On 24 November 2021, Mauritius adopted the new Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Act 2021. The objective of this Act is to improve Mauritius’s cybersecurity level and provide a comprehensive legal framework to deal with cybercrime.
Cybercrime by definition is any criminal activity that involves a computer, networked device or a network. While most cybercrimes are carried out in order to generate financial gain, some cybercrimes are carried out to damage or disturb other persons.
Here below is a list of cybercrimes condemnable in Mauritius:
1. Online Harassment
It is usually related to threatening or harassing messages sent to the victim. It is often repeated attempts to target a specific person by directly contacting them or indirectly using or disseminating their personal information, causing them distress, fear, or anger.
2. Hacking
This occurs when someone gets unauthorised access to an account. Hacking prevents the owner to access his/her account as the login credentials have been changed.
3. Offensive or Illegal Contents
Social media has become a massive platform of communication. Comments, retweets and likes are constantly and instantly put on display for friends and possible strangers to see. However, contents that are offensive and illegal are also posted for a variety of reasons, for example, Pornographic materials, child pornography, sexually explicit contents, promotion of racism and terrorism, hate speeches, violence and graphic content.
4. Sextortion
Sextortion is a criminal act and a form of blackmail in which sexual information or images are used to extort money from the victim.
5. Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when a person makes use of someone else personally identifying information (e.g. name, address, phone numbers, date of birth, email address) without their consent. Pictures of the victim may also be used to impersonate the victim. In most cases, identity theft is used to create fake accounts on social media.
6. Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using technology (e.g. computers, mobile phones and tablets) and communication tools such as social media. Examples of cyberbullying include derogatory comments, false statements, remarks, embarrassing pictures and videos posted on social media.
7. Cyber Stalking
Cyber stalking is a form of online harassment in which the perpetrator uses electronic communications such as social media to stalk a victim. Cyberstalking is considered more dangerous than other forms of cyberbullying because it generally involves a credible threat to the safety of the victim.
8. Online Scams and Frauds
Cybercriminals are using big social media platforms like Facebook to target more victims at one time. Fake invitations and fraudulent solicitations are sent to prospective victims with the aim to steal personal information and conduct fake transactions.
9. Phishing
Phishing is an attempt to trick a victim and steal personal information such as login credentials (e.g. social network account, bank account) or any other personal data that can prove to be valuable for them.
10. Malware (virus, worms, ransomware)
Cybercriminals use a variety of methods to spread malicious software on social networks. One of the most obvious attacks is to redirect the user to an external malicious site which is fully controlled by the attacker. Cybercriminals use fake accounts to post malicious links and users are tricked through embedded active contents such as JavaScript, Flash videos and iframe tags that redirect the user automatically to malicious websites or install malicious software.
All these cybercrimes are punishable by law in Mauritius. However, there are victims who do not know their rights and do not know the procedures to take actions against those cybercrimes.
At Ascentrix Consulting, we can train your staffs to recognize cybercrimes and avoid them for their wellbeing. If you wish to know more about our training program, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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