defense with the idea of a network that could work in case of disaster or war and transmit information securely. The first network was known as ARPANET, with the development of Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, World Wide Web and Hypertext the Internet became popular all over the world. With the development of the Internet in all over the world the quality and variety of information increased. However at that time no one had predicted that the Internet was going to provide opportunities to technology savvy criminals.

3. Internet services in India were launched in the year 1995 by the state-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited and in 1998 the government ended the monopoly of VSNL and opened the market to private operators. At that time, Internet users in India were 0.1% of the total population, and now India has become the second largest country after China in terms of Internet users with 33.22% of the population using the Internet.

4. The process of criminalization of human behavior considered harmful to the public usually develops slowly in common law jurisdictions. The momentum gained through recognition of the problem and pressures exerted on special interest groups can easily last for decades before undesirable actions are classified as “crimes”. In some instances, this process is accelerated through the occurrence of certain “catalytic events” that attract public attention and the attention of lawmakers.

5. The first recorded cybercrime took place in all over the world in the year 1820. This is not surprising considering the fact that the abacus computer system, which is considered the earliest form of computer, has existed since around 3500 B.C. in India, Japan, and China. However, the era of modem computers began with Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. In 1820, textile manufacturer Joseph-Marie Jacquard in France produced the loom. This device allowed a series of steps to be repeated in the weaving of special fabrics. This resulted in Jacquard’s employees fearing that their traditional employment and livelihoods were being threatened. They carried out sabotage actions to discourage Jacquard from further use of the new technology. This is the first recorded cybercrime.

6. In the case of computer crime, lawmakers’ attention grew sharply in the 1980s as businesses became more dependent on computerization and catalytic event cases exposed significant vulnerabilities to computer crime violations. Criminals can now easily encrypt information representing evidence of their criminal acts, store the information and even transmit it with little fear of being detected by law enforcement. Because of the extraordinary influence of the Internet, a computer crime scene can now extend from the victim’s geographic point (for example, the victim’s personal computer) to any other point on the planet, complicating criminal investigation efforts even more.

7. Indeed, computer technology has dramatically changed the criminal justice field, such that enterprising and opportunistic criminals have deliberately turned to computers to commit their illegal acts in situations where in all over the world the computer system serves as the instrument of the crime, the means by which the crime is committed, as well as in cases in which the victim’s computer, or computer system, is the target or object of the act. And, as noted above, the presence of new computer technology assists cybercriminals in situations in which the computer’s role is relevant to the crime; situations in which the computer is used to store and secure information that is evidence linking the criminal to the criminal acts. One commonality among these types of crimes is that the criminal relies largely on the lack of technical skills of law enforcement in order to successfully commit the crime and avoid being caught. Based on the empirical evidence that is available on the self-assessed skills of investigators in this area, computer criminals would have good reason to feel some confidence in their chances of avoiding detection for their crimes.

8. As we move towards the 21st century, it can be observed that technological innovations have paved the way for the entire population using computer technology today to experience new and amazing facilities in their daily lives ranging from education, shopping, entertainment, to leveraging business strategies and understanding of work flows. Our daily lives have changed forever due to the rapid advancements made in the field of computer technology. These changes allow us to communicate over long distances in an instant and allow us, almost effortlessly, to gather and organize large amounts of information, tasks that would otherwise prove to be cumbersome and costly. However, the technological treasures that have improved the quality of our lives can be justifiably seen as a double-edged sword. While computer technology has opened the doors of advanced facilities for many, the same technology has also opened new doors for criminals.

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