The internet has been defined as the media of the people. But it is slowly turning into a dark net, with increasing incidences of cyber stalking, cyber terrorism, child pornography sites and online slander through social media sites.
Cyber crimes are on the rise and every year brings a new ransomware or malware to the fore.
This
GD guide focuses on the
growing threat of cyber crimes for an increasingly digitized world. We may want to initiate Digital India, but can we protect Indian netizens? This is the burning question confronting law makers and policy thinkers.
We get you the information that will help you in dealing with the
Group Discussion on Cyber Crime and other related topics.
Let’s delve deep into the crime infested world of cyber space and see where the debates matter and why they do.
Facts on Cyber Crime
- 11, 592 cyber crime cases were registered in 2015, according to National Crime Records Bureau
- While UP led in the incidence of cyber crimes, Maharashtra came a close second in 2015, according to NCRB
- Cyber crime in India rose by 300% between 2011 and 2014
- According to CERT-in, 27, 482 cases of cyber crime were recorded between January and June 2017.
- Cases of cyber crime range from DOS attacks to virus, malicious code, defacements, scanning, phishing probing to site intrusions, according to CERTin
- Cyber experts have indicated placing critical infrastructure to predict and prevent cyber crimes were important.
- India has seen 1.71 lakh cyber-crimes over three years from 2014-2017, according to CERTin.
- Cybercrime affects individual systems and firms which need to be tackled with specialised teams
- Analysis of data showed that network scanning and probing was the key to sell sensitive data.
Types of Cyber Crimes
- Hacking
- Child Pornography
- Cyber Stalking
- Denial of Service/DOS Attacks
- Malware: Virus, Trojan, Worm, Hoax, Spyware
- Data Theft
- Ransomware
- Data interception
- Data security network sabotage
- Network interference
- Cyber Defamation
- Corporate Cyber Slander/Smear
- Digital Forgery
- Online Gambling
- Online sale/auction that are illegal
- E-spamming
- E-mail bombing
- Cyber warfare
- Cyber terrorism
- Digital/Mobile Wallet Hacking: Financial Frauds
- Phishing
Some quotes on Cyber crime you can use during the GD:
Hacking is exploiting security controls either in a technical, physical or a human-based element.
- Former Hacker and Present Security Consultant Kevin Mitnick
I do agree that when it comes to cyber warfare, we have more to lose than any other nation on earth.
- Ex US Intelligence, Former CIA Operative Edward Snowden
Some GD Topics on Cyber Crime, that you should be prepared to face:
1. Is India Prepared for Cyber Attacks?
2. Are Ransomware a Threat to the Economy?
3. Do We Need to Regulate Cyberspace?
4. Should Child Pornography Crime Be Punishable by Death?
5. Is Cyber Stalking A Criminal Offence or is Googling Someone Okay?
6. Can Malware Damage Corporate India?
7. Does Aadhaar Promote Data Theft?
8. Should Internet remain Anonymous?
9. Does Internet Anonymity Encourage Cyber-crimes?
10. Do Social Networks Breed Libel and Slander?
11. Can Corporate Cyber Smear Dent a Brand?
12. Cyber Crime: How Can We Deal with the Increasing Incidences?
13. Cyber warfare: A Growing Threat to National Security?
14. Can Income Inequalities Lead to Growing Cyber Extortions?
15. False Flagging and Phishing: Are Cyber Law a Sufficient Deterrent?
16. The Changing Face of Cyber Terrorism
17. Are Online Cyber Sites and Forums Breeding Cyber Crimes?
18. Is Internet the Media of the People or a Breeding Ground for Cybercrime?
19. Does Internet Anonymity Encourage People to Misbehave?
Tools to Ward off Cyber Crimes
- Digital Signatures: This protects documents from being forged online and secures the bank account etc.
- Secure passwords: These guard files from hackers and unwanted intruders
- Firewalls and Gateways: These can keep data safe and ensure confidentiality of files
- Anti Virus Software: By using security software like QuickHeal or Avast, netizens can secure their files and guard against worms, trojans, hackers and unwanted intrusions.
- Secure Wi-Fi Connection: Secure internet wireless connections help in detecting criminal activities very fast. You can check the IP address to see if someone else is accessing your email account, for example.
- Encryption: Encryption guards passwords, sensitive data and confidential information from exposure and abuse.
- Security Audit: Cyber criminals can be put to task by conducting a security audit and seeing where you vulnerabilities lie.
- Cyber Forensics: These can help in detecting crime; every cyber criminal leaves a digital imprint of some sort which can be used to catch the culprit.
Apart from the usual precautions, there are several legal safeguards against cyber crimes.
Information Technology Act, 2000, for example was one of the first legislations which sought to make Indian cyberspace a safe place.
Indian Contract Act, Sales Goods Act 1930 are some of the measures to prevent illegal online auctions.
The POCSO act is in place to punish those who abuse or molest children online. National cyber security policy 2013 is also in place to guard citizens against cyber crimes.
Some of the projects that are in place to guard against crimes include
- National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre,
- National Cyber Coordination Centre,
- Tri Service Cyber Command for Armed Forces of India.
- Cyber Attacks Crisis Management Plan of India and National Technical Research Organisation
We hope this GD opens your eyes to the dark world of cyber crime and how to counter it as a responsible citizen and law abiding netizen. Also, we hope that you would find all this information useful in dealing with any group discussion on Cyber Crime and other related topics.
