International

Telecommunication
Union



HIPSSA Project

Support for Harmonization of the ICT Policies
in Sub-Sahara Africa

Computer crimes

Introduction:
Cybercrime is the fastest growing crime in the world with
millions of people affected every day. The effects of one
successful attack on a country or corporation can have far-
reaching implications, including threat to countrys security and
economy to financial losses at the corporate level, stock losses
and money lost for consumers or stock holders.

Laws have been swiftly put into place to halt these types of
attacks, but criminals find haven in countries with lax
cybercrime laws.
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International Standards
International Conventions and Treaties on
Cybercrime:
Criminalize Crimes related to computers and
the Internet [Cybercrime]
Provisions for investigating cyber crime
International legal cooperation
Protection of human rights and liberties

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Domestic Laws
Domestic laws:
Establish cyber crime offenses
Enable successful investigation and
prosecution
Provide for Procedural laws
Improve international legal cooperation


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Computer Crimes Bill: Silent
Features
Offences against the confidentiality,
integrity and availability of computer
data and systems, that is:
offences against computer data and
systems, including illegal access,
illegal interception, data and
system interference, misuse of
devices.


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Silent Features
Offences committed by means of computer systems. This
list is limited to those old forms of crime that obtain a
new quality through the use of computers, that is:
computer-related forgery and fraud, child
pornography and offences related to infringements of
Intellectual Property Rights on a commercial scale.

An additional set of crimes covers the criminalization of
acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed
through computer systems

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Computer crimes
Cybercrimes:
Offenses against computer data and
systems
Offenses related to computers and the
Internet
Content-related offenses
Intellectual property offenses
Ancillary liability and sanctions


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Investigation of Computer Crimes
What evidence does using computers, cell phones,
and the Internet create?
Copies (Content Data)
Logs (Traffic Data)
Metadata (Traffic Data)

Where is this evidence located?
In the file
On the device
With the service provider


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Computer Data Storage
Short term
RAM
Cache

Long term
Hard drives
Backups


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Short Term Data Storage
RAM (Random Access Memory)
Where the magic happens
Only exists when the device is on
SWAP File
Not enough RAM on most computers
Write some data to the hard drive in temporary data files
Often still there when the computer turns back on
Cache
Temporary local storage of data
Often in temporary folders in long term data storage devices
May still be there after computer restarts
Temporary Internet Files
Local backups





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Long Term Data Storage
On the computer
Usually hard drives, sometimes flash
Content data in files
Some metadata
Table of contents
Shows where the data is
Deletes only from contents unless
overwritten






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Long Term Data Storage
Backups
On variety of media
oTape
oDVD
oCD
oRemote server (backup service, email, drop
box)
oFloppy disks
oThumb drives
Often off site


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Data Files
Content Data
Most files have timestamps and author information
Similar to traffic data
Some files, such as documents and pictures, may have more detailed
information about the file (metadata),
Authors name
Authors company
Computer name
Where the file was created (or picture was taken)
When the file was created and changed
Name of the network server where the file was saved
Revisions
Previous versions
Hidden text/objects
Comments
Other file properties and summary information


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Law Enforcement
Challenges to law enforcement:
Identifying the perpetrator and
extent of the crime
Volatility of electronic data
Need for fast and confidential
investigations
Need for successful prosecutions

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Tanzania Case Law
Trust Bank Ltd. v. Le-marsh
Enterprises Ltd., Joseph Mbui Magari,
Lawrence Macharia
[The High Court of United Republic of Tanzania (Commercial
Division) at Dar es Salaam Commercial case No.4 of 2000
(Unreported)]
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Love Bug Virus
Onel de Guzman (a former computer science student) was
identified as the person responsible for creating and disseminating
the 'love bug' virus. However, Philippine law did not criminalize
hacking or the distribution of viruses. The Philippine officials
struggled with the question of how to prosecute De Guzman. They
finally charged him with theft and credit card fraud but the charges
were dismissed.

De Guzman could not be extradited for prosecution in other
countries such as the US (which has cybercrime laws) because the
conduct attributed to De Guzman was not a crime in the
Philippines. Extradition treaties require 'double criminality', namely
the act for which a person is extradited must be a crime in both
the extraditing country and the country seeking the extradition. De
Guzman could not be charged for disseminating the 'love bug'
virus. No one was prosecuted for the 'love bug' virus.
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Case Law-Jurisdiction
Director of Public Prosecution v Sutcliffe an Australian citizen,
Brian Sutcliffe, was accused of stalking a Canadian actress who lived
in Toronto. The charges were based on Sutcliffe's having telephoned
the victim and written to her repeatedly over several years. The
Australian prosecutor charged Sutcliffe with stalking but the
magistrate dismissed the charges.

The magistrate found that she lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the
matter because the crime of stalking occurred in Canada, where the
victim was located. However, the Supreme Court of Victoria reversed
the decision. The Court found that Sutcliffe was a resident of
Australia and had committed all of the ingredients of the crime
"save for the harmful effect" in Australia. Therefore, it was held that
his conduct and presence in Australia established a "sufficient
connection" to allow the court to exercise jurisdiction over the
proceedings.

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Asante
Saidi M. Kalunde
ITU LOCAL EXPERT
saidimj@gmail.com





Union Internationale des Tlcommunications
International Telecommunication Union