Challenges Of Cybercrime

Internet has become a crucial hub for business in the world. The growing role of internet does not only provide new business opportunities, such as eBay or Taobao, but also new threats in a globalised business world. Further, the internet is often used by criminals and hacktivists. Thus, the frequent use of internet in commercial and household sectors brings its own challenges.

Legal reforms have taken place in many European countries since the 1970s. The use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) is greatly dependent on intellectual values and private data. Further, in the late 20th century, new legislations were formed to protect these intangible values.

Many European countries addressed the protection of privacy, as a

According to the report released by Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology Cyber Security – cybercrime is defined as the attacks on information infrastructure . There are two main types of cybercrime: cyber-dependent crimes, such as the spread of viruses or malicious software, and cyber-enabled crimes, such as theft and distribution of sexual imagery of children .

The UK Government has clear focus and various means to combat cybercrimes in the last decade. UK Government considers cybercrime to be a tier 1 threat, which is ranked the same as international terrorism . While the UK Government respect for intellectual property and fundamental human rights to freedom of expression and association, the UK Government believes that all nations must act consistently in cyberspace and in accordance with both national and international laws.

Due to an increasing occurrence of computer-related economic crimes in the 1980s, new legislation addressing the capabilities of cybercrimes were established in the UK in 1990 . Later on, due to illegal and harmful contents in the rapid use of internet in the mid-1990s, legal amendments adapting traditional provisions on the distribution of pornography and defamation materials online were passed in the UK in 1994

It was enacted to make provision for securing computer material against unauthorised access and for connected purposes. The Act describes different computer misuse offences and outlines penalties for them: (1) unauthorised access to computer material; (2) unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences; and (3) unauthorised modification of computer material. The penalties vary from a fine to imprisonment from six months to ten years depending on nature of the crime . The government departments in the UK recorded 13,146 hacking attempts between 1 January 1999 and 29 January 2002, an average of 84 times per week . Some sensitive or private data were stolen. Thus, the Act was expanded in 2006 and is now under