Cyber Crimes in the Digital Age: IPC Special Provision

Abstract

Introduction
Cyber crime is mainly a crime or a crime that consists of a computer and a network. The computer may have been
used in the commission of a crime or it may be the target by the criminals.

Cybercriminals mainly commit a crime to threaten a person’s, a companies or a national security and the financial
health. In other words if I say, do cyber crime is the usage of a computer as a instrument to further illegal ends, such
as committing fraud, trafficking intellectual property, stealing identities on violating privacy

There are various examples of cybercrime such as:-

 Improperly accessing a computer network or a system.

 The injection of a virus or any other type of containment into a computer system.
 Using a computer in a scheme to defraud.
 Interfering with someone else’s computer access or usage.

If I talk in terms of law then, cyber crime is a generic term that refers to all the criminal activities one using for
the medium of communication, technology, components the internet, cyberspace and the www.

Background
Cybercrime is not a novel crime that has never occurred before to anybody, in fact it is among one of the oldest
crimes in the history as time and technology have improved so the methods used to commit has also improved.

Two burglars broke into the French telegraph system in 1834, obtained access to the financial markets and stole
information. According to many analysts this incident was recorded as the first cybercrime worldwide followed
by the others that targeted differently newly developed technologies.

And like this people started to misuse the technology. By the time of 21st century, the rates of cybercrime in
Worldwide as well as in India have increased rapidly.

The main component for cybercrime is our virtual identities that are a critical component of daily life in the
digital life. We the human being are a collection of number and identities that are stored in various government
records. Cybercrime emphasizes in pervasiveness of networked computer in our lives and the fragility of ideas
such as personal identity.

Present circumstances
The fear of cybercrime looms big over individuals and companies alike in today’s digital age.

India is the second largest internet market after China and therefore the number of cybercrimes in India are also
the highest.People are making misuse of the internet and are using it to harm the persons identity.

With everyday passing, people are coming out with one or other new way of committing an offence. There are
various ways through which one is able to commit cybercrimes. Now let us see the different typology of
cybercrimes:-

Cyberstalking, hacking, credit card fraud, pornography, ransomware, cyber harassment etc.
Women’s and young girls are a vital target since they are perceived as naïve, making them venerable to crimes
such as stalking.

The IPC 1860, the Evidence Act 1891, etc. are promptly changed by the IT Act. These modifications attempted
to fame all electronic transactions communication by assuring stringent legal recognition and therefore putting
them under the radar.

Agenda for the commencement of such crimes

Cybercriminals commit such crimes in order to gain monetary gains. They mainly use the information
themselves or sometimes may even sell it to other cybercriminals in order to gain more profit or in order to
defame the victims personality.

With the use of one’s personal identity, cybercriminals can apply for loans or credit card under the user’s name,
or they may even perform fraudulent online transactions. Cybercrime is the industry that thrives on carelessness
while using internet. With the caution while posting information on the use of secure password, avoiding
suspicious website and other such basic precautions, these thefts and fraudulent crimes can be prevented.

Today, cybercriminals have a total turnover of around 1.15 trillion dollars or maybe more. All I can say that not
putting strong password, or downloading files from any sites and opening or clicking into any random site is an
invitation to cybercriminals who are always looking for such opportunities.

Prevention from cybercrimes

Cybercrime is one of the greatest challenges which is being faced by the companies and individuals. Industries
are at a very huge risk, it you make payments by cheque or transfer, you’re a target to the global cost of
cybercrime is expected to reach 1.30 trillion dollars by the year 2024. Following ways can be considered in
order to prevent cybercrimes.

 Strong password: Maintaining different passwords, numbers and username combination for every
account. Weak passwords are easy and can easily be broken.
 Private Account: We need to make sure that our social networking profiles such as Facebook,
Instagram etc. are set to be private. We should check our security every one’s a week. We also need to
be careful regarding the information we post online because one’s we post it, it’s going to be there
forever.
 Changing passwords frequently: We must keep changing our phone passwords, account
passwords frequently in order to avoid cybercrime as changing passwords makes it difficult for the
hackers to trace and access the data.
 Storage data: We must store data by using encryption for your important diplomatic files such as
related to financial taxes.

Role of IPC in cybercrime

The Indian Penal Code 1860 plays vital role in the punishment or crimes committed in the name of cybercrimes.
We will now see the various sections that are being given in the IPC

a) Section 292: The section deals with the sale of obscene materials either in the form of a book, paper,
drawing etc. An individual or a group involved in such an offence is punished with imprisonment of 2
years or fine of 2000. Second subsequent conviction, imprisonment for a term of 5 years and fine of
5000.
b) Section 354C: Offence of voyeurism where an individual watches or captures or publicizes the
images of a women engaged in a private act without her consent. Punishment with an imprisonment of
1to3 years for first time and 3-7 years for the second time.
c) Section 354D: The section deals with the stalking both physical as well as cyberstalking. An
offender will be punished with imprisonment of 3 years and 5 years respectively.
d) Section 379: When a person commits theft whether it’s electronically or physically,
will be held liable under the provisions of this Section. It section says that whoever
commits theft shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term
which may extend to three years or with fine, or with both.
e) Section 411: When a person receives any stolen property such as a computer, mobile phone, or data,
then he or she will be punished for three years or fine or both.
f) Section 419:The Section deals with fraud such as email phishing or committing the crime of
password theft for impersonating and collecting data for personal benefit. Imprisonment of either
description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
g) Section 420: It also deals with fraud cases especially cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of
property. The offender shall be punished with imprisonment of seven years, and shall also be liable to
fine.
h) Section 465:The punishment for forgery, email spoofing, preparation of false documents, etc. The
offender shall get imprisonment extending to two years, a fine, or both.
i) Section 468:The Section deals with the forgery of documents or electronic records for committing
other serious crimes such as cheating. The offender shall be punished with imprisonment up to seven
years with a fine. It is a non-bailable offence.
j) Section 469: According to this Section, forgery for the purpose of harming reputation is a punishable
offence. The offender shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may
extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine.
k) Section 500:It states that Whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for
a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
l) Section 504: If anyone insults, tries to provoke, or threatens another person with the motive of
affecting their peace via any electronic form of communication will be attracted by Section. An
individual will be punished with imprisonment which may extend to two years or a fine or both.
m) Section 506: This Section deals with the ‘punishment for criminal intimidation’. If an individual
tries to intimidate another individual shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to two
years or a fine or both.
n) Section 509: It states that “Whoever intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word,
makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard,
or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such
woman, shall be