Cybercrime may be taken lightly today because every other person has once or more than once been a victim of it. The person committing this crime may or may not be aware of it being a properly-recognized crime. He may be doing it for some fun purpose without thinking about the consequences.
The following are some cybercrimes that should be considered, and the perpetrator should be punished for it.
Identity theft, cyberbullying, hacking, cyberstalking, money laundering, digital piracy, malicious software, financial fraud, computer viruses, and worms, etc.
There are laws that have been passed against these crimes.
Cybercrime constitutes of both:
- Crimes administered by computers, data, and information.
- Crimes committed by people using computers.
Cybercrime is a global problem that requires attention from all around the world, and laws against it are applied through organizations. These are then known as cyber laws.
What can you do to bring a change in the world of cybercrime?
- Attend cybercrime law workshops to remain up to date with cybercrime laws and know how they affect you and your organization.
- Ensure that people around you don’t commit cybercrime by making them aware of the consequences.
- Get to know more about electronic evidence to admit records.
Following are some of the regional responses against cybercrime:
APEC
APEC (Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation) is an international platform. It issued a cyber-security strategy in 2002, which is included in the Shanghai Declaration.
OECD
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development publicized the accomplishment of “guidelines for the security of information systems and networks: towards a culture of security” in 2002.
European Union
A transmission entitled “Creating a safer information society by improving the security of information infrastructures and combating computer-related crime” was published by the EU (European Union) in 2001.
Later, in 2002, A proposal was presented by them for a “Framework Decision on attacks against information systems”. This framework’s decision mainly focuses on criminal law allocation along with the convention of cybercrime.
Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nation put forward a model law that provides a legal framework to harmonize legislation on cybercrime. The model law was deliberately outlined in conformity with the Convention on Cybercrime.
ECOWAS
ECOWAS embraced the Directive on Fighting Cybercrime in ECOWAS that delivers a legal framework for the member states in 2009, which comprises substantive criminal law as well as procedural law.
Laws against cybercrime are not taken seriously by the general public that reduces its worth. When people are harassed online, they do not step forward to file a complaint. Why is this so? This happens due to the shame and blame game. The victim thinks that if he steps forward to a complaint, he will be questioned first for his deeds. Although it is true, it is not something to be embarrassed about. The incident is a scenario of the past, and now is the time to take action by punishing these hackers or people committing cybercrime by using the enforced cyber laws.
