Stopping Cybercrime in an Information Society
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Professor of Law, Head of the Chair of Business Law, Tallinn University of Technology
Cybercrime as a subset of crime is frequently tied to other types of crime such as copyright violations, crimes against property (computer swindles), crimes against persons (child pornography) and the like.
On 8 November 2001, the Council of Europe’s cybercrime (computer crime) convention was adopted. It is the first international agreement devoted to crimes committed against or through the use of the Internet and other computer networks. Estonia ratified the convention on 12 February 2003. An information technology service has been created at the Estonian central police, which is processing nine cases as of January 2004. Section 13 of the Penal Code adopted in 2001 and effected in 2002 prescribes the following categories of crimes having to do with computers and computer systems: computer sabotage (§ 206), damaging of connection to computer network (§ 207), spreading of computer viruses (§ 208), computer-related fraud (§ 213) and unlawful use of computer, computer system or computer network (§ 217). Of the violations in the cybercrime convention, Estonia has not criminalized the provision in Article 6 of the Convention on making available devices, including computer programs and passwords, intended or adapted for criminal purposes. The criminal code should be updated accordingly.