In today’s digital age, understanding cyber safety and security is essential for every student. This chapter introduces the fundamentals of protecting personal and organizational data online. It covers key concepts like cybercrime, cyber laws in India, data protection, digital ethics, and safe online practices.
Cyber Safety and Security Class 12 Notes
Introduction
Nowadays technology is growing very fast; we use the internet for searching information, entertainment and talking to people. When we use digital media or internet, then we leave digital footprints. However, it’s crucial to understand potential risks like cybercrimes, trolling, cyberbullying, etc., and be equipped with the knowledge and tools to stay safe.
Cyber safety and cybersecurity are both about staying safe online, but they focus on different things:
- Cyber safety: Cyber safety is about protecting yourself from online threats like malware, phishing attacks, cyberbullying and inappropriate content.
- Cyber security: Cyber security is about protecting information systems and data from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. This focuses on protecting systems and networks from attacks.
Digital Footprints
What are Digital Footprints?
Digital footprint is also known as digital shadow or electronic footprint. For example, if you walk in sand, then you leave footprints in the sand. In the same manner, when you use the internet, then each and every click on internet, every search, and every message you send create your online record, which is known as a digital footprint.
Digital footprints can be classified into two categories.
Active footprint
An active data footprint refers to the data that is deliberately provided by an individual through their online activities.
This includes:
- When you share information like your name, email address, phone number and other personal details on social media, forms, surveys, etc.
- When you are searching queries, sending email to others, or sharing, uploading or storing photos or videos.
- You can give comments on posts, create online accounts or make online purchases.
Passive footprint
A passive data footprint refers to the data that is collected automatically through an individual’s online activities, without their intentional participation.
This includes:
- Data such as browsing history, device information, IP address, location
- Websites you visit (tracked through cookies)
- Date and time a photo was taken, the location where it was taken, and the device that was used to take it
- Data that is collected by websites, apps, and other online services.
Data Privacy
Data privacy means keeping your personal information safe and deciding who can see it and how it is used. For example, suppose you have a secret diary and you want to share the information with others. If you want to protect your information, then you have to understand who can read your diary and what to share and keep it safe from strangers. That’s exactly what data privacy does.
Definition: Data privacy ensures that personal information is not misused or abused by third parties. This includes protecting the data from unauthorised access, theft, or other types of misuse.
Understanding Data Privacy in the Digital Age
In today’s world, data is money. Every time you click, swipe or search on the internet, you leave a digital footprint. This footprint contains personal information that can be collected, analysed and used by many companies and organisations; it means that your data are being tracked by the organisation, which makes it harder to protect your privacy.
Why is data privacy important?
- Your online reputation: Everything you share online builds your virtual image. Schools, employers, and even friends can look at your data to form an impression of you.
- Targeted advertising: Companies use your data to personalize the ads you see, which can sometimes feel intrusive.
- Protecting yourself from harm: Sharing too much information online can make you vulnerable to scams, cyberbullying, and even identity theft.
How can you protect your data privacy?
- Be mindful of what you share online: Think twice before posting anything, especially personal information.
- Adjust your privacy settings: Every website and app have privacy settings. Learn how to control who sees your information and how it’s used.
- Use strong passwords and keep them secret: Don’t share your passwords with anyone.
- Beware of phishing scams: Don’t click on suspicious links or open emails from unknown senders.
- Be cautious about using public Wi-Fi: Avoid sensitive activities like online banking on public Wi-Fi networks.
- Learn about your rights: You have the right to know what data is collected about you and how it’s used.
- Stronger Regulations: Governments need to enact and enforce robust data protection laws, setting clear standards for data collection, use, and storage. This includes granting individuals the right to access, rectify, and erase their personal data.
- Ethical Practices: Organizations must prioritize ethical data practices by being transparent about data collection, obtaining informed consent, and implementing robust security measures to protect user data.
How to Protect Personal Data and Stay Safe Online
- VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) hide your location and browsing activity.
- Encrypted messaging apps keep your chats private and secure.
Laws and regulations to protect your data
- Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011: This rule protects sensitive personal data like financial details, passwords and health records.
- The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016: which regulates the collection and use of biometric data for the purpose of authentication.
- Personal Data Protection Bill (PDPB), 2019: create a comprehensive framework for data privacy and give individuals rights like accessing their data, correcting inaccuracies, and withdrawing consent.
Data Security
What Is Data Security?
Data security is like locking your digital doors and windows; it helps to protect your personal information from hackers, cybercriminals and unauthorised access. Whether it is your personal information like name, address, or password, keeping this data safe is essential in today’s connected world.
Key Pillars of Data Security
- Confidentiality: Ensuring that data is accessible only to authorised individuals or systems, like encryption, access controls and data classification.
- Integrity: Integrity helps to stay accurate and unchanged, like checksums, digital signatures and validation techniques.
- Authorisation: Appropriate access permissions to users based on their roles, responsibilities, and levels of trust, like role-based permissions and access control lists.
- Encryption: Encoding data in such a way that it can only be decrypted and read by authorised parties with the proper cryptographic keys, like cryptographic keys, secure transmission and storage.
Importance of Data Security
- Protects personal privacy: Ensures that sensitive information remains confidential and is not misused.
- Prevents identity theft: Safeguards against unauthorized access to personal accounts and financial information.
- Maintains trust: Helps build trust and confidence in online transactions and communication.
- Preserves reputation: Avoids potential damage to reputation or embarrassment from leaked personal information.
Security Measures:
- Strong Passwords: Always use complex combinations of letters, numbers and symbols. Never share passwords, even with friends.
- Privacy Settings: Adjust privacy settings on social media platforms and online accounts to control who can see personal information.
- Secure connections: Ensure that websites use HTTPS encryption for secure communication and avoid connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
- Antivirus software: Install reputable antivirus software to detect and remove malware from computer systems.
- Two-factor authentication (2FA): Enable 2FA for added security by requiring a second form of verification, such as a text message or authentication app, in addition to a password.
- Safe Browsing: Be cautious when clicking on links or downloading files from unknown or suspicious websites. Use reputable antivirus software to protect against malware and viruses.
- Email Safety: Be wary of phishing emails that may try to trick you into revealing personal information or clicking on malicious links.
- Data Backup: Regularly back up important files and schoolwork to an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or cloud storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox.
- Social Media and Online Interaction: Be mindful of what you post online and how it may affect your reputation and future opportunities.
- Respect Copyright: Avoid using copyrighted materials (such as images, music, or text) without permission. Instead, look for creative commons or public domain content that can be freely used and shared.
Responsible Online Behaviour
- Think before sharing: Be cautious about sharing personal information online and avoid disclosing sensitive details to strangers.
- Verify sources: Verify the credibility of websites and sources before trusting or sharing information found online.
- Report suspicious activity: Report any suspicious emails, messages or websites to trusted adults or authorities.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property rights (IPR) are the legal protections granted to the creators of original works and inventions. Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the human mind, including:
- Inventions: New products, processes, or devices (protected by patents).
- Literary and artistic works: books, music, paintings, software (protected by copyrights).
- Designs: Industrial designs, product packaging (protected by design rights).
- Symbols, names, and images: Trademarks and logos (protected by trademarks).
Understanding intellectual property is important for various reasons:
- Creative professionals: Knowing how to protect their own work and how to use the work of others legally.
- Businesses: Protecting their brand identity and innovations while understanding how to use existing intellectual property responsibly.
- Consumers: Being aware of the rights associated with intellectual property and respecting them.
Plagiarism
When you are copying any other person’s information and giving your name, it is known as plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s words, ideas, or creative work without giving credit to them.
- Direct Plagiarism: if any person is copying entire passages, sentences or paragraphs without citation, it is known as direct plagiarism.
- Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Paraphrasing plagiarism involves when you rephrase someone else’s ideas or words without proper citation.
- Mosaic Plagiarism (Patchwriting): When you mix copied phrases or sentences from different sources into your own writing without proper citation.
- Accidental Plagiarism: Accidental plagiarism occurs when a person unintentionally fails to properly cite or attribute sources in their work.
- Inappropriate Citation: Inappropriate citation involves citing a source incorrectly, misleadingly, or without actually consulting it.
- Verbatim Plagiarism: Verbatim plagiarism involves directly copying someone else’s work word for word without any changes and without proper citation.
How to prevent plagiarism?
- Understand proper citation: Acknowledge all sources used.
- Paraphrase responsibly: Use your own words but still cite the source.
- Seek help: If unsure, ask your teachers for guidance.
- Use Plagiarism detection tools.
- Develop your own ideas and perspectives on a topic.
Types of Intellectual Property
a. Patents
A patent is a legal right granted by the government to an inventor. India has a law called the Patents Act of 1970. It protects inventors and encourages new ideas. India gives patent rights in the different areas like new drug formulas, apps and tech tools, new seeds, fertilisers, machines, solar panels or wind turbines.
b. Copyrights
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original creative works. It gives rights to creators of things like books, poems, songs, music, movies, videos, paintings, etc.
This can include various forms such as:
- Literary works: Books, poems, articles, scripts
- Artistic works: Paintings, sculptures, photographs, graphic designs
- Musical works: Songs, compositions
- Dramatic works: Plays, screenplays
- Cinematographic works: Films, videos
- Sound recordings: Recordings of music or spoken words
- Computer programs: Software code
The copyright owner has the exclusive right to:
- Reproduce the work (e.g., copying, printing)
- Prepare derivative works (e.g., creating translations, adaptations)
- Distribute copies of the work (e.g., selling, lending)
- Display the work publicly (e.g., online, in exhibitions)
- Perform the work publicly (e.g., playing music, performing a play)
c. Trademark
A trademark is a type of intellectual property that consists of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies a specific product or service from a particular source and distinguishes it from others.
- Trademarks help consumers recognize the origin of a product or service.
- By establishing clear ownership and rights, trademarks discourage infringement and counterfeiting.
- This allows them to make informed choices based on their past experiences with the brand.
- Trademarks help prevent confusion and ensure consumers are getting what they expect.
Trademarks can take many forms, including:
- Words: Names, slogans, logos, taglines
- Symbols: Logos, icons, designs
- Sounds: Jingles, musical themes
d. Types of Cybercrimes
Cyber safety refers to the safe and responsible use of the internet to ensure safety and security of personal information. Cybercrime is the criminal act which takes place over the internet through computers as tools or targets or other smart devices meant for making our work easier. A Cyber-attack is an assault launched by cybercriminals using one or more computers against a single or multiple computers or networks.
Classification of Cyber-crimes
- Crime Against an Individual – Crime committed against an individual by use of an individual’s credit card details, confidential data and sending of spam emails. This crime is mainly done for making money.
- Crime Against an Organization – This is done against a firm, company or organization to get unauthorized access to the data.
- Crime Against Government – This is the crime against the nation, by getting access to the national data and records.
Different Types of Cyber-crimes
- Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is the use of electronic means to bully or harass another person.
- Cyberstalking: Cyberstalking is a type of cybercrime that uses the internet and technology to harass or stalk an individual, group, or organization that causes them fear.
- Phishing: Phishing is a type of deceptive cybercrime that involves tricking people into providing sensitive information, such as passwords or credit card numbers, by posing as a trustworthy source.
- Identify Theft: Identity Theft is a crime where someone steals your personal information, such as your name, Aadhar number, email, phone number, credit card number, or other identifying details, and uses it to commit fraud in your name.
- Malware Attacks: Malware Attacks involve the use of malicious software (malware) to harm or exploit a computer system, server, or network. Malware can be delivered through various methods, such as:
- Phishing emails: These emails appear legitimate but contain malicious attachments or links that, when clicked, install malware.
- Malicious websites: Downloading files or visiting compromised websites can unknowingly infect your device with malware.
- Infected attachments: Opening attachments from untrusted sources can introduce malware.
- Physical media: Inserting infected USB drives or CDs can also spread malware.
- Email spoofing: Email spoofing is a deceptive tactic where attackers forge the sender address in an email message to make it appear as if it came from someone else.
- Click on malicious links
- Open infected attachments
- Reply to the email and reveal personal information
- Take unintended actions
- Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks: These attacks aim to disrupt the normal functioning of a website or server by overwhelming it with traffic, making it unavailable to legitimate users.
- Ransomware: Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents or limits users from accessing their system, until a ransom is paid.
- Hacking: Hacking refers to the process of gaining unauthorized access to a computer system or network. This can be with malicious or ethical intentions.
- Data Breaches: A data breach occurs when unauthorized individuals gain access to sensitive or confidential information (e.g., financial records, customer’s personal information), medical records, passwords etc.
Cybercrime Awareness
Different security measures should be followed to be safe from the dreadful act of cyber-crime.
- Strong passwords should be used. The password must be a complex one, so it is not possible to guess.
- Use antivirus programmes to keep the system free of malware.
- Try to avoid opening websites which are not secure (without HTTPS).
- Don’t provide your email, contact number , credit card/debit card information, address and other such information on websites/apps you are not fully sure of.
- Don’t download software or other files from every website.
- Continuously update the system.
- Be vigilant to avoid identity thefts.
- Maintain privacy settings over social media.
Cyber Laws in India
In India, The Information Technology Act, 2000, ALSO aims to provide for the legal framework so that legal sanctity is accorded to all electronic records and other activities carried out by electronic means.
Key Provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000
- Legal recognition of electronic records and digital signatures: The IT Act grants legal validity to electronic documents and signatures, putting them on par with traditional paper-based documents.
- Data protection and privacy: The Act includes provisions for safeguarding the privacy of individuals and ensuring the security of sensitive personal data. However, critics argue that these provisions need strengthening.
- Cybercrime offences: The IT Act defines various cyber offences, including:
- Hacking
- Data theft
- Identity theft
- Spreading online obscenity
- Cyberterrorism
- Penalties and offences: The Act outlines punishments for cybercrime offences, including imprisonment and fines.
- Establishment of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal: This tribunal was set up to adjudicate disputes arising from the IT Act.
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
These rules provide guidelines for digital intermediaries, social media platforms, and OTT (Over-the-Top) platforms, including requirements related to content removal, grievance redressal mechanisms, and compliance with Indian laws.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS)
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) was enacted on December 25, 2023, repealing and replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) as the new penal code of the country. The three new Laws Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into effect from July 1, 2024. Any crime committed until 30 June 2024 will continue to be governed by the IPC.
How to file a Cyber-crime complaint online in India?
A cybercrime complaint can be filed using the National Crime Reporting Portal of India. This portal is an initiative of the Government of India to facilitate victims/ complainants to report cybercrime complaints online.
The website link is – https://cybercrime.gov.in
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