KCG- Portal of Journals

Continuous Issue - 31| February – March 2021

Real World and Cyber Crime

ABSTRACT
Today the world is facing new era of criminal activities in cyber space, which are being committed across the world,
irrespective of the geographical boundaries. These cybercrime acts may be financially-driven acts, related to
computer content, or against the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of computer systems. The relative risk and
threat differs between Governments and businesses. Age, sex, socio-economic background, nationality, and motivation
are likely amongst the core characteristics of cybercrime perpetrators. The level of criminal organization represents
a defining feature of the human association element behind criminal conduct. India accounts for close to $8bn of the total
$110bn cost of global cybercrime. The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, specifies the acts which are punishable.
Cybercrime has also affected the social media. A crime prevention plan with clear priorities and targets needs to be
established and government should include permanent guidelines in its programmes and structure for controlling crime,
and ensure that clear responsibilities and goals exist within government for the organization of crime prevention. This
paper seeks to find out the motives and suspects of cybercrime perpetration and also suggest measures for crime
prevention.
Keywords: Internet crime, Cyber Crime in world, Cyber Crime Awareness.
Introduction
What is real world research?
Real world research, as the term is used in this book, refers to applied research projects whicharetypically small
in scale and modest in scope. Real world research looks to examine personal experience, social life and social
systems, as well as related policies and initiatives. It endeavors to understand the lived‐in reality of people in society and
its consequences. A substantial amount of research of this type is carried out in universities or research institutes by
both staff and students, particularly in applied fields such as business and management, criminology, education, and
health‐related areas such as nursing, social policy, social work and socio‐legal studies. There is also applied work in
academic social science disciplines including psychology and sociology.

Italsocommonlytakesplaceinlocalgovernment,businesses, NGOs (non‐government organizations) and community

organizations, where it is carried out by professionals and practitioners, including practitioner‐researchers. This
meansthat real world researchcan shapetheworld aswell asexplaintous why the world isin the shape that it is.Itsfocus is
different from much academic research.
A word to those with a social science background
It is our strong impression that, for carrying out real world research, the exact social science Discipline background of
the potential researcher is not all that important. A psychology graduate is likely to have been well steeped in
experimental design and to know relatively little about qualitative approaches (although such approaches are now
being taken seriously by an increasing proportion of departments). A sociology graduate will be likely to have had the
reverse experience. The approach taken in this book is deliberately promiscuous. Strategies and techniques which
have tended to be linked to different disciplines have been brought together in an attempt to give researchers a range of
options appropriate to the research questions they are asking. Hence it is hoped that those from a range of social science
disciplines will find material which is both useful and accessible. This book’s multi‐disciplinary approach to
methodologyin
The social sciences become more relevant for two reasons. Firstly, the expansion of the range of methods and
methodological approaches explored by disciplines including criminology, politics and social work. Secondly, the
encouragement of stakeholders, funding bodies and research councils to engage in cross‐disciplinary
research.
A word to those without a social science background
Our experience is that the approaches advocated here can be accessible to those without a background or training in the
social sciences.The things that social researchers do are not all that different from those in a variety of other trades and
professions. North more (1996) for example, writing for investigative journalists, reveals many similarities. The

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research task has been compared with that of the detective: information is gathered; a ‘case’ is made on the basis of
evidence; comparisons are made with the modus operandi of suspects; decisions are made about the best
explanation, etc. (Scriven, 1976; Smith & Davis, 2012). There are more obvious linkages with the helping professions
such as therapists, counselors, etc. and with humanities disciplines such as history.

A problem is that you ‘know not what it is that you know not’ and may rush in blindly or blithely without realizing the
complexity of the situation. Our advice is that you seek to appreciate the implications of carrying out a scientific
study. If you are not from a scientific background, orare‘anti‐science’,pleasetrytokeepyourprejudicesincheck.
The next chapter aims, among other things, to clear away some common misconceptions about the scientific
approach. You won’t be expected to wear a white coat, or, necessarily, to crunch numbers. Associated with the scientific
approach is the need for rules or principles of procedure. However, as has already been stressed, many real world
studies both permit and require a flexibility in design and prosecution which may well appeal to those with a back
ground in the arts or humanities. Well‐written flexible research designs based on people’s accounts or other
qualitative data can provide acompelling report. A major theme of this book is howto introducing our into allaspects
ofresearchsothatwe achieve a justifiedbelievability and trust worthiness in what we find and write up.
CYBER CRIME IN THEWORLD
The list of the most dangerous countries for computer attacks is based on the figures for 2012. "China and the U.S.
may dominate the headlines when it comes to hacker attacks, but countries in the developing world are the most
vulnerable to online assaults... When targeting consumers, cyber criminals are likely to go where there are fewer
defenses. Developing markets provide such an opportunity, with millions of new Internet users every year and
fewer resources to devote to security," the agency reported. However, the U.S. was also included in the list - being
put in 19th place with 45% of people who faced cyber-attacks last year. About 78 percent of the U.S.'s population, or
an estimated 245 million people, were online last year.

The most threatening situation in terms of computer attacks is in Russia, where 59% of Internet users faced online
assaults last year. Only about 48% of Russian citizens (68 million people) were online last year.

CYBER CRIME IN THEUS

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center — a partnership between the FBI and NW3C (funded by BJA) — was
established May 8, 2000, toaddress the ever-increasingincidence of online fraud. Just three years later, in response to
the exponential increase in cybercrime of all types, the Center changed its name to the Internet Crime Complaint
Center (IC3). Today, the IC3 accepts more complaints in a single month than it received in its first six months. With
more than two million complaints received since its inception, the IC3 serves as the nation’s portal for reporting
Internet crime and suspicious activity.

FREQUENTLY REPORTED INTERNET CRIMES IN THEUS

Auto Fraud: In fraudulent vehicle sales, criminals attempt to sell vehicles they do not own. An attractive deal is
created by advertising vehicles for sale on various online platforms at prices below market value.

FBI Impersonation E-mail Scam: Officials have been used in spam attacks in an attempt to defraud consumers.
Governmentagencies do not send unsolicited e-mails

Intimidation/ Extortion Scams: Intimidation and extortion scams have evolved over the years to include scams like
Telephone Calls, Payday loan, Process server, the Grandparent Scam, Hit-man scam.

Scareware/ Ransom ware: Extorting money from consumers by intimidating them with false claims pretending
to be the federal government watching their Internet use and other intimidation tactics have evolved over the
years to include scams likePop-up Scareware Scheme, Citadel Malware, and IC3 Ransom ware

Real Estate Fraud: Rental Scams - Criminals search websites that list homes for sale and take information from
legitimate adsand post it with their own e-mail addresses

Timeshare Marketing Scams: Timeshare owners across the country are being scammed out of millions of dollars by
unscrupulous companies that promise to sell or rent the properties. In the typical scam, timeshare owners receive
unexpected or uninvited telephone calls or e-mails from criminals posing as sales representatives for a timeshare
resale company.

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Loan Modification Scams: A loan modification scam often starts when a bogus loan company contacts a distraught
homeowner and offers a loan modification plan via phone call, e-mail or mailing. A homeowner may reach out to these
companies after seeing an ad online or in thenewspaper.

Romance Scams: Perpetrators use the promise of love and romance to entice and manipulate online victims. A
perpetrator scouts the Internet for victims, often finding them in chat rooms, on dating sites and even within
social media networks. These individuals seduce victims with small gifts, poetry, claims of common interest or the
promiseofconstantcompanionship.Oncethescammersgain the trust of their victims, they request money, ask victims to
receive packages and reship them overseas or seek other favors. These cyber criminals capitalize on the
vulnerabilities of their victims. This crime not only affects the victims financially, there are emotional and
mental implications as well. The IC3 received 4,467 complaintsandthevictims’lossestotaledmorethan$55million.
COMPLAINANT DEMOGRAPHICS
During the recent years, the number of male and female complainants is equalizing. The age groups between
20-60 years file the maximum number of complaints. India stands at 5th position with 0.5871% with respect to
victim complainants among the top five countries of the world with U.S. being the first with 91.1907%. (Source:
IC3 Report2012).

Norton Cybercrime Report on Changing Face Of Cybercrime: Cybercrime Goes Social (2012)

 1/10 social network users have fallen victim to a scam or fake link on social network platforms
 4/10 socialnetworkusershavefallenvictimtocybercrimeon social networking platforms
 3/4 believe cybercriminals are setting their sights on social networks
 1/6 socialnetworkusersreportthatsomeonehashackedinto their profile and pretended to be them.
In early February 2013, Twitter made an official announcement that malicious users had managed to steal user data
(including hash passwords) from 250,000 members of the social network. Two weeks later, Face book
statement that the computers of several of the company’s staff members had been infected by exploits during
visits to a mobile developer site. Face book described this as a sophisticated, targeted attack, noting that the goal
was to penetrate Face book’s corporate network. Luckily, company representatives stated that Face book was able to
avoid any leakage of userinformation. Justafewdayslater,Apple announced that several companyemployees hadfallen
victimtothe very same attackwhilevisitingawebsite formobiledevelopers.Apple’sdata showed that no data leakages
had taken place. In early March, Ever note reported that their internal network had been hacked and that malicious
users hadattempted togain accesstotheir data.
Face book, like every significant internet service, is frequently targeted by those who want to disrupt or access
our data and infrastructure.As such, weinvest heavily inpreventing,detecting, and responding to threats that target
our infrastructure, and we never stop working to protect the people who use our service. The vast majority of the
time, we are successful in preventing harm before it happens, and our security team works to quickly and
effectively investigate and stop abuse. In Jan 2013, Face book Security discovered that their systems had
been targeted in a sophisticated attack. This attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile
developer website that was compromised. The compromised website hosted an exploit which then allowed
malware to be installed on these employee laptops. The laptops were fully-patched and running up-to-date anti-
virus software.

Cybercrime presents particular crime prevention challenges. These include the increasing ubiquity and affordability of
online devices leading to large numbers of potential victims; the comparative willingness of persons to assume
‘risky’ online behavior; the possibility for anonymity and obfuscation techniques on the part of perpetrators; the
transnational nature of many cybercrime acts; and the fast pace of criminal innovation. Each of these challenges has
implications for the organization, methods and approaches adopted for cybercrime prevention. Organizational structures,
for example, will need to reflect the need for international and regional cooperation in cybercrime prevention.
Methods will need to ensure a constantly updated picture of cyber threats, and approaches will need to involve a range
of stakeholders –in particular the private sector organizations that own and operate internet infrastructure and services.

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CYBER CRIME ININDIA
India accounts for close to $8bn of the total $110bn cost of global cyber crime. By 2017, the global cyber security
market is expected to cross $120bn (India info line 2013). Bangalore accounted for the majority of the cases with
around 83 per cent cases being booked here (NCRB report 2012). That India remains one of the most violent
nations to live in has been further reinforced by NCRB (NCRB Crime in India report, 2012). Cyber crimes (IT
Act andIPC)inIndiahaveincreasedby57.11percentin2012.Cyber forgery with47.9 percent(263outoftotal 549)
and cyber fraud with 39.1 per cent (215 out of 549) were the main cases under IPC category for cyber crimes in
2012. Maharashtra remains the centre of cyber crime with a maximum cases reported in 2012. Bangalore is the IT
capital and most networked city in India. But these IT- fiction leads to being obvious top position in national charts
when it comes to cyber crime. Bangalore city itself accounts for 24.4 per cent of cyber crimes booked under the IT Act
among 53 ‘megacities’ across India and 11.4% of the total cyber crime in country. Year- on-year increase of 192% was
registered, with 342 cases booked in 2012, up from 117 in 2011. Visakhapatnam registered 153 cases in year 2012.
Interestingly, the numbers are much more modest when it comes to cyber crimes booked under provisions of the
IPC — only seven compared to 72 in Mumbai. While ‘greed/money’ and ‘fraud/illegal gain’ account for the majority of
motives behind cybercrime a majority of offences recorded come under the hacking category. Majority of recorded
crimes under the IT Act or the Indian Penal Code fall under two heads: ‘loss/damage to computer resource’ and
‘hacking’.
In a detailed written response to the Lok Sabha, India’s MoS for Communications & IT Mr. Milind Deora revealed
that a total of 78 government websites have been hacked up to June 2013. Deora was communicating information
reported to and tracked by the Indian Computer Response Team (CERT-In), who also found that in the past two
years (2011 and 2012) a total of 308 and 371 websites had been comprised, respectively. The Minister informed the
Lower House that as many as 16,035 instances of scanning, spam, malware infection, DDoS attacks and system
break-in affecting the government, defense and public sector undertakings have been reported up to June this
year. He added that the nation also witnessed as many as 13,301 instances of security breaches in 2011, and 22,060
in 2012. Deora added that it is known that miscreants were compromising computer systems located in different
parts of the world and that they use hidden servers to conceal the true identity of the system that is being used to
further theattacks.“Itis difficult to attribute the origin of cyber-attacks,”he said. In the wake of such a situation, the
Minister stressed that all new government websites must be audited with respect to cyber security before they are
hosted. (Economic Times, Aug 2013) 42 million cybercrimes happen in India every year (Norton Symantec
2013). About 52% of victims have suffered attacks such as malware, viruses, hacking, scams, fraud and theft.
Over 80 people are victimized under various cybercrimes every minute across India. 7% of the estimated global
price tag of cybercrimes every year comes from India. The estimated price tag in India is USD 8 billion as against the
global bill of USD 110 billion (Norton Symantec 2013). Security firm Kasper sky ranks India ninth on its list of
countries with the highest percentage of computer attacks. India has also been a victim of cyber intrusions by
neighboring states. As a recent media report by a leading channel reveals, China has repeatedly mounted cyber-attacks
on Indian websites through its cyber warfare army. India recently released its National Cyber Security Policy
2013 (NCSP 2013). However, according to EC- Council, a professional certification body, India is unlikely to meet
the target of creating a workforce of 5, 00,000 cyber security professionals in next five years (as laid out by the
NCSP2013)due to lack of infrastructure and investment.

CONCLUSION
Cybercrime acts may be financially-driven acts, related to computer content, or against the confidentiality, integrity and
accessibility of computer systems. The relative risk and threat differs between Governments and businesses.
Age, sex, socio-economic background, nationality, and motivation are likely amongst the core characteristics of
cybercrime perpetrators. The level of criminal organization represents a defining feature of the human association
element behind criminal conduct. A crime prevention plan with clear priorities and targets needs to be established
and government should include permanent guidelines in its programmes and structure for controlling crime, and
ensure that clear responsibilities and goals exist within government for the organization of crime prevention. In
addition tothe traditional laws, legislation must also consider new concepts and object related to computer data.
Criminalization, procedural powers, jurisdiction, international cooperation, and internet service provider
responsibility and liability are crucial to prevent and combat cybercrime. Investigative measures, jurisdiction,
electronic evidence and international cooperation can provide the much needed support in this direction. The Private
sector is more aware of the cybercrime risk assessment and uses cyber-security technology but many small and
medium- sized companies incorrectly perceive they will not be a target and do not take sufficient steps to protect
their systems. Some companies have taken proactive steps to counter cybercrime acts, including through the use of

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legal action. Internet service providers and hosting providers can play a key role in cybercrime prevention. They may
retain logs that can be used to investigate criminal activity; help customers to identify compromised computers;
block some kinds of illegal content such as spam; and in general support a secure communications environment for their
customers. Academic institutions represent an important partner in cybercrime prevention through knowledge
development and sharing; legislation and policy development; the development of technology and technical
standards; the delivery of technical assistance; and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. For effective cyber-
crime prevention practices, proper legislation, effective leadership, development of criminal justice and law
enforcement capacity, education and awareness, the development of a strong knowledge base, and cooperation
across government, communities, the private sector in the national and international spheres is required.

REFERENCES
I. United nations office on drugs and crime, Vienna 2013, comprehensive study on cybercrime draft—
February 2013
II. India info line news service/mumbai12:32 , aug 10, 2013
III. National crime records bureau, government of India ncrb report, 2012, “crime in India 2012
compendium”.
IV. Kaspersky security bulletin 2012. Retrieved from
http://www.securelist.com/en/analysis/204792255/kaspersky_security_bulletin_2012_the_overall_statistics_f
or_2012 (accessed June 2013).
th
V. Norton Symantec report on cybercrime. .ronson&mccartn real world book 4 gen.
VI. Sharma, Ushamary & Ghisingh, Seema & Ramdinmawii, Esther. (2014). A Study on the Cyber -
Crime and Cyber Criminals: A Global Problem. International Journal of Web Technology. 3. 172-
179. 10.20894/IJWT.104.004.001.003.
VII. Chudasama, Dhaval & Dand, Mr & Patel, Mr. (2020). Awareness of Data Privacy Breach in
Society. 8. 2455-6211.
VIII. Sharma, Ushamary & Ghisingh, Seema & Ramdinmawii, Esther. (2014). A Study on the Cyber -
Crime and Cyber Criminals: A Global Problem. International Journal of Web Technology. 3. 172-
179. 10.20894/IJWT.104.004.001.003.
IX. Chudasama, Dhaval & Sharma, Lokesh & Solanki, Nishant & Sharma, Priyanka. (2019). Refine
Framework of Information Systems Audits in Indian Context. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF
COMPUTER SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING. 7. 331-345. 10.26438/ijcse/v7i5.331345.
X. Chudasama, Dhaval & Sharma, Lokesh & Solanki, N & Sharma, Priyanka. (2019). A Comparative
Study of Information Systems Auditing in Indian Context. 7. 20-28.

********************************************************************************
Mr. Dhaval Chudasama
Assistant Professor
Computer Science Engineering
Indrashil University
At. Rajpur

Mr. Swapnil Gorasiya

Student
Computer Science Engineering
Indrashil University
At. Rajpur
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