Laws to combat cyber crime
To combat cyber crime, The Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted wherein certain acts has been made punishable. The Indian Penal Code 1860 has also been amended to take into its purview Cyber Crime. The various kinds of offence relating to cyber crime which are punishable are as follows:
- Cyber crimes under the IT Act:
- Tampering with computer source documents-Sec.66
- Hacking with computer systems, data alteration –Sec.66
- Publishing obscene information-Sec. 67
- Un-authorized access to protect system Sec.70
- Breach of Confidentiality and Privacy-Sec.72
- Publishing false digital signature certificates-Sec.73
- Cyber crimes under IPC :
- Sending threatening messages by email-Sec.503 IPC
- Sending defamatory messages by email-Sec.499 IPC
- Forgery of electronic records-Sec.463
- Bogus websites, cyber frauds-Sec.420 IPC
- Email spoofing-Sec.383 IPC
- Web-Jacking-Sec.383 IPC
- E-mail Abuse- Sec.500 IPC
- Cyber Crimes under the Special Act:
- Online sale of Drugs under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act
- Online sale of Arms Act
How to file a cyber crime complaint ?
- You must contact your local police station to register a cyber crime complaint with complete details of the offence and documents i.e. screen shots, e-mail address and details of the suspects.
- You can also complaint to the in charge of cyber cell police station which is almost in every city.
Tips for parents to prevent children from cyber abuse
- Always be vigilant and see what your children are doing online
- Discuss the risks with your children and tell them ways to be safe online
- Place the computer in your living room rather in child’s bedroom
- Use Parental Control Software. It filters the contents that can be viewed online and can restrict download of applications that you don’t want to be viewed by your children.
- You can restrict usage time of internet i.e. the number of hours internet can be accessed
- Make sure your children do not post personal details like their contact numbers, address, photographs, school address etc.
- Make sure that you know the friends of your children with whom your child is chatting/interacting on web and restrict their chatting with stranger
- Check the number of hours your child uses computer restrict it if they use it for long hours duration
- Help your child feel comfortable talking to you about any incidence of cyber abuse and make them aware about reporting the matter to cyber crime police stations from where the offender can be nabbed.