Cyber law emerged as the society developed, the modern technology evolution made human progress and also gave rise to new problems which one of them is cyber criminality. As computer technology improved from accessing websites for research to communicating, making transactions, sharing and storing important data with people round the world through the internet. The computer increased our capacity to store, search, retrieve and communicate data and information which made it possible to contact anyone, anywhere and at any time in the world. The cyberspace had no boundary or characteristics which poses a serious challenge for security agencies in a countries jurisdiction. An internet user is subject to the laws of the state he or she is online in. Each countries have developed Acts and Statutes or policies to prevent, control cybercrimes within the countries jurisdiction overlooking the fact that cybercrime is a global problem.
For achievement of the objective of this thesis it is important to break down the types of cybercrimes and their impacts whether it is Crime against Individual and property, Crime against organization, Crime against Government and Crime against the society, we will consider European Union Cyber Laws, Nigerian Cyber, United States Cyber laws and United Kingdom Cyber law.
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Crime is as an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law. Crime is feasibly the most pressing social issue in the world. According to worldpopulationreview.com, Venezuela has the highest crime rate in the world.
Crime is a changing concept dependent upon the social development of people that is upon or the fundamental interest and values dominating the peoples common beliefs, in ancient days any act by a person or even an animal that causes harm to any other person was said to be a punishable crime, The perpetrators were beheaded or thrown out of the country depending on their laws, this days the punishment when a crime takes place is left on the hands of the government guided by policies, acts, statutes, principles and rules that have been erected to protect the welfare of the state citizens.
Criminal behavior is defined by the laws of particular jurisdictions or state, behaviors or Conduct that is lawful in one country or jurisdiction may be criminal in another for example in the United states, 6 states that Prohibit Open Carrying of Handguns while 24 states Require a Permit or License to Openly Carry Handguns another 6 states Restrict Open Carrying of Handguns in Public Places.
Criminal law is the body of law that defines offenses and sets penalties and punishments for committing those offenses. The sources of criminal law are common law, which comes out of judicial decisions and opinions; statutes, are created by Congress or state legislatures or parliaments; International Laws, International law influence domestic laws by creation of international laws against crimes at international level. Examples of International Crimes are genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
International Crimes are defined in different international conventions and agreements, like the first Hague Conventions at the end of the 19th century, which created rules for military conduct during wartime. These agreements extended criminal responsibility not just to the direct doersbutto the commanded and commander who planned or allowed the crimes to happen .
Crimes are defined by criminal law, Criminologists separates crimes into several major categories: (1) violent crime (2) property crime (3) white-collar crime (4) organized crime and (5) consensual or victimless crime.
Violent Crimes are crimes against another person, causing or attempting to cause them bodily harmit also includes crimes where a weapon is used. Violent crimes are murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Property Crimes are crimes relating to theft or destruction of someone else's property they are: burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Property crime is associated with violent crimes. Property Crimes ranges from lower level offenses like shoplifting or vandalism. It is not necessary the offender goes away with the stolen goods or even to harm a victim. In burglary the offender already made an unlawful entry with the intent to commit a crime.
Organized crime are criminal activities by groups or organizations whose major purpose for existing is to commit such crime. Organized crimes exists and even thrives because it provides goods and/or services that the public demands.
White-collar crime are crimes committed when a person is acting in their legitimate jobs and professions. White‐collar criminals behave in unethical and unprofessional ways for self‐gain and illegal profits. White collar crimes involve financial transactions, politicians and businessmen and women. For example fraud, embezzlement, corporate price‐fixing, etc.
Cybercrime, is the use of a computer as an instrument to execute illegal activities like committing frauds, Money laundering, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy. Cybercrime consists of criminal acts that are committed online by using electronic communications networks and information systems. It is a borderless problem that has gotten the attention of international organizations . It is one of the most serious issues facing businesses, Governments and other organizations today. The law faces serious difficulties to keep up with the fast growing development of information technology systems which provides opportunities for the misuse of the internet and computers for commercial gain or criminal Activities. Cybercrime is one of the largest and globally most active forms of crime. Because the internet is available and visible to everyone which makes ever user vulnerable. Committing a crime through a computer or other device that is connected to the Internet is dangerous because the identity of the culprit is difficult to find out or identify.
Cybercrime cuts across territorial borders, creating an avenue of illegal human activates.Territorially law-making and law-enforcing bodies have seen cybercrime to be severely alarming. And since cyberspace has no geographical or boundary limitations and it not having any physical characteristics such as, sex, age, etc., ita serious challenge before the law enforcement agencies or regulatingcyberspace transactions of citizen within a country’s territorialjurisdiction.
Computers are the instruments of crime when they are destroyed or stolen. There are many cases of computers being shot, blown up, burned, crushed and contaminated . Cybercrimes are such harmful activities in the cyberspace whichmay cause damage to a person, property or even the State or society as awhole. There are many cybercrimes which are being committed byoffenders all over the world using computer technology. The dangers and hazard of cyber criminality is not restricted to one or twocountries but the whole world is facing this serious problem. According to the UNODC (United Nations office on Drugs and Crime), Cybercrime is transnational crime that Perpetrators of cybercrime and their victims can be located in different regions, and its effects can shake through societies around the world.
Cybercrimes as a global character that generally affects anybody far or near the place of the offence may it be in the same country or someother country requires policing at international level. The EuropeanConvention on Cybercrime was indeed a commendable attempt which laiddown guidelines to be followed by the member States in fighting and tackling cybercrime in their countries. It was the first international treaty that seeked to address Internet and computer crime by fitting national laws, improving investigative techniques, and increasing cooperation among nations.
Cybercrime is a serious form of international crime that has been affected by the global revolution and innovation in ICTs industry.Recent studies have shown cybercrimes are different from terrestrial crimes because they are easy to learn how to commit, cybercrime required few resources and equipment relative to the potential damage it can cause with a small mobile phone a cybercrime can be committed successfully, cybercrime can be committed in a jurisdiction without being physically present in it, like the Lizard Squad – Malaysian Airline website hack the hack was committed by members of lizard squad, teenagers from USA, Finland and Netherlands who committed a crime in Malaysia .”
Cybercrimes has serious effects on Individuals, Businesses and the Government. Cybercrimes are hard to detect or identify because users privacy and security are considered in building or creating websites, apps, and communication platforms. Technology is said to be neutral depending on the use by the user which amounts to be positive or negative. Focusing on cryptography, cryptography is used for securing transactions and data exchange as well as to secure communications which can be used for illegal activities that evidence is hard to trace. Computer crime can be committed breaching the user‘s privacywithout interacting with the victim. There is no sign of any kind of violence orstruggle during the crime, which are usually the elements of atraditional crime .Cybercrimecan be committed by just clicking of themouse without the knowledge of the victim, which makes everyone vulnerable. In many cases, the victim even does not know that he hasbeen subjected to a cybercrime and become a victim of it.
Cybercrimes are also committed against top companies even with top security protection protocols, Banks are the best targets of skilled cybercriminals. Cybercrime imposes a heavy cost on financial institutions as they struggle to combat fraud and theft. A report from Kaspersky Lab says that banks spend three times as much on cybersecurity as non-financial institutions. And there is agreement among bank regulators around the world that cybercrime poses a serious risk to financial stability most monies stolen from hackers are untraceable. If Company wants to protect themselves from online thieves have to spend a lot to do it which includes costs for identifying risks, creating a new and safer operating methods, and purchasingmore secure software and hardware’s which leads to hiring a cyber-security expert. These costs are often passed on to the customers through higher prices of goods and services.
As government services go digital, criminals are spotting new opportunities for fraudulent claims and theft. Cybercriminals continue to develop new strategies to attack nation-state, hacker’s government agencies, and businesses to create backdoor networks, spy and steal information from governmental bodies. Threats come from both criminals and hostile countries, especially China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. A crime against the government is also known as cyber terrorism. Cybercriminals are usually terrorists or enemy governments of other nations.
Cybercrime can be classified based on who the act is performed on, and also based on the subject of the crime. Cybercrimes are classified into Crime against Individual and property, Crime against organization, Crime against Government and Crime against the society.
This are cybercrimes committed directly at a person, cybercrimes to a person are related to child pornography, racist, identity theft and impersonation, cyber stalking. All Medias either Videos or images of child pornography are majorly circulated electronically on the internet. The cyberspace gives pedophiles an opportunity to function by using websites, blogs, forums instant messaging and social Media. The Federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975 of Australia defines cyber racism aswhen racism takes place online, it could be in form of jokes or comments that cause harassment or intimidation but this is a serious crime. Cyber-racism can take the form of a website itself, its written content, its images, blogs, videos and on-line comments. Identity theft occurs in different forms it could be by phishing, 419 scams. All identity theft are attempts to steal personal information and data or use of some else information to create accounts leading to impersonation. Beinga victim of cybercrime can have long-lasting effects on life.Identity theft is a federal crime in the United States to access electronic records of another person without the consent of the owner it can be referred to as Hacking. Forgery is also a crime committed against an individual on a cyberspace, Forgery is using another person's signature to obtain a benefit when identity thieves create fake accounts one of the information used are the signatures of the real owner to match other information’s. Attackers also target individuals to steal information by phishing, Email spoofing, spamming, cyberstalking etc.
Cybercrime against property are computer vandalism, Creating and spreading of viruses, intellectual property-related crimes like software piracy, movie piracy and illegal distribution of softcopies, Copyright infringements are also cybercrimes.Joining an internet time paid for by another person without consent of the owner is illegal.
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