If you’ve been charged with cybercrime in New York, it’s important to understand what it means. Cybercrime is a term that includes a variety of different offenses. The main thing you need to know about cybercrime is that it’s a crime that takes place online. If a computer and a network were involved in your charges, then you’re dealing with some form of cybercrime. Cybercrime can also be committed using a smartphone, laptop, or tablet. As long as the device has access to a network, it can be considered a device used to commit a cybercrime.  In this article, we explain the different types of cybercrime, common defense strategies, and everything else you need to know if you’ve been charged with cybercrime in New York.

How is Cybercrime Defined?

The legal definition of a cybercrime is: Offenses that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm, or loss, to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as Internet (networks including chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones.

Types of Cybercrimes

As you can see from this definition, you may be charged with cybercrime in New York if you’ve harmed an individual through the use of modern telecommunications. That definition can be considered both broad and confusing for some. Here is a list of common types of cybercrimes to help you better understand the essence of a cybercrime. If you’ve been charged with one of these offenses, it’s highly recommended to speak with a criminal defense lawyer that specializes in cybercrimes.

Hacking

Someone who “hacks” a computer is an individual who is investigating different ways to breach a network’s defense system. The hacker will explore a variety of methods to find some sort of flaw in the computer system or network. Hacking in and of itself isn’t necessarily a cybercrime. Some hackers are hired by companies to purposely find weaknesses in their cybersecurity in order to protect themselves from a potentially harmful hacker. The intention and motivation of this act are important when exploring a defense strategy. Hacking with intention of illegal profit, protest, or confidential information would be considered a cybercrime.

Phishing

Suspicion of phishing is another action that may have led you to be charged with cybercrime in New York. Phishing is when someone uses email or other forms of communication to gather personal or financial information. These fraudulent emails or messages will normally look legitimate. The messages will include logos or links to trustworthy websites such as PayPal, LinkedIn, or Google. The offender is “phishing” for someone to bite and send important information via the web.

Copyright Infringement

You might hear copyright infringement also be referred to as piracy or freebooting. This is when some form of work, be it a video, photo, logo, or piece of music, is illegally downloaded and used without permission from the copyright holder. The copyright holder is normally the person who created the work or published the work. Users are often unaware of when they’re committing a copyright infringement crime. Many videos, pictures, and songs are constantly being uploaded to the Internet. Lack of awareness and intention is normally a common defense strategy for copyright infringement.

Common Defense Strategies

There are some strong defense strategies that experienced criminal defense attorneys know how to implement in these cases. If you’ve been charged with cybercrime in New York, you’ll want to explore the following defense strategies:

Create Doubt

Creating a strong sense of doubt in a judge or jury is a very common line of defense with cybercrimes. It can be very difficult to connect a cybercrime to a specific person with a specific device. Your criminal defense attorney can simply raise this level of doubt without having to prove anything.

There’s no Intent

Cybercrimes are committed often. This is because many people don’t realize that their online behavior is considered a crime. Movies and music are illegally downloaded every day without the knowledge of it being a crime.

Of Good Character

Your defense attorney can also shine a light on your good character. Many people believe cybercrimes are only committed by underground criminals. It can help to prove you are an upstanding citizen. You can do this by involving character references, letters from employers, evidence of your connection to your community. 

If You’ve Been Charged With Cybercrime in New York

As mentioned above, it’s important to have a criminal defense attorney with experience in cybercrimes. The state of New York takes cybercrime very seriously and you need to be prepared to defend yourself. Your attorney can help you find the best defense strategy for your case. Contact an attorney today to learn more about your options and how to move forward.