INTRODUCTION

What is this Cyber crime? Rare we read a lot about it in newspapers. Lot of people
talk about it, but do we really understand what cyber crimes is? Cyber crime can take
many shapes and can occur nearly anytime or anyplace Mr Pavan Duggal, who is the
President of www.cyberlaws.net and consultant, in a report has clearly defined the
various categories and types of cyber crimes. Cyber crimes can be basically divided
into 3 major categories first cybercrimes against persons, second Cyber crimes against
property and third Cyber crimes against government. (Pavan Duggal, Supreme Court
advocate and cyber law expert) Computers, networks and mobile communication
have become entangled in everyday life. Our society has become increasingly
connected and dependent on its ICT-infrastructure in business, public administration
and personal life. As a result of this dependence, a whole spectrum of punishable
behaviour has come into existence. But sometime, technology should not only be
addressed as the subject of misbehaviour, but also as a valuable means for law
enforcement (cf. Politie in ontwikkeling, 2005, and Spelverdeler in de opsporing,
2004, both by the Dutch Council of Chief Superintendents of Police).
First let us see the general definition of cyber crimes, Cyber crime is criminal
activity done using computers and the Internet. It is the exploitation of the internet. It
may threaten a nations security and financial health. Cyber crime include a broad
range of activities. Its very difficult to classify cybercrimes in general into distinct
groups as many crimes evolve on a daily basis. Hence, the computer will be looked at
as either a target or tool for simplicitys sake. These crimes generally involve less
technical expertise as the damage done manifests itself in the real world. Those who
use to do the cyber crime always exploited the weakness of human. This happened
when their use the computer as a tool. But once they use computer as a target, it will
involving a selected group of criminals. Unlike crimes using he computer as a tool,
these crimes requires the technical knowledge of the user. For the crimes that
primarily target computer networks or devices include computer virus and malware.
Crimes that use computer networks or devices to advance other ends include hacking
involve attacking the computers information and other resources. This includes
anything from downloading illegal music files to stealing millions of dollars from
online bank accounts (called hacking). Additionally, cyber crime also includes
traditional crimes conducted through the Internet. For example; hate crimes,
telemarketing and Internet fraud and also identity thief in which criminals use the
Internet to steal personal information from other users.
The concept of cyber crime is not radically different from the concept of
conventional crime. Both include conduct whether act or omission, which cause
breach of rules of law and counterbalanced by the sanction of the state. Cybercrime is
the latest and perhaps the most complicated problem in the cyber world. While
computers and the Internet have made our lives easier in many ways, it is unfortunate
that people also use these technologies to take advantage of others. Therefore, it is
smart to protect yourself by using antivirus and spyware blocking software and being
careful where you enter your personal information. Especially when we use others
computer.







CLASSIFICATION OF CYBER CRIMES

Cyber crime can be classified into several categories. First cyber crime against
individual. Cybercrimes committed against individual include various crimes like
transmission of child-pornography, harassment of any one with the use of a computer
such as e-mail, and cyber-stalking. Similarly, Cyber harassment is a distinct
Cybercrime. Various kinds of harassment can and does occur in cyberspace,
or through the use of cyberspace. Harassment can be sexual,
racial, religious, or other. Persons perpetuating such harassment are also guilty of
cybercrimes. Another Cybercrime against persons is that of Cyber stalking. The
Internet is a wonderful place to work, play and study. The Net is no more and no less
than a mirror of the real world. And that means it also contains electronic versions of
real life problems. Stalking and harassments are problems that many persons
especially women, are familiar with in real life. These problems also occur on
the Internet, in what has become known as "Cyber stalking" or "on-line harassment".
All those Cybercrimes which threatens will not just threated to undermine the adult
but also the growth of the younger generation as also leave irreparable scars and
injury on the younger generation, if not controlled.
The example of cyber stalking that involves women nowadays is the crime
that involves love in the net. In Malaysia, there are so many cases involving the
women that have been cheating by the African. A total of 183 cases of Internet scams
have been reported in Pahang involving the loss of RM1.5 million in the period from
January to August this year. Many of the cases are involving women. The crime
suspect will make sure the victim fall in love and then they will take whatever
information they can to cyber stalking them. The cases like email spoofing also
involve women. It occurs when the victim is not aware of the banking information has
been revealed to members of the syndicate lead their savings transferred to a third
party account. Last year, police had received a total of 353 cases of fraud involving a
loss of RM1.2 million Internet banking. Internet banking criminals will use phishing
techniques, by creating a fake website of a bank and send e-mail purportedly on
account of security (Security Alert). E-mail is asking users to update their account to
avoid any fraud allegedly unscrupulous. When making the update process, the user
will be prompted to enter some personal data such as name, password and TAC
number (four-digit confirmation number of transactions). (Assistant Director of Cyber
and Multimedia Crime Investigation Commercial Crime Investigation Department
(JSJK) Bukit Aman, Assistant Commissioner Kamarudin Md. Din).
The second category of cyber crimes is that of Cyber crimes against
organization or can we say against government. These crimes
include unauthorized computer trespassing through cyberspace, computer vandalism,
and transmission of harmful programs and unauthorized possession of computerized
information. These crimes include computer vandalism (destruction of others'
property), transmission of harmful programmers. Software piracy is also another
distinct kind of Cybercrime which is perpetuated by many people online who
distribute illegal and unauthorized pirated copies of software. Just recently the case
involve cyber crime against organization is unauthorized control or access over
computer system or also known as hacking. Malaysia's Communications and
Multimedia Commission said that 51 websites in the www.malaysia.gov.my domain
were attacked and that 41 of the sites suffered various levels of disruption. The
MCMC, the country's Internet and telecommunications regulator, did not however
provide information on the nature of the attacks, or the people behind it, describing
them only as "unknown hackers".(Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia
Commission). Anonymous has used various online forums to threaten Malaysia with
an attack in protest against the government's decision to block 10 websites that
reportedly allowed the download of pirated content. The crime like a computer
contamination or virus attack is a situation where a computer virus is attacking the
computer program that can infect other computer programs by modifying them in
such a way as to include a (possibly evolved) copy of it. Viruses can be file infecting
or affecting boot sector of the computer.
The third category is cyber crime against society. They include
Pornography (specially child Pornography), polluting the youth through indecent
exposure, online gambling and trafficking etc. The pornography especially child
pornography is child pornography consists of photographs, videotapes, magazines,
books, and films that depict children in sex acts, all of which are illegal. The internet
is also becoming an easy place where children can access adult pornography.
Pornography is a neglected problem in society which devalues women in particular,
making them objects of lust rather than human beings. The same devaluation occurs
when children are involved. Trafficking may assume different forms. It may be
trafficking in drugs, human beings, arms weapons etc. These forms of trafficking are
going unchecked because they are carried on under pseudonyms

COMPARISON OF CYBER CRIME IN MALAYSIA AND USA
For Malaysia to be a world leading country in ICT development and be a
global centre and hub for communication and multimedia information and content
services, a law needs to be formed to promote a high level of consumer confidence
and to protect the information security and network reliability and integrity.
Therefore, the first important step that is taken by the government of Malaysia to
combat this new type of crime is by introducing a new legal framework to facilitate
the development of ICT systems by countering the threats and abuses related to such
systems called Cyber Laws of Malaysia. The Malaysian cyber laws consist of
Computer Crime Act 1997, Digital Signature Act 1997, Telemedicine Act 1997,
Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 Copyright (Amendment) Act 1997,
Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 and Optical Disk
Act 2000. There are other existing laws that will be used in conjunctions with these
acts. They are the Official Secret Act Act 1976, Patent Act 1983, Prison Act 1995,
Akta Arkib Negara 44/146 and other relevant legislations. This set of Acts has made
Malaysia as one of the first countries to enact a comprehensive set of cyber laws. The
above Acts were formed for the purpose of safeguarding consumer and service
providers besides on-line businesses and owners of intellectual property.
(http://cybercrimes09.blogspot.com/). The Computer Crime Act 1997 (CCA 97) was
given its Royal Assent on June 18, 1997 but was only enforced on June 1, 2000 (9).
Computer Crime Act 1997 (CCA 97) main concerns are offences due to the misuse of
computers and complement the existing criminal legislation. Computer Crime Act
1997 (CCA 97) is in fact has a lot of similarity with the UK Computer Misuse
Act 1990 in terms of the offences but differs in several ways. It is different in that
Computer Crime Act 1997 (CCA 97) gave an interpretation of computers, computer
networks, output, data, functions, programs and premises. The interpretation of a
computer in Computer Crime Act 1997 (CCA 97) is summarised as any electronic
machines that are programmable and has the facility for data storage. The Computer
Crime Act 1997 (CCA 97) also covers a wider range of offences compared to
Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA 1990) which only covers 3 aspects of computer
misuse: unauthorised access, unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate
other crime and unauthorised modification. The three other offences included in
Computer Crime Act 1997 (CCA 97) are wrongful communication, abetment and
attempts punishable as offences and presumptions. Besides that, it also covers on
obstruction of search. The Computer Crime Act 1997 (CCA 97) also gives more
severe punishment compared to Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA 1990 (UK)).
Compare to the USA cyber crime, Malaysias cyber crime acts are not wide as
the USA cyber crime acts. The USA cyber crime acts are divides computer crime into
three general categories: 1) The crime of obtaining computer hardware, peripherals,
and software illegally; 2) Crimes that actually target a computer network or device
directly (Computer hacking; viruses; worms; Trojan horses; logic bombs; malware;
sniffers; bots, spyware, etc.); and 3) Crimes committed through the use of computer
networks or devices (Cyberspace Crime), although the crime committed does not
target the actual computer or the network (Fraud and identity theft: phishing and
pharming scams; corporate espionage; embezzlement; copyright infringement with
software, music and movie piracy; cyber terrorism; child pornography trafficking, and
more). The US cyber laws consist of Communications Assistance for Law
Enforcement Act (CALEA), Computer Software Privacy and Control Act,
Department of Justice - Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Digital
Millennium Copyright Act, Economic Espionage Act (EEA), Electronic
Communications Privacy Act, FBI - Cyber Crime Division, Fraud and Related
Activity in Connection with Computers, Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions Act,
Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008, National Information Infrastructure
Protection Act of 1996, The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. (HG Legal Directories
.org)
In Malaysia, only just last year, 582 investigation papers were opened and
probed, 422 of which were under Section 211 and 233 of the act. Apart from the act,
those found to have abused the internet can also be charged under the Banking and
Financial Institutions Act 1989, Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, Sedition Act
1948, Defamation Act 1957 or even under the Penal Code. "Besides taking the
culprits to court, the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission
(MCMC) will also block the access to phishing, fraud, illegal investment and
pornography websites. The MCMC had also set up a bureau to receive complaints to
identify and probe those responsible for providing and disseminating such content.
(Bernama).
In Us the cases that involve the cyber crimes are like Ninja video Website
Operators Charged with Criminal Copyright Conspiracy (September 9, 2011), Online
Identity Thief Sentenced in Virginia to 14 Years in Prison for Selling Counterfeit
Credit Cards Leading to More Than $3 Million in Losses (September 9, 2011) ,
Virginia Woman Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for Importing and Selling
Counterfeit Cisco Computer Networking Equipment (September 9, 2011), New York
Stock Broker Sentenced to Prison in International Stock Fraud Scheme (September 6,
2011), Orange County Man Who Admitted Hacking into Personal Computers
Sentenced to Six Years in Federal Prison For sextortion of Women and Teenage
Girls (September 1, 2011), Brooklyn Man Pleads Guilty to Online Identity Theft
Involving More Than $700,000 in Reported Fraud (August 10, 2011), Four Florida
Men Charged in Boston with Defrauding Homeowners in Home Loan Modification
Scam (August 9, 2011) and etc. (Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Sectio,
United States Department of Justice)
SUGGESTION
Cyber crimes are something that we should prevent. Prevention is always better
than cure. It is always better to take certain precaution while operating the net. First to prevent
the crime firms should secure their networked information. Laws to enforce property
rights work only when property owners take reasonable steps to protect their property
in the first place. Firms dependent on the network must make their own information
and systems secure. Second governments should assure that their laws apply to cyber
crimes. In many cases, nations will find that current laws ought to be updated.
Enactment of enforceable computer crime laws that also respect the rights of
individuals are an essential next step in the battle against this emerging threat. Firms,
governments, and civil society should work cooperatively to strengthen legal
frameworks for cyber security. To be prosecuted across a border, an act must be a
crime in each jurisdiction. Thus, while local legal traditions must be respected,
nations must define cyber crimes in a similar manner.
CONCLUSION
Computer crime definitely must be taken seriously. Attacks can come from a
computer across the room or computers located in another country. The threat could
be external or it could be internal. It may have financial impact, it may deal with child
pornography or it may be related to cyber terrorism. Because of the number of
computer crime cases that has increased over the years (and many more unreported),
the development of computer crime laws and policing initiatives must grow in
tandem. Tackling computer crime is similar to tackling computer security. As long as
there is a system in place to punish the wrongdoers, as long as there is public
awareness of the potential seriousness of such crimes, I believe that there will be
much headway in computer crime law and investigation in the coming years in
Malaysia and around the world. In the case of Malaysia, the government has set up
legal frameworks that are used to punish the offenders such as the Cyber Laws of
Malaysia. apart from the technical approaches taken by each individual organizations.
Though there is no fool proof approach that can be taken to stop computer crimes
from occurring, but by having these approaches mentioned above applied efficiently
and effectively, users awareness and involvements it is hope that it will put the
problems under control.
















REFERENCE
1. Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Commission
2. Pavan Duggal, Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert
3. cf. Politie in ontwikkeling, 2005, and Spelverdeler in de opsporing, 2004,
both by the Dutch Council of Chief Superintendents of Police
4. Assistant Director of Cyber and Multimedia Crime Investigation Commercial
Crime Investigation Department (JSJK) Bukit Aman, Assistant Commissioner
Kamarudin Md. Din
5. HG Legal Directories .org
6. Bernama
7. Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Sectio, United States Department of
Justice
8. http://cybercrimes09.blogspot.com/
9. Pavan Duggal, Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert