The widespread use of both computers and the Internet has ushered in the age of information technology (IT) and made it an integral part of daily life in most industrialized societies. The vast network has become a tool for illegal activities and enterprise. As a group, these activities are referred to as cyber-crime—any act of criminal enterprise that involves the use of communication, computer, and Internet networks.  Bangladesh is more vulnerable to growing cyber-crimes because of lack of awareness among the society and lack of technical knowledge of the special law enforcement agencies. Investigating or controlling cyber-crime demands technical skills that match those of the perpetrators but in most of the cases this requirement is not fulfilled.

We need experts who are familiar with the procedure to conduct investigation in a cyber-crime scene and that is totally different from investigating in a physical crime scene. Cyber technology now allows people to steal valuable information which can be entirely virtual because the stolen information only exists in digital form. The risk of detection is diminished because the crime can be performed by a criminal on a laptop from the safe confines of one’s own home.

Not all cyber criminals seek profit; some are intent on causing damage and destroying computer networks for malicious reasons. Some cyber criminals are high-tech vandals; the property they destroy is electronic rather than physical and in many cases it becomes difficult to prove the destruction of any virtual property.  

 Cyber-crime includes cyber-theft, Identity theft, denial of service attack (DOS), cyber-bullying, cyber vandalism, non-delivery of goods ordered online, cyber terrorism, Internet security fraud, distribution of drugs using internet, online prostitution etc.Cyber theft is the stealing of financial and/or personal information through the use of computers for making its fraudulent or other illegal use.

Now criminals can target victims not in a particular geographic locale; but the whole world can be their target.

Internet securities fraud involves using the Internet to intentionally manipulate the securities marketplace for profit. Stock market manipulation occurs when an individual tries to control the price of stock by interfering with the natural forces of supply and demand.

Identity theft occurs when a person uses the Internet to steal someone’s identity and it is a type of cyber-crime that has grown at surprising rates over the past few years. Identity thieves can destroy people’s lives by manipulating credit records or stealing from their bank accounts.

Some identity thieves create false emails and/or websites that look legitimate but are designed to gain illegal access to a victim’s personal information.

This is known as phishing and spoofing.  Some cyber criminals may be motivated not by greed or profit but by the desire for revenge, to cause destruction, and/or to achieve a malicious intent. Cyber bullying is willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text. Cyber terrorism is the use of Internet based terror attacks, done deliberately in order to create disturbances in usual working of the internet. Attacks through cyber terrorism can be in form of viruses, attacks from Trojans, attacks from BOTS, attacks on database etc. 70-member cyber security division (Dhaka Metropolitan Police) is fighting against cyber-crime right now.

The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (505 member team) has already been approved by the home ministry. The unit will investigate into different modes of crimes like social media account hacking, Identity theft, Cyber theft, cyber-bullying, publishing nude and scandalous pictures etc. On a tiny scale the detective branch (CID) also investigates cyber-related incidents.  

A specialized law enforcement agency is going to start their fight against cyber-crime introducing the software named open source intelligence (OSINT) under the ICT Act. The OSINT is a data mining tool, used for collecting data from publicly available source, like research, newspaper, social sites and gather desired intelligence. With tougher penalties and for supplementing the force of the existing Information & Communication Technology Act of 2006, the parliament is going to enact a new cyber security law. Bangladesh Government is to enact with provisions for tough penalties for cyber-crimes.

The law will be a compliment to the existing Information & Communication Technology Act of 2006. The draft of the bill proposes up to 20-year prison sentence for certain type of cyber-crimes.

With the advancement of society and more availability of technology, the rate of crime in cyber space is creating an alarming situation in Bangladesh. This is the high time to be aware about the negative effects of cyber-crimes and to stand against it.

The writer is Lecturer, Department of Law, Daffodil International University