Cyber terrorism-Indian Perspective

Our entire nation was rocked by the tragic event that occurred on November 26, 2008. And this definitely wasn’t in a good way. One of our signature cities was literally brought to its knees and thousands suffered. It was discovered by Indian investigation agencies, internet phone account was used by the attackers to get instruction from their handlers. This introduced us to a new kind of terrorism i.e. “Cyber terrorism”.

Cyber terrorism is the premeditated use of disruptive activities, or the threat thereof, against computers and/or networks, with the intention to cause harm or further social, ideological, religious, political or similar objectives, or to intimidate any person in furtherance of such objectives.   

  

Security expert Dorothy Denning defines cyber terrorism as “... politically motivated hacking operations intended to cause grave harm such as loss of life or severe economic damage.”

Cyber terrorism as mentioned is a very serious issue and it covers vide range of attacks. Here, the kind indulgence is asked toward the definition of Cyber Crime. “Cyber Crime” is crime that is enabled by, or that targets computers. Cyber Crime can involve theft of intellectual property, a violation of patent, trade secret, or copyright laws. However, cyber crime also includes attacks against computers to deliberately disrupt processing, or may include espionage to make unauthorized copies of classified data.

Various kinds of cyber crime

1)      Unauthorized access & Hacking: -
Unauthorized access mean any kind of access without the permission of either the rightful owner or the person in charge of a computer, computer system or computer network. Every act committed towards breaking into a computer and/or network is hacking. Hackers write or use ready-made computer programs to attack the target computer. They possess the desire to destruct and they get the kick out of such destruction. Some hackers hack for personal monetary gains, such as to stealing the credit card information, transferring money from various bank accounts to their own account followed by withdrawal of money. By hacking web server taking control on another person’s website called as web hijacking.

2)      Trojan Attack: -
The program that acts like something useful but do the things that are quiet damping. The programs of this kind are called as Trojans. Trojans come in two parts, a Client part and a Server part. When the victim (unknowingly) runs the server on its machine, the attacker will then use the Client to connect to the Server and start using the Trojan.

3)      Virus and Worm attack:-
A program that has capability to infect other programs and make copies of itself and spread into other programs is called virus. Programs that multiply like viruses but spread from computer to computer are called as worms. Once it infects the computer it automatically spread the worm into other internet users.

4)      E-mail & IRC related crimes:-

a.      Email spoofing
Email spoofing refers to email that appears to have been originated from one source when it was actually sent from another source.

b.      Email Spamming
Email "spamming" refers to sending email to thousands and thousands of users - similar to a chain letter.

c.       Sending malicious codes through email
E-mails are used to send viruses, Trojans etc through emails as an attachment or by sending a link of website which on visiting downloads malicious code.

d.      Email bombing
E-mail "bombing" is characterized by abusers repeatedly sending an identical email message to a particular address. Like Sending threatening emails, Defamatory emails, Email frauds, IRC related.

            Cyber-terrorist can also have attack on human life. In case of an air traffic system that is mainly computerized and is set to establish the flight routes for the airplanes, calculating the flight courses for all the planes in the air to follow. Also, plane pilots have to check the course as well as the other planes being around using the onboard radar systems that are not connected to external networks; therefore it can be attacked by the cyber-terrorist.

A different example would be the act of cyber-terrorism against a highly-automated factory or plant production of any kind of product: food, equipment, vehicles etc. In case this organization is highly reliant on the technological control, including a human control only in the end of production, not on the checkpoint stages, then any malfunction would be extremely hard to point out, fix and as a result to spot out a cyber-crime being committed

Laws in Various Countries on Cyber Terrorism

1)      Singapore
New laws allowing Singapore to launch pre-emptive strikes against computer hackers have raised fears that Internet controls are being tightened and privacy compromised in the name of fighting terrorism The city-state's parliament has approved tough new legislation aimed at stopping "cyber terrorism," referring to computer crimes that are endanger national security, foreign relations, banking and essential public services. Security agencies can now patrol the Internet and swoop down on hackers suspected of plotting to use computer keyboards as weapons of mass disruption. Violators of the Computer Misuse Act such as website hackers can be jailed up to three years or fined up to S$10,000 ($5,800).

2)      New York
A bill sponsored by state Sen. Michael Balboni, R-East Williston, that makes cyber terrorism a felony was approved by the legislative body earlier this month and sent to the State Assembly. Under the legislation, cyber terrorism, using computers to disrupt, terrorize or kill, would become a class B felony, carrying a prison term of up to 25 years.

3)      Malaysia
Malaysia is to establish an international centre to fight cyber-terrorism, providing an emergency response to high-tech attacks on economies and trading systems around the globe, reports said. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said during a visit to the United States that the facility, sited at the high-tech hub of Cyberjaya outside Kuala Lumpur, would be funded and supported by governments and the private sector.
The Interpol, with its 178 member countries, is doing a great job in fighting against cyber terrorism. They are helping all the member countries and training their personnel. The Council of Europe Convention on Cyber Crime, which is the first international treaty for fighting against computer crime, is the result of 4 years work by experts from the 45 member and non-member countries including Japan, USA, and Canada. This treaty has already enforced after its ratification by Lithuania on 21st of March 2004.The Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) has set plans for sharing information on computer security. They are going to create a regional cyber-crime unit by the year 2005.

4)      United Kingdom
United Kingdom adopted Terrorism Act, 2000, which gives the definition of terrorism and also gives various provisions for Cyber terrorism.

5)      Pakistan
whoever commits the offence of cyber terrorism and causes death of any person shall be punishable with death or imprisonment for life,” according to the ordinance, which was published by the state-run APP news agency. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes law will be applicable to anyone who commits a crime detrimental to national security through the use of a computer or any other electronic device, the government said in the ordinance. It listed several definitions of a “terrorist act” including stealing or copying, or attempting to steal or copy, classified information necessary to manufacture any form of chemical, biological or nuclear weapon.

6)      In India
Although the term “cyber terrorism” is absent from the terminology of the Indian law, Section 69 of the Information Technology Act is a strong legislative measure to counter the use of encryption by terrorists. This section authorizes the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) to direct any Government agency to intercept any information transmitted through any computer resource.

Any person who fails to assist the Government agency in decrypting the information sought to be intercepted is liable for imprisonment up to 7 years. Article 300A of Constitution of India states that all persons have a right to hold and enjoy their properties. This also includes property rights to information stored on computers or in any electronic format.

Articles 301 to 305 refer to the right for free trade. As long as an individual carries out a business in accordance with law, it cannot be interfered. Besides, free trade and any commercial activities cannot be visualized without technological rights, which mean that any distortion of those is illegal. In India these provisions have been effectively used to protect individual property rights against the actions of cyber-criminals.

A big deal of protection is also provided by Indian Penal Code. Section 22 of it gives a definition of a “movable property” stating that it also includes all corporal properties. It means that any information stored on a computer can be conveniently regarded as a movable property as it can definitely be moved from one place to another and is not attached.

Section 29A of the Code with Section 2(1)(t) of the Information Technology Act provides that “electronic record means data, record, or data generated, image or sound stored, received or sent in an electronic form or microfilm or computer generated microfiche”.

Therefore, cyber terrorism is becoming major tool for terrorists and thus it is getting more essential to frame policies to counter these attacks.

Biggest success

Biggest success in not is ever falling, ....but rising every time you fall.

what I’m doing???

Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.

Success

Success is to be measured, not so much by the position that one has reach in his life. 

But by the obstacles that he has overcome while trying to succeed.

Key to success

  

 

To come together is success, to keep together is progress,to work together is success

Evolution of Cyber Crimes

The first recorded cyber crime took place in the year 1820! That is not surprising considering the fact that the abacus, which is thought to be the earliest form of a computer, has been around since 3500 B.C. in India,Japan and China. The era of modern computers, however, began with the analytical engine of Charles Babbage.
In 1820, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a textile manufacturer in France, produced the loom. This device allowed the repetition of a series of steps in the weaving of special fabrics. This resulted in a fear amongst Jacquard's employees that their traditional employment and livelihood were being threatened. They committed acts of sabotage to discourage Jacquard from further use of the new technology. This is the first recorded cyber crime!

Today, computers have come a long way with neural networks and nanocomputing promising to turn every atom in a glass of water into a computer capable of performing a billion operations per second. In a day and age when everything from microwave ovens and refrigerators to nuclear power plants are being run on computers, cyber crime has assumed rather sinister implications. Cyber crime can involve criminal activities that are traditional in nature, such as theft, fraud, forgery, defamation and mischief. The abuse of computers has also given birth to a gamut of new age crimes such as hacking, web defacement, cyber stalking, web jacking etc. A simple yet sturdy definition of cyber crime would be: “unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both”.The term computer used in this definition does not only mean the conventional desktop or laptop computer. It includes Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), cell phones, sophisticated watches, cars and a host of gadgets.

Source:http://www.asianlaws.org/library/cci/evolution-cyber-crime.pdf 

The main disadvantages of Value Added Tax

1) VAT is regressive
It is claimed that the tax is regressive, ie its burden falls disproportionately on the poor since the poor are likely to spend more of their income than the relatively rich person. There is merit in this argument, particularly if it attempts to replace direct or indirect taxes with steep, progressive rates. However, observation from around the world and even Guyana has shown that steep tax rates lead to evasion, and in the case of income tax act as a disincentive to effort.

Further, there is now a tendency in most countries to reduce this progressivity of taxes as has been done in Guyana where a flat rate of income tax has been introduced. In any case VAT recognises and makes room for progressivity by applying no or low rates of tax on essential items such as food, clothes and medicine. In addition it allows for steep rates of tax on luxury items, although this can create problems for administration and open opportunities for evasion by way of deliberate misclassification, a problem incidentally not peculiar to VAT, and which takes place extensively in the area of customs duties.

2) VAT is too difficult to operate from the position of both the administration and business.

(a) The administration
It is often argued that VAT places a special burden on tax administration. However, it is worth noting that wherever VAT was introduced one of its effects was the rationalisation and simplification of the previous indirect tax system and its administration. Each of the previous indirect taxes such as customs duties, purchase tax and excise duties replaced by VAT had its own rate structure as well as a different tax base and separate administrative procedure. The consolidation and incorporation of numerous indirect taxes into the VAT would simplify the rate structure, tax base, and administration of the indirect tax system, thereby eliminating the overlapping auditing practices that had plagued those systems.

In addition, the abolition of a number of alternative indirect taxes releases experienced personnel to focus on a single tax. It also means reduction in the number of forms used, legislation to be applied and returns and accounts with which the business person has to contend.

(b) Business
It is true that the VAT is collected from a larger number of firms than under any form of income tax or single state sales tax; to the typical smaller firms the complexities of the tax and the need for more extensive records (for example, to justify deductions) are likely to prove serious.

However, it is often overlooked that businesses already function with considerable administrative responsibility for a number of laws including the National Insurance Act and the Income Tax Act.

Under the Income Tax (Accounts and Records) Regulations of 1980 every person, without exception is required to maintain detailed and extensive records of all its transactions. Compliance with this will certainly ensure compliance with VAT regulations, and since there is an actual benefit to be derived from accounting for VAT paid on input there is an incentive for proper record-keeping.

As we have noted before, VAT also allows for the exemption of small businesses from the system.

Under any form of sales taxation, small businesses have to be granted special treatment because of their inability to cope with the requirements of keeping adequate records which larger enterprises can handle at a reasonable cost. The intent of the special treatment is to reduce the administrative burden on small enterprises, but not the taxes that normally would be charged on the goods and services they supply. The revenue loss at the final link in the commercial cycle is limited only to the value added at that stage ,whereas in the case of income tax or sales tax the entire tax is lost. To recover the loss from exemptions, a flat tax on turnover may be applied.

In the larger businesses with proper staff and computers, the task is really one of double entry book-keeping and any additional work is hardly ever noticed.

3. VAT is inflationary
Some businessmen seize almost any opportunity to raise prices, and the introduction of VAT certainly offers such an opportunity. However, temporary price controls, a careful setting of the rate of VAT and the significance of the taxes they replace should generally ensure that there is no increase if any in the cost of living. To the extent that they lead to a reduction in income tax, any price increases may be offset by increases in take-home pay.

In any case, any price consequence is one time only and prices should stabilise thereafter.

4. VAT favours the capital intensive firm
It is also argued that VAT places a heavy direct impact of tax on the labour-intensive firm compared to the capital- intensive competitor, since the ratio of value added to selling price is greater for the former. This is a real problem for labour-intensive economies and industries.

A Book Review--Rich Dad, Poor Dad

What is the difference in the world view and attitude of people who become rich compared to other people? What things do they do differently to have such different results in their lives?

Robert T. Kiyosaki had a unique opportunity to find out. Robert's father was an educator and public administrator. When Robert was a young boy, he and his friend, Mike decided they wanted to learn how to become rich. They started by trying to make (counterfeit) money.

Robert's father explained to the boys this was illegal. He also admitted he did not know how to become rich, but suggested the boys ask Mike's father how to go about it. So Mike's father, an independent businessperson, became a mentor to Robert, his "Rich Dad."

This book is the fascinating story of how the Rich Dad taught Robert the lessons he needed to learn to make himself financially independent. Robert has learned that our educational system is pretty good at producing employees, but not very good at producing people who are good at managing their finances wisely. He now teaches people how to apply the principles of becoming rich. In addition to publishing the information in this book, he has developed a game, CASHFLOW(tm) 101 to help people develop their financial intelligence.

Some of the ideas Robert presents reinforce those in other books we have reviewed. Like The Millionaire Next Door, Robert points out the difference between having a big salary and building wealth. Like The Richest Man In Babylon, Robert emphasizes the importance of paying yourself first. In his opinion, it's more important to systematically invest a portion of your income than to pay your bills or to pay your taxes. (A controversial concept.)

Robert also has a definition of an asset versus a liability that is different from conventional accounting. Investors generally focus on accumulating assets and avoid liabilities. Simply stated, assets generate income or cash. Liabilities consume cash. Rich people accumulate assets. People who aren't rich accumulate liabilities. Some things that look like assets are actually liabilities - for example: a residence, a car, a boat. When we accumulate these things, we are not really accumulating wealth, we are consuming it. If we haven't accumulated sufficient assets and we acquire these "toy" liabilities, we are putting the cart before the horse.

Instead, we should emphasize regularly acquiring stocks, bonds, tax lien certificates, rental real estate, and other investments. We also need to learn to build value and get some tax shelter by building our own business.

Robert acknowledges that it is possible to use the principle of compound interest and regular saving to achieve financial independence. The problem with this approach is it's a long, patient one. Most people get started too late for it to work.

The rest of us must develop our financial intelligence, make risk our friend, and accelerate our financial growth. Although diversification is appropriate for preserving accumulated wealth, the investor usually must take the additional risk of focused investments in order to initially accumulate wealth. Bigger returns require accepting more risk.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is the kind of book that opens your mind to new possibilities.

Everything in life is a choice you make.

LIFE is nothing but it is totality of conscious choices that you continuously make. Whether you want it or not, you are choosing everything. Someone else does not choose for you in your life. It is you who make a choice.

An employee approach his boss,"Sir my wife said, I should ask for raise," the boss replied, " Okie, I will ask my wife, tonight whether or not I should give you raise!!!"

You may think somebody else decide, but it is continuous your choice, you make decision. Like, if somebody criticizes you, you chose to get offended, while if somebody praise you you chose to get faltered all because that our habit. This is unconscious thinking that someone else influencing your decision.

If you don't decide and let someone or incident to decide you go into the mode of 'paralysis'. Our life now is noting else then paralysis!!! In different situation you make different kind of decision is completely your choice. But you fool yourself by blaming it to others!!!

Only when you decide to live your life with-out any outside event, situation ,or others forces, you actually decide  to be lived.

We always feel like we are getting unfair result, all because we are not able to connect the cause of the effect of many things happen in our life.We have made it happen the way it is, unconsciously!!!

Like, if somebody criticizes you, you chose not to get offended....and relax !!!

There is nothing you cannot achieve,
There is no destination you cannot reach,
There is nothing you cannot do.
If hopes are alive and efforts are true.

A friend

A friend is exact replica of your soul, who in the selfish world is playing your friend’s role.

Do........

Do what you say and say what you do.

Mistake not corrected...

Fool for five minutes

He how ask is a fool for five minutes, but how dose not ask is a fool forever.

Mistake

A mistake is an opportunity to learn;
As mistake are feed backs on our progress;
More importantly winners are not afraid to make mistake.

overcoming obstacles

Success is to be measured, not so much by the position that one has reach in his life.

But by the obstacles that he has overcome while trying to succeed.

Key to success

To come together is success
To keep together is progress
To work together is success

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted, He Gave Me Everything I Needed

When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed

IT SUPERPOWER?

          "A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE ESPECIALLY THE POLITICIAN"
 

In India, seem to convinced themselves that India is an IT super power Or just about to become one. But, with no major world- class technology/ product originating from India, the truth is that India is far from being an IT super power. The fact is that it takes more than just exporting people to become an IT super power.

A lot of investment in basic and fundamental research is necessary to build a world class IT industry. Sadly, the amount of reread done in our institution and reread labs is nearly zero.

One of the biggest block buster pieces of software in a recent times the web browser was born in the university lab. At government research labs are more interested in not doing something wrong, so they end doing nothing at all.

We need lots more money to support research and devlopment work. Universities and college could also run co-operative program and course like USA &UK,where they can make their money and subsidize the education for students.

We also need to rate the college by their performance. Bcoz this is where the seed of all future wealth creation is sown. Rating the quality of education provide fund and flow to the institution doing good work.
While it will takes a lot of money and times to setup world class research labs; as a start a businesses can being to initiate, fund and research work at college.

And lastly you don’t become a superpower by excelling in only one of human knowledge and activity. All this dreams of becoming a super power can come to dust if we are enable to tackle the problem in food production and distribution, basic education, health care, housing, power and transportation. Information technology can provide the lead but we need to pick up our act in other areas of knowledge and activity as well.