When Internet was developed, the founding fathers of Internet hardly had any inclination that Internet could transform itself into an all pervading revolution which could be misused for criminal activities and which required regulation. Today, there are many disturbing things happening in cyberspace. Due to the anonymous nature of the Internet, it is possible to engage into a variety of criminal activities with impunity and people with intelligence, have been grossly misusing this aspect of the Internet to perpetuate criminal activities in cyberspace. Hence the need for Cyber Law.
Cyber crime or computer oriented crime, is crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Cyber crimes can be defined as: "Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm, or loss, to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as Internet (networks including but not limited to Chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones (Bluetooth/SMS/MMS)". Cyber Crime may threaten a person or a nation's security and financial health. Issues surrounding these types of crimes have become high-profile, particularly those surrounding hacking, copyright infringement, unwarranted mass-surveillance, sextortion, child pornography, and child grooming. There are also problems of privacy when confidential information is intercepted or disclosed, lawfully or otherwise.
As with any business asset, information systems hardware, software, networks, and data resources need to be protected and secured to ensure quality, performance, and beneficial use. Security management is the accuracy, integrity, and safety of information resources. When effective security measures are in place, they can reduce errors, fraud, and losses. There are intentional and unintentional threats. Unintentional threats are considered to be human error, environmental hazards, and computer failures. Most people don't purposely cause harm. Intentional threats refer to purposeful actions resulting in the theft or damage of computer resources, equipment, and data. Intentional threats include viruses, denial of service attacks, theft of data, sabotage, and destruction of computer resources. Most intentional threats are viewed as computer crimes when executed. To protect computer networks and resources, there are a number of security measures individuals and organizations can take to protect their assets, such as encryption, firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spyware, passwords, back-ups, and bio-metric security.
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