Crime is the breach of law. Law is set out by land, governments; it is enforced by police and applies to people living in its jurisdiction says William D King. A Computer Crime or Cybercrime refers to any unlawful act involving a computer system, network or data. This acts like hacking (unauthorized access) can be used to acquire money, information etc., which are punishable offences that involve computer systems; it could mean emails harassing another person or defaming someone else that may not be criminal but would be civil offences under tort laws; may also include copyright infringement like download of music/movies/software illegal under copyright laws etc. All these cases are handled by if not same then closely related authorities as they have similar method of enforcement and need specialized training.
What is Law Enforcement?
Law enforcement is the process of enforcing laws; it involves apprehending criminals, collecting evidence to prove that offence has been committed using scientific methods etc. The same can be applied to cyber crimes where computer systems are being used as medium to commit crime or breach law. Investigation becomes difficult because it becomes harder for police officers to recover data from servers unlike desktops/laptops which are easily carried away by offenders after committing crime or received through courier means post its delivery at premises under address provided by victim. It becomes even harder when one doesn’t have access anymore to their own accounts on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter etc.
Computer Crime Laws & Cyber Crimes Laws:
Computer crimes are one of the fast-growing areas in crime, where increasing reliance on computers has led to widespread use of the internet. These laws vary from country to country. As per these computer crimes can be cyber crimes or may not be consider as cyber crimes (depending upon laws) but according to legal experts both Computer crime and Cyber-crime should broadly fall under same section i.e. Section 65 of Bangladesh Telecommunication act 2007. Technically though, there is a difference between computer crime and cyber-crime which I will discuss later in this article explains William D King. For now, let us see how it will affect us if we commit any of these computer crimes? How serious are they? We will find all these answers here. I will also discuss the penalties for committing a computer crime and what are the existing laws in Bangladesh regarding cybercrimes.
Computer Crime Laws & Cyber Crimes Laws: Rules & Regulations
We will discuss different laws related to cyber crimes and computer crimes. I will try to make this article as easy as possible; if you find any difficulty please ask me either by commenting or sending me an email (will be provided at end of this article) and I will try my level best to answer your questions.
Laws Related To Hacking (UNLAWFUL ACCESS):
There are multiple laws related to hacking; unauthorized access for example UK’s Police and Justice Act, 2006; Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA) etc. Here we will discuss most common law which is also use in Bangladesh Telecommunication act 2007 section 65. This is the simplest way to define Hacking or Unauthorized Access. If you have a computer system and if a person gains access to your computer. Without your prior knowledge with an intention of harming your data, stealing data from the server etc. It will be consider as hacking/unauthorized access. This is punishable offence under section 65 of Bangladesh Telecommunication act 2007.
Computer Crime Laws & Cyber Crimes Laws: Punching Into a Computer System without Authorization
According to this law if someone makes any arrangement, supplies or develop methods. To punch into a computer system without permission. Then he could face up to 10 years in jail or fine or both says William D King. He may also try to destroy/delete information from a computer system. Which can be punish for two times more than above punishment. Punishment includes: Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and with fine or both. However, this punishment will be double if the person tries to destroy/delete data from computer system.
Computer Crime Laws & Cyber Crimes Laws: Punishment for Publishing or Disclosing Secret Keys, Passwords Etc.
If someone discloses or publishes any secret code, password etc. That can be use in computer system then he may face up to five years in jail or fine or both. This law applies when one makes arrangements to access any password-protected computer system without permission explains William D King. If it is with intention of harming the system. Then he/she may face up to ten years in jail or fine or both. Under section 65 of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2007.
Conclusion:
In this article, we focus on most common laws relate to computer crimes that are used in Bangladesh. In my next article I will discuss different cyber crimes laws from around the world.