With each passing day, the Internet became integrated in human life with the physical world. As the range of Internet applications broadened and the users became more sophisticated, it became harder to see a user’s experience as it first seemed. Since, the success in field of human activity leads to the crime, the world is introduced with the new but danger concept, cyber crime. The Internet was the world of cyberspace with virtual meeting, virtual streets and most important, virtual crimes. Many people started to argue that the absence of globally harmonized legislation was turning the cyberspace into an area of ever increasing worries and dangers.

Today, Information Technology is encompassing all walks of life all over the globe. With all path-braking technological developments, the Internet gives us an opportunity to act as a global community; advertise and operate over borders and beyond the control of any national government. The intense volume of information and simplicity of its transfer causes the further problems. The ownership of information or data is very hard to protect – the illicit use of copyright material is common place. The spread of false and malicious information is also a daily occurrence.

The traditional legal system have had great difficulty in keeping pace with the rapid growth of the Internet and its impact throughout the Internet. While dealing with some serious legal problem, people   expected the need of the cyberlaws to govern the new virtual world. The aim of the cyber laws or cyber related laws world wide is to harmonize the existing laws. Cyberlaws are made to lessen the legal issues in the future.

Instead, what Twitter did is, it apparently made a motion to unseal the subpoena. Twitter had been standing to do this because the sealing of the subpoena infringed upon its own ability to interact with its subscribers or customers. Twitter and other companies have a policy to notify the users before responding to a subpoena, or similar requests. It notified its users about the subpoena. In this way, Twitter has protected the privacy of its users, no matter who are they.

The act of WikiLeaks is not against the cyber laws. Their action can’t be considered as a cyber crime. According to the 19th article of the  Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to give and receive information through any media, regardless of frontiers. So, is it something wrong which WikiLeaks has done by releasing the United States diplomatic cables? What government did with Twitter is not technically a subpoena, but a judicially-authorized order.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that tech companies have stood up to requests for customer or user data. From Twitters response to WikiLeaks subpoena, we come to know that there is at least one company which is respecting our rights.  Though Twitter can’t really defy the subpoena, but at least they fought for disclosure. By standing up for its customers, Twitter showed the guts and principles. Twitter deserves recognition for its principles. We can hope that Twitter doesn’t face punishment for asking the judge to rule on the law in this case. Somehow, if Twitter is punished, we could guess what the industry norm can become.

When we refer to electronic signature from the security point of view, United States have Electronic Signatures Acts such as Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.

Uniform Electronic Transactions Act

In the United States, the concept of electronic signature is wide and set out in Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA). UETA was proposed by National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State laws. According to this act, electronic signature means an electronic symbol, sound or process logically related to a record and executed by a person with the intent to sign the record. This act only applies to commercial, business and government matters.

Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act

Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act is a United States law which lays out the guidelines for interstate commerce. The law was enacted to facilitate the usage of electronic signatures and records in interstate as well as foreign commerce ensuring the legal effect and validity of contract entered into electronically. The general intent of the act is that a signature or contract may not be denied validity, legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in the electronic form.

Thus, the main purpose of electronic laws is to define the principles for the legal as well as technical aspects and application of electronic signatures. According to the electronic signature laws, a person who generates electronic certificates, or copy or falsify electronic signatures as in valid, generates unauthorized electronic certificates or knowingly uses them can be sentenced from 2 to 5 years or can be fined.

The Data Protection Act aims at promoting high standards in handling of personal information as well as to protect the individual’s right to privacy. The act controls how your personal information is used by the government or corporations. The rules of Data Protection Act are quite complex, but at the heart of it are eight common rules which are considered as data protection principles.

• The personal data must be processed fairly as well as lawfully.

• The personal data must be obtained for lawful and specified purposes.

• The personal data must be relevant, adequate and not excessive.

• The personal data must be accurate and kept up to date, where necessary.

• The personal data must not be kept longer than is necessary.

• The personal data must be processed in accordance with the rights of the individual.

• Appropriate organizational and technical measures must be taken against unauthorized processing of personal data.

• The personal data must not be transferred to a territory or country outside European Economic Area unless there is adequate protection for the information.

The Data Protection Act also ensures that the employees can also be prosecuted for unauthorized or unlawful action under the legislation. If you use or disclose any information about other people without proper authorization or their consent, you will end up in paying £5000 as penalty. So, it is necessary for you to be careful while using the e-mail, internet and the internal network. You should take care special care with sensitive data such as religious or political beliefs, ethnic origins, disabilities, health data, trade union membership, sexual life or details of offences or alleged offences.

Cyber crime is an unlawful act wherein the computer is used either as a tool or a target or both. There are different types of crimes on the internet that are done for different reasons. To prevent from these crimes and in response to absolutely complex and newly emerging issues related to cyberspace, the concept of Cyberlaw came into being. The growth of the cyberspace has resulted into the development of a new and highly specialized branch of law, called as Cyberlaw – Law of the Internet or Law of World Wide Web.

There is no one absolute definition of the term Cyberlaw. However, we can simply say, Cyberlaw refers to all the legal and regulatory aspects of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Cyberlaw is a term that encompasses all the legal issues related to the use of distributive, transactional, communicative aspects of networked information devices as well as technologies. These issues vary from domain names, to intellectual property rights, privacy, electronic commerce, electronic contracts, encryption, online banking, cybercrime, spamming and so on.

The concept of Cyberlaw encapsulates laws related to cyber crimes, intellectual property, electronic and digital signatures, as well as data protection and privacy. It includes jurisdiction and freedom of expression. Cyberlaw addresses the issues of Virtual Persons and Virtual Property. It covers the rights of Netizens (the citizens of Cyber Space) and regulations of the Cyber Space for a peaceful and harmonious existence of the Netizens.

In simple words, Cyberlaw is law that deals with the legal issues of the internet usage and all devices connected over the network, their proper use in order to prevent as well as control cyber crimes.

Although, all of that was supposed to be in the past, it is however still possible to steal your domain without your knowledge with minimum efforts. The registrars have a feature called a Domain Lock or a Registrar Lock that prevents the transfer of the domain to anyone unless that lock is removed. In order to transfer a domain name, you are required to provide a Domain Key or EPP Code and the account owned of the domain can request this.

To prevent getting your domain stolen, you should take security of your email account seriously. Because your email account is the center of all your passwords, it is necessary to take care of email account. You must have noticed that whenever you click on – lost your password, many websites email a new password to you. To avoid this, use an ISP that focuses on security to minimize the risk of someone hacking your email account. Follow the guidelines of government security experts.

In addition, you can also lose control of your domain name if you do not pay for renewal. Then it is returned to the public pool of available domain name. However, you can allow someone else to obtain your password, so that they could move the domain name to their name and can obtain it in that way.

Recognize that your domain name is property and it protect it the way you protect your other business property. You can purchase a commercial insurance property to cover the hacking or theft of your domain name. Try to review your security procedures regularly. Remember, the criminals are motivated by greed; therefore, they will continually invent new ways to steal your domain name.

As such, though there remains no comeback on those that try to defraud individuals and companies,  you can prevent from getting your domain name stolen. Otherwise, the problem will continue until a way by which fraudulent registrants or domain thieves can be held to account.

According to the many computer geeks, a virus that affect our computer system is generated by the companies who are there to market their anti-virus. This may be true for those unethical companies who want to make a fast buck and therefore find some unethical way to make money.

There are several small and medium sized business that have been victims of cyber crime at some point. As a businessman, it is absolutely important for you to minimize your chances of being victim of cyber crime. When online, the security measures are necessary to protect your computer, your information as well as your money.

So, what you should do at a minimum to protect your company or business? I have assembled here some tips to protect your business from hackers and cyber criminals.

• Educate your users on cyber security basis such as using strong or complex passwords, not downloading illegal music and cute screen savers, shutting down the PCs at night, etc.

• Some of the companies make the cyber security as a part of the their standard HR policies and make their employees sign that they understand the rule. You can apply the same for your business.

• Install a web filtering software to prevent some accidentals slip-ups. Install a firewall and try to check the log periodically.

• Remove all unnecessary applications and services installed on your server. This is the biggest security vulnerability after the e-mail.

• Always keep your server updated with the latest security patches.

• Never keep any manufacturer’s default settings on any software you install. The hackers know what these settings are and they can use them to get easy access to your network.

The cyber crime is rapidly growing as well as evolving. The only way to stay safe is to be up-to-date on data security as well as data recovery matter. By paying attentions to these smaller but important things, you can protect your business from hackers and cyber criminals.

With the popularity of social networking, many people are sharing their personal lives than ever before. No matter, you’re an avid internet user or not, your personal information is most likely online and could be paying someone else’s mortgage. Since, the social media has made our lives very transparent, the threats to your internet reputation grow by the day.

Your online profile can be the cause for the lack of call backs and can even stop you from the desired interview and gainful employment. A 2010 Microsoft report found that 79 percent of hiring managers and recruiters conduct online research about job applicants. So, safeguarding your online reputation has become as important as your credit score nowadays. Every transaction of your life that you have, people are gonna look you up on the internet and make conclusions on the basis of what they find.

There are number of ways that can help you to better manage as well as improve your online reputation to boost your chances of success. You should know what’s attached to your name on the Web, because  your online reference can affect job prospects down the road. Always check your own internet profile. There may not be any negative thing to deal with, but the careless text or photos left on social media networks can prove damaging. Due to your some photographs, a human resource manager can decide that your behavior is not professional.

You have to be always careful about the way you represent yourself online. Never let anyone set up your online reputation. Establish yourself online to create your positive and clear image. If you found any problem with your online reputation, constantly monitor the web. The longer it’s there, the more it spreads and can be archived. Always try to be top of the game.

Copyright infringement occurs when someone, other than the copyright holder, copies, uses, distributes, sells or recreates another person’s work of authorship without the owner’s consent. The copyright infringement can happen in various ways, through various mediums, including text, literary work, paintings, photographs, motion pictures and musical recordings.

Internet copyright infringement is a form of intellectual property theft, which can lead to significant security issues and legal penalties. If a person attempts to use or distribute the another person’s work without authorization, he may be found guilty of copyright infringement.  The common internet copyright violations involves illegal download of movies, music files and pirating certain types of software applications. Posting a copyrighted work such as writing or graphics online without the permission of the owner may also constitute internet copyright infringement.

Online copyright infringement or internet copyright infringement may result in different legal problems for unauthorized users. The penalties for internet copyright infringement can vary based on the severity of the crime. Most of the time, people found guilty in lesser type of copyright infringement, such as illegally downloading the music files, may simply be fined. The range of penalty can be from fine to the prison time.

In order to avoid the internet copyright infringement, the internet users should determine whether they have permission to use or distribute a particular work. You should check the terms of use policies of the website before using their work. Usually, these policies contain the details about how the information on the site can be used.

The information technology laws cover almost all the criminal aspects of the misuse of Information Technology. Here is the overview of some information technology laws in United States.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, abbreviated as ECPA, was enacted by United States Congress in 1986 to extend the government restrictions on wire  taps from telephone calls for including transmissions of electronic data or information by computer. This act sets out different provisions for use, access, interception, disclosure and privacy protections of electronic communications. According to the United States Code, electronic communications refer to any transfer of signals, signs, images, writing, sound, images, data transmitted in whole or in part by radio, wire, photo electronic system or electromagnetic system.

Federal Information Security Management Act

Federal Information Security Management Act, often called as FISMA, is a United States federal law which was enacted in 2002. The FISMA defines a comprehensive framework to protect the government information, assets and operations against the natural as well as man-made threats. This act recognized the importance of information security to the national and economical security interests of the United States. In order to strengthen information system security, this act assigns some responsibilities to federal agencies, office management and budget and  national institute of standards and technology.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

The section 508 of Rehabilitation Act applies to all Federal agencies when they procure, develop,  use or maintain any type of electronic and information technology. The standards of this section cover access to electronic and information technology obtained by Federal agencies. These standards are the parts of Federal government’s procurement regulations.