Cybercrime and the Cybersecurity Laws Created to Combat It
Can you remember the days when there were no such words as cyberattacks, cybercrime, and cybersecurity? Unfortunately, in the modern world we live, these words now do exist and we are increasingly hearing them on a weekly basis. The news is filled with increasingly effective cyberattacks on firms, businesses, government agencies, and more. Most of us also know somebody that was hacked whether a social media account or worse.
The final word is cybersecurity, a whole industry that has had to be created in order to deal with this increasing threat. It goes without saying that where there is temptation or potential value, crime will find a way to exist and that is certainly the case online.
Everything from our personal information, logins, and even our browsing history is worth money to cyber criminals. Individuals suffer cyberbullying, racist attacks, and more when online. Celebrities have had private photos stolen and leaked thanks to cloud hacking and businesses are constantly at threat from cybercriminals for a wide variety of reasons.
Cyberbullying in particular is one cybercrime that has gained a lot of attention in recent years. Children and teenagers especially have been struggling with this new form of bullying. In some cases it ends with depression and potentially even suicide. Then you have some well publicized DDoS attacks that have taken websites and businesses down. One big story was the Playstation network being forced offline for a number of weeks by the hacking group known as anonymous.
What is Being Done to Fight Cybercrime?
In an effort to combat the increasing amount of cybercrime, governments and regulators have had to up their games and come up with an action plan. Beginning with bringing increased awareness and education to this threat, various nations have also created their own laws to ensure that anyone proven to have committed a cybercrime can legally be prosecuted for it.
Some countries have had some form of cybercrime laws for decades whereas as others have only just enacted theirs in recent years. The good news is that most countries in the world have some form of legislation against cybercrime.
So which countries have enacted laws against cybercrime? Well, 154 countries (79%) in the world already have cybercrime legislation and another 5% have drafted legislation to potentially come into effect. 13% countries have no cybercrime legislation while there is no data on the final 2%.
The following are some of the laws enacted by major countries:
Australia
The Cybercrime Act 2001
Canada
Canada’s Cyber Security Strategy. For a Stronger and More Prosperous Canada (2010)
Action Plan 2010-2015 for Canada’s Cyber Security Strategy (2013)
Action Plan for Critical Infrastructures 2014-2017 (2014)
Germany
German IT Security Act 2015
German Telecommunications Act
EU General Data Protection Regulation
German Federal Data Protection Act
Act on the Federal Office for Information Security
UK
The Computer Misuse Act of 1990
USA
Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative of 2008
Cybersecurity Workforce Act of 2014
National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2014
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015
Conclusion
Those are just a handful of the many countries that have enacted laws in an effort to combat the many guises of cybercrime. It just goes to show how serious this type of criminal activity has become in the modern world. We can only imagine that these laws will constantly be amended to keep up with the numerous types and seriousness of crimes committed online.
We also suggest that if you have been a victim of cybercrime, that you report it to the necessary authorities. Just like any crime, we cannot let the perpetrators get away with it.
About the Author
Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.
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