Remember Bruce Willis, the main protagonist in the fourth installment of the Die Hard series last summer?Live Free or Die Hard depicts Willis as the New York police department detective John McClane who is commissioned to capture a gang of 'cyber terrorists' intent on shutting down the entire world's internet. In today

'sincreasingly volatile world of mobile activated bombs and websites of various militant groups, it is not hard to imagine the Die Hard scenario materializing in real life as well.

One of the most fascinating aspects of modern technology is how it has penetrated every scope and strata of society. Everyone from the uneducated mechanic to the high-profile chief executive officer of a firm now carries a mobile and is aware of what a computer is. This infiltration of technology in our communities has, by and large, proved to be beneficial. But like every other good thing, technology too can be exploited. This exploitation, among other things, has resulted in certain crimes being committed through or against

computers, their affiliated networks and the information contained within them.

Thus, came about the neologism of cyber crime.

Even though the term is now widely used in law circles, disagreements are

aplenty regarding what actually entails cyber crime. President of Naavi.org,

India's largest cyber law information portal suggests that the term is a

misnomer. "The concept of cyber crime is not radically different from that of

conventional crime," says in a report on the portal, "Both include conduct

whether act or omission, which cause breach of rules of law and [are]

counterbalanced by the sanction of the state. Cyber crime may be said to be [one

of] those species, of which, the genus is conventional crime, and where either

the computer is an object or subject of the conduct constituting crime,"

However, despite the similar legal nature of both conventional and cyber crime,

they are substantially different in practice. Cyber crimes are far easier to

learn how to commit, require fewer resources relative to the potential damage

caused, can be committed in a jurisdiction without being physically present in,

and until recently, their status of illegality has been, at best, vague. As the

global technology policy and management consulting firm McConnell Institute

notes in a comprehensive report on the subject, many countries' existing archaic

laws threaten the global information dynamic

"The growing danger from crimes committed against computers, or against

information on computers, is beginning to claim attention in national capitals.

In most countries around the world, however, existing laws are likely to be

unenforceable against such crimes".

The report added, "Existing terrestrial laws against physical acts of trespass

or breaking and entering often do not cover their 'virtual' counterparts. New

kinds of crimes can fall between the cracks."

Furthermore, efficient law enforcement is further complicated by the

transnational nature of cyberspace.

"Mechanisms of cooperation across national borders are complex and slow. Cyber

criminals can defy the conventional jurisdictional realms of sovereign nations,

originating an attack from almost any computer in the world, passing it across

multiple national boundaries, or designing attacks that appear to be originating

from foreign sources. Such techniques dramatically increase both the technical

and legal complexities of investigating and prosecuting cyber crimes."

To protect themselves from those who would steal, deny access to, or destroy

valuable information, public and private institutions have increasingly relied

on security technology. But in today's rapid world of e-commerce, self

protection, however essential, alone cannot make up for a lack of legal

protection. Many countries, therefore, now have separate legislation against

such activities.