The school offers wireless facility (wifi) to the Computer Science students of Class XI. For communication, the network security staff of the school have a registered URL schoolwifi.edu. On 17 September 2017, the following email was mass distributed to all the Computer Science students of Class XI. The email claimed that the password of the students was about to expire. Instructions were given to go to URL to renew their password within 24 hours. a) Do you find any discrepancy in this email? b) What will happen if the student will click on the given URL? c) Is the email an example of cyber crime? If yes, then specify which type of cyber crime is it. Justify your answer.

The school offers wireless facility (wifi) to the Computer Science students of Class XI. For communication, the network security staff of the school have a registered URL schoolwifi.edu. On 17 September 2017, the following email was mass distributed to all the Computer Science students of Class XI. The email claimed that the password of the students was about to expire. Instructions were given to go to URL to renew their password within 24 hours.

a) Do you find any discrepancy in this email?

b) What will happen if the student will click on the given URL?

c) Is the email an example of cyber crime? If yes, then specify which type of cyber crime is it. Justify your answer.

a) Do you find any discrepancy in this email?

Yes, there are several discrepancies in this email:

1. Unusual Urgency: The urgency depicted in the email (password expiring in 24 hours) is a common tactic used in phishing scams to create panic and prompt immediate action without thinking.

2. Generic Greeting: The email uses a generic greeting "Dear Students" instead of addressing the recipient by their name, which is another indicator of a potential phishing email.

3. URL Mismatch: The URL provided in the email (schoolwifi.edu/updatepassword) is suspicious because official instructions usually avoid linking directly to such pages, especially sensitive ones like password updates.

4. Lack of Personalization and Signature: The email lacks proper personalization (e.g., no specific names or details related to the recipient), and it does not include a detailed signature with contact information.

b) What will happen if the student will click on the given URL?

If a student clicks on the given URL, they may be directed to a fake website designed to look like the school's official site. On this fake site, they could be prompted to enter their current password and other personal information. This information can then be captured by cybercriminals who can misuse it to gain unauthorized access to the student's accounts and sensitive information.

c) Is the email an example of cyber crime? If yes, then specify which type of cyber crime is it. Justify your answer.

Yes, this email is an example of cyber crime, specifically phishing.

• Phishing is an unlawful activity where fake websites or emails that look authentic are used to fraudulently collect sensitive and personal details, particularly usernames and passwords.

• The email in question uses typical tactics such as a sense of urgency, a generic greeting, and a misleading URL to trick recipients into clicking a link and entering sensitive information.

• The goal of this email is likely to deceive students into revealing their passwords, allowing the perpetrator to gain unauthorized access to their accounts.