Cyber Crimes
Businesses are becoming more and more reliant on the Internet in modern society and it is important to study the crimes that are committed electronically. There are criminals on the Internet just as there are criminals on the street, the Internet has several common crimes that businesses need to understand. Users on the Internet have rights and violating these rights are the same as violating rights in person. The Internet has laws. That means that people need to be aware of cyber laws and illegal cyber activity. Torts made on the Internet are referred to as cyber torts. Torts are simply violated someone.
To start, there are several instances where a person is violated on the Internet. The primary example of being violated in cyber space is defamation. Defamation is essentially any type of slander against someone on the Internet. Whether it is through a blog post, video post, chat room, or message board, attempting to harm someone’s reputation is against the law. The person committing the crime of defamation can be sued for libel. It is wrong to try and ruin someone’s reputation and businesses need to realize that even if they are just joking around, saying derogatory things about someone is against the law.
However, the Internet Service Provider cannot be held accountable for someone committing defamation. The Internet is a place of freedom but abusing that freedom cannot be the fault of the service provider. The Federal Communications Decency Act was created to protect these ISP’s and remind users to be decent on the Internet. Several laws have been created due to people abusing the Internet and the service providers are not to be blamed. To continue on the topic of cyber crimes, spam e-mails are constantly being thrown around but only some are actually legal.
If a user is sending so much spam e-mail that it slows down the use of the computer or disrupts the Internet Service Provider, then it is a crime. The trespass of chattels is interfering with a person’s use of the Internet. All the junk e-mails and pop-ups are annoying for user’s and is considered a violation. However, the use of these spam type e-mails for commercial use is allowed. The Internet is a great way to advertise so companies are allowed to send bulk e-mail all around the Internet to hope generate some business. It is definitely important for businesses to understand how to properly use spam e-mails.
Also, financial crimes are beginning to become more common on the Internet. So much banking and paying bills is done electronically now and it has is pros and cons. Being able to use the Internet for tedious activities like banking is great. However, all of a person’s information is now on the Internet, a very public place. Identity theft is a serious offense committed in cyber space. A person can find all of the information needed such as social security numbers, date of birth, mother’s maiden name, and all kinds of information about a person that would lead to identity theft.
Users need to be extremely careful when entering any financial information on the Internet because it can lead to crimes like identity theft. Businesses need to be extremely careful when putting anything on the Internet. It can destroy a business if someone can access all of the company’s records and private information. These crimes are very serious and the culprits face serious consequences. Overall, all of these types of cyber crimes are important for businesses to understand because so much business is done on the Internet nowadays.
Companies are taking more and more precautions to avoid all kinds of cyber crimes. Violating someone on the Internet is the same as violating someone in person. There are now cyber laws and breaking these laws has real consequences. From spam e-mails to defamation to identity theft, businesses need to understand all of the dangers that exist out there in cyber space. Knowing the laws will protect businesses and guide employees to stay within the boundaries of the law and keep the company strong.
