Sri Lanka, July 22 -- Cyber Crime is known as violating of law and engaging in crimes by using especially the computer, mobile phones and other electronic devices. To counter and deal with the rising number of cyber crimes, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has estblished forensic and cyber labs.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had already established a Cyber Crime Lab and a Digital Forensic Lab.
Currently the department is investigating into 100 cases where a number of suspects have been arrested and produced in courts for committing cyber crimes.
The Cyber Crime Lab was established in 2007 with the help of the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) which comes under ICTA. Under the Computer Crime Act of 2007, No 24, any individual who engages in computer hacking, unauthorized access to systems, manipulating, collecting, corrupting and destroying data without authorization will be taken into custody.
These cyber crimes are subjected as offences against national security, economy and public order as well as offences against criminal breach of trust.
The Lab was established as the importance was identified by the government as several countries were facing it very badly during that period.
The CID conducts digital online forensic investigations to identify and track down the suspects. They also conduct online investigations as well as computer forensics to identify the crimes and the suspects.
For cyber crime investigations the CID has given basic and advanced training to fourteen officers including a woman Sub Inspector and four women police constables.
According to the CID, the suspects engage in blackmailing especially young girls by sending pictures of the victim to many e mail accounts and to mobile phones through MMS.
"The suspect first becomes a good friend of the victim through facebook, twitter or any other social networking site. They meet somewhere and the suspect somehow is able to take her pictures and then he starts to blackmail the victim by sending the picture everywhere through the internet and demand for ransom", the CID said.
There are also problems of privacy when confidential information is lost or intercepted, lawfully or otherwise.
Internationally, both governmental and non-state actors engage in cyber crimes, including espionage, financial theft, and other cross-border crimes. Activity crossing international borders and involving the interests of at least one state is sometimes referred to as cyber warfare.
Cyber-bullying also comes under Cyber Crime. It is known as the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm others.
Cyber-bullying has been defined as when the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person.
Computer crime encompasses a broad range of activities. Generally, however, it may be divided into two categories. Crimes that target computer networks or devices directly and crimes facilitated by computer networks or devices, the primary target of which is independent of the computer network or device.
In Sri Lanka, there were no laws to tackle and take legal action against these cyber crimes till the Computer Crime Act was passed. Most of the victims have been young girls according to the CID.
Crimes that primarily target computer networks or devices include Computer viruses, Denial-of-service attacks, Crimes that use computer networks or devices to advance other ends include Cyber-stalking, Fraud and identity theft, Information warfare and Phishing scams.
Phishing is a way of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. It is typically carried out by e-mail spoofing or instant messaging and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one.
The CID said that phishing scams have been reported in the island in the recent past. For an example an individual has paid million to buy goods from Nigeria and he did not receive his stock as the suspects had used the phishing technique.
These suspects are also engaged in hacking and manipulating cash data systems operated by banks. Recently the CID was able to arrest a suspect who hacked a NRFC account and took Rs.2.8 million while being employed at a bank.
With the instructions of senior DIG Jayantha Kulathilaka, the CID has also computerized its automated finger printing data base which has finger printings of more than 5000 suspects. The University of Colombo had assisted the CID to computerize the finger prints data which cost Rs.2.5 million. The funding was done by ICTA.
The CID can be informed about cyber crimes and related activities conducted by contacting, 0112380380, and 0112422176 or by sending an email to oic.cidcom@police.lkThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or to dig.cid@police.lkThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Daily Mirror Sri Lanka.
For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
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