Cyber Crime in Bangladesh

Cyber Crime in Bangladesh

We cannot think a day without internet. As we live in a cyber world. The gigantic improvements in the field of medicine, treatment, mechanization, transportation, railway, modern ocean liner, jet plane, and motor vehicle have made our lives more comfortable. But nowadays miscreants make our lives hell using these gifts of science intentionally. Cyber crime means an unlawful act in which the computer is either a tool or a target or both.

In order to facilitate e-commerce and encourage the growth of information technology, the ICT Act, 2006 was enacted. It includes provisions with a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment or fine up to taka 10 million or with both.

Moreover, our Parliament amended the ICT Act 2006, raising penalties for cyber crimes setting a minimum of 7 years imprisonment and a maximum of 14 years or a fine of Tk. 1 crore or both.

Millions of users are being helpless victims of cyber crime. Cyber criminals hack into servers of banks, using computers or mobile phones, and transfer large amount of money to other accounts. They break into computers and take away invaluable information. Introducing virus to an external computer to wipe out memory is an offence. Remote users are falling prey to virus attacks, fraud, transfer and corruption of information and other malice.

Every year we have seen cyber crime amounts to several billion dollars of economic damage. One should keep in mind that financial matters here are not as dependent on technology as is the case in the outside world.

To make our experience in this new form of technology a pleasant one, we must be adequately prepared to ensure protection against the vicious crimes. For the distant users, using an anti-virus software, setting up a firewall and some other security tips will be enough as a guard against cyber crime. The challenge lies at the organizational and state level. So we need stronger cyber law.