According to the latest reports, the Indian economy posted a strong 8.5 % GDP growth. The world is paying more attention to India for direct investment due to the vast potential for different business opportunities. It is predicted [IDC] that 2007 will witness Indian enterprises graduate to the second level of dynamic IT infrastructure. Which means Indian corporate sector will be able to effect instantaneous and dynamic responses to changing business scenario.

SMB penetration is the major highlight in coming years. In past SMB sector was not sufficiently addressed by the major vendors across the world. Now vendors have started to offer SMB specific products and services and new models like on-premise hosted applications, hardware on lease and Software as a Service(SaaS).

The internet subscriber base in India has grown about 45% over the previous year and reported 7.7 million in June 2006. Broadband services are getting momentum and providers are offering low tariffs and high speed to customers.

What this means is Indian corporates will be more connected and provide or use services on internet. In the next 5 years, web will become the main highway for transactions among big, medium and small business houses.

Rise of cyber crimes

The increased dependence on IT and communication technology for dynamic and fast business solutions has its own side effect. The effect of digital information technologies upon our world certainly poses endless benefits for the citizens of our growing global village. The dark side of it, not surprisingly, is the misuse of Information Technology for criminal activities. Cyber Crimes are a new genus of crimes, which use computers and networks for criminal activities.

Cyber Crimes are any illegal activities committed using computer. Target of the criminal activity can be either a computer, network or operations. In another sense, criminal activity can be against a person, an organization or a government.

The difference between traditional crimes and cyber crimes is that cyber crimes can be transnational in nature which limits the law enforcement agencies ability to catch the culprit and put them behind the bars. Anybody who is having a computer and internet connection can inflict a damage to a remote system or network and can remain anonymous. The anonymity on the net is a real problem faced by law enforcement agencies.

Another issue is the jurisdiction in cyber crimes. A crime in one country may not be treated as a crime in another country. If a crime is transnational which law can be applied ?

We can classify this type of crimes into three categories.

1.Crimes done on net – which is possible only because of the existence of Net.

2.Crimes done using net – which are traditional crimes which can be easily done using the net.

3.Crimes done using computers – which are traditional crimes done using computers and its accessories.

Section 2(1)(i) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 defines a computer as any "electronic magnetic, optical or other high-speed data processing device or system which performs logical, arithmetic, and memory functions by manipulations of electronic, magnetic or optical impulses, and includes all input, output, processing, storage, computer software, or communication facilities which are connected or related to the computer in a computer system or computer network".

Let us look at the different categories of cyber crimes.

Crimes done on net

Whenever you are connected to the net there is a possibility that you are being watched by somebody – be it your organization, law enforcement agencies or cyber criminals. The major types of crimes which will affect organizations are

(i)Hacking

(ii)Identity Theft / phishing

(iii)Denial of Service attacks

(iv)Virus / Worm Attacks

(v)IPR Violations

(vi)Stealing Trade Secrets

(vii)Website Defacement

(viii)Cyber Vandalism / Cyber Terrorism

Even though hacking is supposed to be the most frequently talked about subject, studies shows that it is virus attacks which has caused the major financial losses ( about US$ 42M in 2005) followed by unauthorized access causing damage and theft of proprietary info (about US$30M in 2005).

A recent case in US says that hackers from India ( Chennai) indicted for online brokerage intrusion scheme that vicitmised customers and brokerage firms. (www.cybercrime.gov). This shows that what hackers can do on financial institutions which in turn will affect the financial stability of a country. The suspects have done identity theft and hacking into computer to change information.

Cyber Terrorism is another concern by the security experts across the world. In past, Indian industry, government, and service sectors which forms the Critical Infrastructure in the country were not fully connected on the network. But in very near future all will be connected. Protection of critical infrastructure will become one main area of concern.

Crimes done using net

These types of crimes were existing in our society but were difficult to execute. For example, stalking was one of the oldest method of intimidating somebody to destroy his/her peace of mind and draw the victim to the criminals intentions. But due to the proliferation of internet, this became very easy to execute. Computers and internet provided the criminals an easy way of doing old crimes.

(1)Cyber Stalking

(2)Identity Theft

(3)Defamation

(4)Spamming

(5)Internet Fraud

(6)Extortion

(7)Trafficking

(8)Gambling

(9)Narcotics

(10)Pornography

(11)Distribution of pirated software

Crimes done using computers

These are also traditional crimes, execution of which was made very easy by computers. Forging an official document is now very easy to the extend that if you get an original you can create forged documents which looks like original one by scanning and editing.

Conclusion

Computer forensics has developed as an indispensable tool for law enforcement. But in the digital world, as in the physical world, the goals of law enforcement are balanced with the goals of maintaining personal liberty and privacy.

Jurisdiction over cyber crimes should be standardised around the globe to make swift action possible against terrorists whose activities are endangering security worldwide. Differences in the laws among countries prevented effective investigation against cyber terrorism, which is not bound by national boundaries, and each investigation could involve several countries.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Digital Forensic Research Group, Computer Analysis and Response Team (CART), Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE), Technical Working Group on Digital Evidence (TWGDE) etc. are some of the key organizations involved in the research and development of standard process models for digital investigation.

Resource Centre for Cyber Forensics [RCCF] was established at C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram, as the state-of-the-art research centre for Cyber Forensics, by Dept. of Information Technology, Govt. of India to conduct Research and Development, Training and Technical Services in Cyber Forensics. This Centre have undertaken research in most of the areas especially in Disk Forensics, Network Forensics, PDA and Smart phone Forensics, Mobile Phone Forensics, Software and Music Forensics, Peripheral Device Forensics(Printer, Scanner, Camera, etc) and works on steganography and encryption related technologies. (www.cyberforensics.in)

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