UN Convention Against Cybercrime

General Studies Paper-2

Context: The member states of the United Nations has finalized a new international convention against cybercrime.

About

• The draft convention is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly later this year, thus becoming the first global legally binding instrument on cybercrime.
• Background: The road to this convention began more than five years ago when the United Nations recognized the new challenges to international security and criminal law.
  • The Ad Hoc Committee was established in 2019 and the draft convention was finally finalized in August 2024.

About the Convention

• Aim: To strengthen international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime, coordinate law enforcement efforts, and promote technical assistance and capacity building in member states.
• Tools: It provides states with a range of tools to effectively combat crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms smuggling, and other criminal activities facilitated by modern information technologies.
• It is supporting developing countries through technical assistance and capacity building.
• The key objective is to improve the capabilities of national authorities in the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of cybercrime.
• Convention includes the definition of criminal offenses such as illegal access to information systems, illegal interception, data manipulation, and system interference.
• It deals with the criminal liability of legal persons, the seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of crime, and international cooperation in criminal prosecution and the preservation of evidence.

What is Cybercrime?

• Cybercrime refers to criminal activities that involve the use of computers, networks, and digital technologies.
• It encompasses a wide range of illicit activities conducted in the virtual space, often with the intent to compromise, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, and data.
• Cybercriminals employ various techniques and tools to exploit vulnerabilities in networks, and they may target individuals, organizations, or even governments.

Common types of Cybercrime include:

• Hacking: Unauthorized access to computer systems or networks to steal, alter, or destroy data.
• Phishing: Deceptive attempts to acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, and financial details, by posing as a trustworthy entity.
• Malware: Malicious software designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. This includes viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, and spyware.
• Identity Theft: Stealing and using someone’s personal information, such as social security numbers or credit card details, for fraudulent purposes.
• Cyber Espionage: Covert activities aimed at gaining unauthorized access to sensitive information for political, economic, or military purposes.
• Cyberbullying: Using digital platforms to harass, threaten, or intimidate individuals.
• Online Fraud: Engaging in fraudulent activities, such as online scams and financial fraud, to deceive and exploit victims for monetary gain.

Cybercrime in India

• Chief executive officer of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), mentioned that on average 5,000 cyber complaints are registered in the country every day and around 40-50% originate outside the country.
• Most cyber crimes were reported from Haryana, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Goa. Among Union Territories, most complaints came from Delhi, followed by Chandigarh and Puducherry.

Impact of Cyber Crimes

• National Security Threats: Cyber crimes pose a threat to national security when state-sponsored actors or criminal organizations target critical infrastructure, government institutions, or military systems.
• Financial Loss: This includes theft of personal information, online banking fraud, credit card fraud, and ransomware attacks.
• Data Breaches: Data breaches can lead to the exposure of personal information, trade secrets, intellectual property, and other confidential data, causing severe damage to the affected entities.
• Disruption of Services: Cyber attacks can disrupt essential services such as power grids, communication networks, and transportation systems.

Initiatives by Government of India to Prevent Cybercrimes

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In): CERT-In is the national nodal agency for responding to cybersecurity incidents.
  • It provides proactive and reactive cybersecurity support and plays a crucial role in ensuring the security and resilience of the country’s cyber infrastructure.
• National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC): It is responsible for protecting critical information infrastructure from cyber threats.
  • It identifies and designates critical sectors and advises organizations in these sectors on enhancing their cybersecurity measures.
• Cyber Crime Prevention against Women & Children (CCPWC) scheme: The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance to all the States & UTs under the scheme to support their efforts for setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, training, and hiring of junior cyber consultants.
• Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): The Government has established I4C to provide a framework and ecosystem for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
• National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: The Government has launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to enable the public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes.
• Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre): This initiative is aimed at creating awareness about botnet and malware infections and providing tools for detection and cleaning.

Conclusion

• The UN Convention against Cybercrime is more than just a legal instrument.
• It is a symbol of the need for global cooperation in a world in which digital technologies are becoming increasingly important and at the same time pose new risks and threats.
• The global community now faces the task of putting this Convention into practice and ensuring that it not only helps to combat cybercrime but also protects human rights and freedom in the digital age.