In today’s digital age, cybercrime is one of the most hot and most discussed topics. The concept of hacking which is part of cybercrime involves the use of modern technology and computer systems, cybercrime is a relatively modern phenomenon that emerged with the advent of computers and the internet in the late 20th century. In this 21st century there is a rise in the phenomenon of internet use, computer systems and modern technology which is connected with the internet. The more there is advance in technology, the more there is rise of cybercrime or in simple, cyber hacking. Cybercrime is a modern crime which is performed using technology which is connected to the internet and performed to those who are connected to the internet, it might be any equipment, any system which requires the internet to function. In cybercrime, the most performed crime is hacking. Hacking is one the most performed cybercrime, which involves cracking passwords, finding sensitive vulnerabilities and getting unauthorized access and leaking the data in various forums. Current status Nowadays, seeing the overall world, daily there is one news regarding cybercrime. Mostly in the case of Asian countries it is more observed in countries like Nepal, where after Covid-19 pandemic, there is a rise in cybercrime to a sufficient level. Nepal has one of the weakest cyber security. The country lacks ethical hackers to prevent the system from getting hacked. Every nook of the website has vulnerabilities, which leads hackers to take over sensitive data and leak it. Mostly it can be said Nepal has become an area for hackers to test their skills, moreover hacking skills. In covid pandemic and After covid pandemic there has been huge rise in cybercrime , most over hacking attacks in websites , sometimes at national and international airport servers gets hacks , twitter of PM gets hacked, supreme court bar associations website hacked and defacement in website of government and non-governments , Vianet hack, huge DDos attack in website of Nepal and many more other cases where individuals and organizations are hampered. These are the reasons which show among Asian countries how weak there is in the cyber security of Nepal. It doesn’t mean that other Asian countries' cyber security is strong but in the context of Nepal it seems weaker. It shows the government of Nepal isn’t serious regarding protecting the digital freedom of citizens, their privacy and moreover the confidential document which is stored in various governmental websites of Nepal. Not only crime status, the law also doesn’t seem to be able to deal with today’s upgraded cybercrime.

Factor that makes security of Nepal weak

There are several factors that make the security of Nepal weak. The major factor is the lack of seriousness of the government in regard to the protection of privacy and digital rights of citizens. It is more observed that there is great weakness of the government in the rise of cybercrime in Nepal. Likewise another factor is the role of citizens. The citizens are well trained to use the devices in perfect ways, they click on any links and installations of apps which are not useful which lead them to hackers to hack into their accounts and devices. Similarly, it has been observed that there is a huge bug in the website of Nepal, in a simple sense, which leads to hackers to hack into their websites and steal sensitive information. The admin of websites are not aware in regard to upgrading their system, updating the current version of websites, it might be plugins, themes and many other security measures. Moreover the root cause is lack of resources and expertise. There is a lack of resources and experts to curb cybercrime and enhance high cyber security measures in Nepal. Need of defense system Moreover, the current status shows that there is a requirement for a defense system to handle cybercrime in Nepal. A defense attacker is a cyber-security professional who is trained to think like an attacker and identify potential vulnerabilities in the system before they can be exploited. In general, cybercrime cannot be controlled but as it is said “prevention is better than cure”, prevention can be performed by individuals or any organizations in order to protect oneself from being in the trap of cyber hackers. In field of cybercrime, prevention is only the options, cure merely doesn’t work, because for example you mobile is hacked and there is important data in your mobile but once your device is hacked and data is leaked and supply, there is no more chance to retrieve the that from anywhere, once it is leaked it is leaked, so there is no cure, it is half impossible to delete the data from whole server and retrieve it. So one way of protecting is from using the theory of prevention. Likewise, as crime is increasing there is a huge need for a defense system. If there is an army to protect the country, then there should also be a cyber army in order to defend the country from cyber-attacks.  Likewise, there should be a special police unit which is active for 24 hours for action in cybercrime. The government should start by hiring hackers because they can guide them in order to improve and enhance the system. Inviting foreign cyber experts is also a good idea as they could train our own cybersecurity team. Cybersecurity and technology should also be incorporated in our school curricula, so that our children are aware about cybercrime and are able to protect their personal data and privacy. Cybercrime cannot be completely controlled, but it can be minimized with use of proper security tools.  Bibek Chaudhary BA LLB, Nepal Law Campus, Kathmandu