Cross-Border Cyber Terrorism and Internet Crimes - Term Paper Example

?With a fourth of humanity connected to the Internet, cyber crime poses a growing danger to the global economy. Given the large number of systems in multi-sectors now linked to the Internet for functionality, convenience and productivity, the menace is spreading its tentacles at a very fast rate. It is true that as per a recent Consumer Reports' State of the Net report, the odds of becoming a victim of cyber crime dropped from one in four to one in six, but this largely covers the aspects of spam, spyware and serious viruses. The emergent problems posing a serious threat to consumers, state authorities and IT security agencies are phishing, cross-border cyber terrorism and internet related crimes such as child abuse, intellectual property rights violations and illegal trafficking. The Internet today is an integral part of every home, society and business. And for it to remain the key tool for advancement that it is there is a compelling need for awareness, regulation and legislation. As governments across the world move forward and (hopefully) unite on this issue, these are some of the views that will bear consideration: The ‘Authorities’ View: A priority for regulators is to find ways of tracking down criminals across borders and ensuring they are punished; in a scenario where use of proxy servers assures anonymity this is easier said than done. Therefore, the imperative need for an international strategy and response to cyber attacks that is akin to traditional laws. There are countries today where customers can purchase unregistered data packs with mobile Internet capability, giving them the ability to commit online crime such as identity theft against people in other nations without fear of being traced. This makes it in the interest of richer nations to collaborate with the ‘have not’s’ and develop the capacity to address this abuse. In the domestic domain, most countries have set up cyber-policing cells whose stated mission is to improve the police response to victims of e-crime. This cell co-ordinates investigations and law enforcement approach to all types of e-crime. Statistics show that the bulk of complaints reported and addressed by these cells relate to phishing, identity thefts, pornographic and offensive e-literature and privacy violations. The general view is that these cells need to become more effective to tackle the increasing complexity and ‘creativity’ of the cyber criminal. Of late, legislative bodies have embraced Cyber Laws - a term that encapsulates the legal issues related to use of various aspects of networked devices and technologies. These legal enactments - "paper laws" for a "paperless environment"- cover a broad gamut of different aspects relating to computer software, access and control of digital information, privacy, security, internet access and usage and electronic commerce. The ‘Popular’ View: Arguably, the most affected by the building public apprehension with respect to cyber crimes are the social media marketers. As users of sites such as Facebook and Twitter start walking on eggshells in the fear of being spammed, hacked or robbed of identity, legitimate businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to reach their target audiences. With cyber crime is throwing a dampener on e-commerce through viruses, fraud and unauthorized use of computers and impacting business, it is the ultimate consumer who is losing out on the flexibility and convenience offered by the internet – the most innovative tool of our age. Studies show that most people focus on protecting themselves against viruses, and by installing anti-virus and/or anti-spyware software they feel they have covered their risks pretty well. Few know or attempt to educate themselves about do’s and don’ts related to using the net and continue to make blunders, including accessing accounts through email links, downloading free software etc. With the rising rate of cyber crime, the print media primarily sees itself vindicated against the initial onslaught of the electronic media on its existence. Newspapers and magazines continue to be safe and staple options in the face of the highly vulnerable cyber space. Interestingly, creative media – film makers and story writers – smells great potential in cyber-wars to hatch futuristic fiction and ‘cyber-fi’ cinema. The ‘Liberated’ View: Cyber ‘libbers’’ come in two forms – the free-speech, anti-censorship activists and the marauders of cyber space – i.e. the hackers, anarchists and terrorists. The accessibility and relative anonymity of cyber space has torn down traditional barriers. Any person with an internet connection has the potential to reach millions of people at the click of a button. This raises questions about the ethics and legality relating to freedom and regulation of speech in cyberspace and has brought about the concept of internet censorship. In many countries, expression through cyberspace has been regulated by the government. A recent example of information control is the Chinese government routing requests made to the Google search engine to its own, state-controlled search engines. This raises fundamental questions concerning the freedom of speech: do governments have a legitimate role in limiting access to information? If yes, what forms of regulation are acceptable? An ‘extremist’ view of the issue would be that the authorities’ efforts to combat cyber crime represents an unwarranted attack on human rights and is not proportionate to the threat posed. International treaties being drawn up to deal with it are vague and could result in civil liberties being unjustly affected. The attempts to outlaw the possession of hacking software could harm people who are trying to make the internet more secure as they will not be able to test their systems; therefore ‘half-baked’ legislation could do more harm than good. The ‘Professional’ View: IT security personnel, systems managers and security agencies have never had as challenging a time or as peril fraught a scenario as in today’s cyber war ravaged environment. The rise of the sophisticated cyber criminal has become one of the fastest growing security threats to organizations around the world. Attackers are becoming smarter and using more sophisticated malware, viruses and techniques that have left traditional security models befuddled. Hackers and cyber criminals are forcing systems and security specialists to stay ahead of the curve if they have to keep their systems afloat. Improvements to address cyber vulnerabilities are forcing most security/IT professionals to think about cybercrime differently. A growing shift is taking place from a security-based to a risk-based approach. This involves understanding the seriousness of threats to your data, processes and tools, identifying the incumbent risks and moving at the speed of light to cover the gaps. Cyber crime has also been instrumental in integrating organizations like never before. Security managers are forcing the knocking down of silos across enterprises in an attempt to integrate computer platforms such that common vulnerabilities can be addressed lock, stock and barrel. It is also becoming more imperative to share and combine security practices across organizations. A key aspect of corporate cyber policing is the increasing accent on controls. More and more IT departments are setting up firewalls, employee access restrictions and rigorous do’s and don’ts in a bid to clamp down on the vulnerabilities their networks suffer from. The paradox is that they are attempting to do this in the face of greater demand for remote working and easier off-shore access! In summary, it would be delusion to imagine that the risks of cyber crime are declining. What we have been able to achieve is to simply cover base ground in cyber space. It will require many man-hours of concerted effort by authorities, consumers, IT professionals and security personnel to beat the cyber criminal at his own game. Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_crime Read More