An Introduction to Cyber Crime: General Considerations

Abstract

Cyber crime reflects a peculiar type of techno-sophisticated criminality having different features. This criminality is posing the challenges to existing national legal systems and it appear to be difficult to control and combat these crimes within the existing framework of legal system. Specially, the problem of jurisdiction, identity crises and lack of legal recognition of most of acts make it difficult for legal systems to effective deal with the crime. The location and trans-national character of these crimes again added the flavor makes it too dangerous to imagine. This article has attempted to identify the characteristic features of cyber criminality and the its varied nature over the traditional criminality. Cyber crime may be categorized in two classes. One where the computer is instrument, and another where computer is incidental. It is not difficult to control the cyber crimes fall in former categories as here, computer is only an instrument and traditional legal system is better to coup up these problem by merely recognizing it, however, it is difficult to deal with the later class of criminality as computer technology is itself new to the legal system and it cannot be deal with the merely old principles which is territorially sensitive, jurisdictionally responsive, and susceptible to paper based culture and identity. This article has focused on the latter aspect of cyber criminality.