Growing Cyber Crimes in India: A Survey
Dr. P. N. Vijaya Kumar
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science,
Rayalaseema University, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, India.
E-mail: drvijayakumarpn@gmail.com
Abstract—Cybercrime also called Computer crime, is
any crime that involves a computer and a network. As
individuals and businesses increase their reliance on
technology, they are exposed to the growing cybercrime
threats. Using the computers for our day-to-day
transactions is quite common now a days. For example,
we pay our life insurance premium, electricity bills,
reserve flight or train or bus tickets, order book or any
other product online using personal computer, smart
phones, public browsing centers etc. The number of
users doing online transactions are growing rapidly ever
since, because of the convenience it gives to the user to
transact business without being physically present in the
area where the transaction happens. Criminals
committing cybercrime are also growing day-by-day
with the increased number of users doing online
transactions. Cybercrime covers a wide range of
different attacks such as Cyber extortion, Cyber
warfare, spreading Computer viruses or Malware,
Internet fraud, Spamming, Phishing, carding (fraud),
child pornography and intellectual property rights
violation etc. Because of increased cyber-attacks these
days, the online users must be aware of this kind of
attacks and need to cautions while doing online
transactions. In this context, the paper will review the
growth of cybercrimes in India and measures taken by
the government of India to combat the cybercrimes.
Keywords—cybercrime, cyberlaw, Computer crime,
cyber crimes in India, Information Technology Act, 2000.
I. INTRODUCTION
In the year 2013, India has been ranked among the
world's top five countries for highest number of cyber
crimes. [1] Cyber crime has been reported as one of
the top four economic crimes perceived by Indian
organizations. [2] According to an ASSOCHAM
report the number of cyber crimes in India may reach
300,000 in 2015. The statistics from the surveys shows
how the Cyber crime has been increasing at an
alarming rate in India. According to the "Global
Economic Crime Survey, 2011", conducted by
accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cybercrime
is the third most prevalent economic crime in India.
What is cybercrime? Webopedia defines Cybercrime
as "any criminal act dealing with computers and
networks (called hacking)”. [4] Cybercrime is a range
of illegal digital activities targeted at organisations in
order to cause harm. [5] The simplest possible
definition given by Norton Company is “Cybercrime
is simply a crime that has some kind of computer or
cyber aspect to it”. [6] According to Norton, for every
3 seconds someone’s identity is stolen as a result of
cybercrime. Cyber crimes do not consider any
boundaries or territorial barriers. Making the cyber
world safer is the major concern to all the stakeholders.
In this regard, every country will have its own Cyber
law or Internet law to control the cybercrimes in their
countries. Indian government also framed such law
which is called the Information Technology Act, 2000.
This act is meant for legal recognition for transactions
carried out by means of electronic data interchange
and other means of electronic communication and
applies to whole India. The paper will give an
overview of cybercrimes registered and persons
arrested on cybercrime charges during 2010-2013
period. The rest of the paper is organized in the
following manner: Section-II discusses the Sectors
prone to cyber attacks. Section-III gives an overview
of the types of offences considered in the study.
Section-IV deals with the cybercrimes registered and
persons arrested under the Information Technology
Act, 2000. Section-V discusses cybercrimes registered
and persons arrested under Indian Penal Code (IPC)
during 2010-2013. Section-VI will provide a snapshot
of cybercrimes with respect to individual states and
union territories and also discusses the cases registered
against offenders of various age groups. The paper
ends with Section-VII, which is conclusion.
II. SECTORS PRONE TO CYBER ATTACKS
According to the "Cybercrime survey report 2014"
conducted by KPMG in India, financial services sector
with 58% of total cyber attacks is the most prone to
cybercrime. Further the survey report says that, more
number of attackers would be targeting internet
banking and brokerage. Phishing attacks of online
banking accounts and cloning of ATM / Debit cards
are very common in this sector. Followed by
Communication/Entertainment, Infrastructure sectors
each sector with 11% of total cyber attacks. Next being
the Government sector with a share of 8% of total
cyber attacks followed by other sectors with 5%,
Energy and Natural resources, Pharmaceuticals and
Consumer/Industrial Markets each sector with 3% of
attacks of the total number of cyber attacks
respectively.
Sectors prone to cyber attacks
are punishable. The same act was amended in the year
2008 with certain omissions and commissions. Several
offences in the act involving Computer crime are also
registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal
Code (IPC).
According to the datasets provided by National
Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), cyber crimes in India
can be studied under the following two heads: [7]

70% i) Offences registered under the Information

Technology Act 2000.
Financial services
58%
ii) Offences registered under the IPC (with use
60% of computers).
Communication/E
ntertainment IV. CYBER CRIMES REGISTERED UNDER IT ACT
50%
Infrastructure The number of cyber crimes has been increasing at an
alarming rate in India and it is evident from the
40% statistics shown in Table. I. and Fig. 2. the incidence
Government
of cybercrimes under IT Act has increased by 51.46%
30%
in 2013 as compared to 2012 (from 2,876 cases in
Others 2012 to 4,356 cases in 2013).The data shows that the
number of cases registered have been increased from
20% Energy and 288 to 4356 between 2008 and 2013 i.e. an increase of
11% Natural resources 1412.5%. The percentage of increase in the number of
11%
8% Pharmaceuticals cases registered in the year 2012 is 60.58% over the
10%
5% year 2011.
3%3%3%
Consumer/Indust Looking at the data shown in Fig. 3, the top five
0% rial Markets
Source: Cybercrime survey report 2014, KPMG in crime heads in decreasing order is as follows:
India
1) Loss or Damage to computer resource or
utility.
Fig. 1. Sectors prone to cyber attacks
2) Obscene publication/transmission in
III. TYPES OF OFFENCES electronic form
3) Hacking
The Government of India, Ministry of Law, Justice
4) Tampering computer source documents
and Company Affairs (Legislative Department)
5) Breach of confidentiality or privacy
formulated the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000
pertaining to the acts related with Cybercrimes which

Cyber Crime cases registered under the IT Act

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

4356

2876
1791
966
288 420

Fig. 2. Cyber crime cases registered under the IT Act during 2008-2013
 TABLE I. CYBER CRIMES/CASES REGISTERED AND PERSONS ARRESTED UNDER IT ACT IN THE PERIOD 2010 – 2013
% %
SL. Crime heads Cases Registered Variation Persons Arrested Variation
No. in 2013 in 2013
2010 2011 2012 2013 over 2010 2011 2012 2013 over
2012 2012
1 Tampering computer source 64 94 161 137 -14.91 79 66 104 59 -43.27
documents
2 Loss/Damage to computer 346 826 1440 1966 36.53 233 487 612 818 33.66
resource/utility
3 Hacking 164 157 435 550 26.44 61 65 137 193 40.88
4 Obscene publication/transmission 328 496 589 1203 104.24 361 443 497 737 48.29
in electronic form
5 Failure : Of compliance/Orders of 2 6 6 13 116.67 5 4 4 3 -25.00
Certifying Authority
6 Failure : To assist in decrypting 0 3 3 6 100.00 0 0 3 7 133.33
the information intercepted by
Govt. Agency
7 Un-authorized access/attempt to 3 5 3 27 800.00 6 15 1 17 1600.00
access of protected Computer
System
8 Obtaining License or Digital 9 6 6 12 100.00 4 0 5 14 180.00
Signature Certificate by
misrepresentation/suppression of
fact
9 Publishing false digital Signature 2 3 1 4 300.00 2 1 0 8 #
Certificate
10 Fraud Digital Signature 3 12 10 71 610.00 4 8 3 51 1600.00
Certificate
11 Breach of confidentiality/privacy 15 26 46 93 102.17 27 27 22 30 36.36
12 Other 30 157 176 274 55.68 17 68 134 161 20.15
TOTAL 966 1791 2876 4356 51.46 799 1184 1522 2098 37.84
Source : National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
Note: # zero value in previous year

Top five Cyber crime heads under IT ACT

1966

1440
1203 2010

826 2011

435
550 496589 2012
346 328
164157 2013
64 94 161137 15 26 46 93

Tampering computer Loss/Damage to Hacking Obscene Breach of

source documents computer publication/transmission confidentiality/privacy
resource/utility in electronic form

Fig. 3: Top five cyber-crime heads under IT Act

Section 66(1) of the IT Act deals with the offences
related with the crime head, Loss/Damage to computer
resource/utility. More than 45.10% (1,966 cases) of
the total number of registered (4,356 cases) under IT
Act 2000 were related to the crime head, Loss or
damage to computer resource or utility. Registered
cases under this head is 346 in the year 2010 and 826
in the year 2011 reported an increase of 138.72%. On
the similar lines, there is an increase in the number of
cases by 74.33% in the year 2012 over 2011 and by
36.53% in the year 2013 over the cases reported in
2012. Similarly, the persons arrested for the same
crime head has increased by 33.66% in the year 2013
over 2012. Section 67 of the IT Act deals with the
offences related with the crime head, obscene
publication/transmission in electronic form.
Registered cases under this head is 328 in the year
2010 and 496 in the year 2011 reported an increase of
51.21%. Similarly, there is an increase in the number
of cases by 18.75% in the year 2012 over 2011 and by
104.24% in the year 2013 over the cases reported in
2012. For the same period, the persons arrested for the
same crime head has increased by 48.29%. Section
66(2) of the IT Act deals with the offences related with
the crime head, hacking. Registered cases under this
head is 164 in the year 2010 and 157 in the year 2011
reported a decrease in the number of cases by 4.29%.
But, there is an increase in the number of cases by
177.04% in the year 2012 over 2011 and by 26.44% in
the year 2013 over the cases reported in 2012.
Similarly, the persons arrested for the same crime head
TABLE II. CYBER CRIMES/CASES REGISTERED AND PERSONS ARRESTED UNDER IPC DURING 2010-2013
has increased by 40.88% in the year 2013 over 2012.
Section 65 of the IT Act deals with the offences related
with the crime head, Tampering computer source
documents. Registered crimes under this head is 64 in
the year 2010 and 94 in the year 2011 reported an
increase of 46.88%. Similarly, there is an increase in
the number of cases by 71.28% in the year 2012 over
2011 and by -14.91% in the year 2013 over the cases
reported in 2012. For the same period, the persons
arrested for the same crime head has decreased
substantially by 43.27%. Section 72 of the IT Act deals
with the offences related with the crime head, Breach
of confidentiality or privacy. Registered crimes under
this head is 15 in the year 2010 and 26 in the year 2011
reported an increase of 73.33%. Similarly, there is an
increase in the number of cases by 76.92% in the year
2012 over 2011 and by 102.17% in the year 2013 over
the cases reported in 2012. On the similar lines, the
persons arrested for the same crime head has increased
by 36.36% in the year 2013 over 2012.

Cases Registered % Persons Arrested %

SL. Crime heads Variation Variation
No. 2010 2011 2012 2013 in 2013 2010 2011 2012 2013 in 2013
over over
2012 2012

1 Offences by or against Public Servant 2 7 2 1 -50.00 3 3 4 2 -50.00

2 False Electronic Evidence 3 1 4 6 50.00 4 1 2 7 250.00

3 Destruction of Electronic Evidence 1 9 9 6 -33.33 0 10 16 4 -75.00

4 Forgery 188 259 259 747 188.42 257 277 263 626 138.02

5 Criminal Breach of Trust or Fraud 146 118 282 518 83.69 100 129 215 471 119.07

6 Counterfeiting- Property or Mark 1 6 21 10 -52.38 2 8 13 34 161.54

7 Counterfeiting- Tampering 8 5 19 8 -57.89 12 7 26 10 -61.54

8 Counterfeiting- Currency or Stamps 7 17 5 41 720.00 16 11 10 49 390.00

TOTAL 356 422 601 1337 122.46 394 446 549 1203 119.13

Source : National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

V. CYBER CRIMES CYBER CRIMES/CASES to 2012(from 549 cases in 2012 to 1203 cases in 2013).
REGISTERED UNDER IPC From the statistics, it is evident that the top three crime
heads where the number of cases registered in the year
The incidence of cybercrimes under Indian Penal Code
2013 in decreasing order is as follows:
(IPC) has increased by 122.46% in 2013 as compared
to the 2012 (from 601 cases in 2012 to 1,337 cases in 1) Forgery
2013). Further the number of people arrested under 2) Criminal Breach of Trust or Fraud
IPC also increased by 119.13% in 2013 as compared 3) Counterfeiting- Currency or Stamps
Sections 463, 465, 466, 468, 469, 471, 474, 476, 477A Andhra Pradesh with 635 cases, Karnataka with 513
of IPC deals with the offences related with the cases, Uttar Pradesh with 372 cases and Kerala with
Forgery. A total of 747 cases were registered under 349 cases.
Forgery during the year 2013 as compared to 259 cases
during 2012, thus showing an increase of 188.42%.
Persons arrested has increased by 138.02% for the
Cyber crimes registered in
same period. There is no significant increase in the various States under IPC in
number of cases in 2012 as compared to 2011. In fact, the year 2013
the registered cases in both the years are same (259).
Sections 405, 406, 408, 409 of IPC deals with the 350
offences related with the Criminal Breach of Trust or 300
Fraud. A total of 518 cases were registered under this 310
head during the year 2013 as compared to 282 cases 250
during 2012, thus showing an increase of 83.69%. 200 226
Persons arrested has been increased by 119.07% for 211
the same period. Sections 489A to 489E of IPC deals 150
with the offences related with the Counterfeiting- 100 132
Currency or Stamps. A total of 41 cases were
registered under this head during the year 2013 as 50
compared to 5 cases during 2012, thus showing a 0
significant increase of 720.00%. Persons arrested has
also increased significantly by 390.00 during the same
period. Though, the total number of cases registered
under IPC (1,337 in 2013) is less as compared to cases
under IT Act (4,356 in 2013) but the cases are growing
steadily during 2010-2013. Fig 5. Cyber crimes registered in various States under IPC in the
year 2013

Cyber crimes registered in Uttar Pradesh ranked first with 310(23.2%) out of a
total 1,337 cases registered under IPC during the year
various States under IT Act, 2013, followed by Maharashtra with 226 cases,
2000 in the year 2013 Haryana with 211 cases and West Bengal with 132
cases during the year 2013.
800
681
700 635
600 513 Persons arrested in various
500
400
372 349 age-group under IT Act and
300 IPC during 2013
200 2500 2098
100 IT ACT IPC
2000
0
1500 1190 1203

1000 722
603
448 144
500 131
45 0 10 8
0
Fig. 4. Cyber crimes registered in various states under IT Act

VI. SHARE OF STATES AND INDIVIDUALS IN CYBER

CRIMES
Maharashtra ranked first with 681 reported cases
Fig. 6. Persons arrested in various age-group under IT Act and IPC
under IT ACT during the year 2013, followed by during 2013
Observing the statistics shown in the Fig 6. The total [3 ] ASSOCHAM-Mahindra SSG study on “Cyber and Network
Security Framework”, 2015.
persons arrested under IT Act were maximum with
1190 number of arrests in the age group of 18-30 years [4 ] Vangie Beal "definition of Cyber crime". Retrieved 24th
during the year 2013, followed by 30-45 years age October, 2015,
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/cyber_crime.html
group with 722 arrests, 45-60 years age group with
131arrests, below 18 years with 45 arrests for the same [5 ] KPMG in India, Cybercrime survey report, 2014.
period. Similarly if we look at the total arrests under
IPC Sections it is 1203 and maximum arrests reported [6 ] Norton "cybercrime definition". Retrieved 24th October,
2015, http://us.norton.com/cybercrime-definition.
in the 30-45 years age group with 603 arrests, followed
by 18-30 years age group with 448 arrests, 45-60 years Vijaya Kumar received the
age group with 144 arrests, above 60 years with only MCA degree from JNT
University, Ananthapuramu,
8 arrests. Importantly, there was no one arrested in the India and PhD degree in
age group of below 18 years as far as IPC arrests are Computer Science &
Technology from Sri
concerned. Krishnadevaraya University,
Ananthapuramu, India. He is
VII. CONCLUSION Assistant professor in the
Department of Computer
Looking at various statistics from different sources, it Science at Rayalaseema
is evident that there has been a significant increase in University, Kurnool, Andhra
the number of cybercrime attacks over the years. Pradesh, India. His research interests include data mining,
machine learning, pattern recognition, data analytics and
Keeping in view of the alarming rise in the number of information retrieval.
cybercrime attacks Govt. of India has enacted several
laws where offenders will be punished for their
cybercrimes. But, it is surprising to know that there
were no significant arrests made as compared to the
number of cases registered. For example, in 2013 the
number of cases registered under IT Act were 4356
and persons arrested were only 2098 which is less that
50%. Similarly reported cases under IPC sections were
1337 and persons arrested were only 1203 which is
less that the number of cases. Coming to targeted
sectors it is always been the Financial Services sector
near to 60% of total cyber-attacks. The offenders of
the crime are mostly from the age group of 18-30 years
followed by 30-45 years. It is the responsibility of each
individual to take necessary precautions while
performing the online transactions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank the National Crime Records

Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs), Government of
India for providing access to the datasets of
cybercrime records.

REFERENCES

[1 ] K. Sreedevi. 2013. “India in top five in cyber crimes”. Deccan

Chronicle. 23 October 2013. Available:
http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/131023/news-current-
affairs/article/india-top-five-cyber-crimes
[2 ] PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) “Economic Crime Survey
India Report, 2011