Cyber Security

IT Act & Cyber Laws

• The IT Act 2000 provides ways to deal with cyber crimes.
• The Act empower government departments to accept filing, creating and retaining official documents in the digital format.
• The Act has proposed a legal framework for the authentication and origin of electronic records/communications through digital signature. Because of this email is now a valid and legal form of communication in India that can be duly produced and approved in a court of law.
• The Act has given a legal definition to the concept of secure digital signatures that would be required to have been passed through a system of a security procedure, as implemented by the Government.
• The legal infrastructure provided by the Act allows companies to carry out e-Commerce activities.
• The Act allows Government to issue notification on the web in order to boost e-Governance.

Cyber Security

• World wide web has created greater opportunities on one side and on other side it has also given birth to a new nature of crime – Cyber crime. Cyber crime is unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both. Cyber Crime has evolved from individual crime to organized crime and now more as a terrorist activity.

• The Cyber Appellate Tribunal is set up as a statutory organization, in accordance with Section 48 (1) under the IT Act 2000, for the purposes of discharging its functions under the I.T. Act. The tribunal has vested with the same powers that are vested in a civil court. http://cyatindia.gov.in/Default.aspx

Nature of Cyber Crime

• Financial crimes involves cheating, credit card frauds, money laundering, forgery of documents including currency and any other documents etc.
• Cyber Pornography involving production and distribution of pornographic material.
• Sale of illegal articles such as narcotics, weapons, wild life etc.
• Online Gambling
• Intellectual Property Crimes such as theft of computer source code, software piracy, copyright infringement, trademark violations, etc.
• Harassments such as Cyber Stalking, cyber defamation, indecent and abusing mails, etc.
• Viruses, Trojans and Worms
• Cyber Attacks and Cyber Terrorism

Cyber Security & Ethics

• Cyber ethics is a set of “moral choices” individuals make when using Internet. The acceptable behavior in the real world is also acceptable in cyberspace. It includes:

1. Do not copy information or download copyrighted material to share
2. While communicating over Internet avoid false identity, foul language
3. Avoid sharing personal information to strangers
4. Respect and protect the privacy of others
5. Respect and protect the intellectual property of others

• Cyber ethics seems to cover two sorts of problems. The first set of problems is “dysfunctional human behavior” on the internet that includes; flaming, hacking, harassment, misinformation, obscenity, plagiarism, and viruses & worms. The second set deals with legal and ethical issues and equates cyber-ethics with cyber-crime.

Pornography and Obscenity

• Pornography is describing or showing sexual acts in order to cause sexual excitement through books, films, etc. The word “obscene” is defined as something offensive to modesty or decency, lewd, filthy and repulsive.
• The concept of obscenity differs from country to country depending on the standards of morals of that society. Obscenity has a tendency to corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences.
• Pornography itself does not constitute offence/crime but pornography which is obscene, immoral, against public policy and detrimental to public welfare is an offence/crime under Indian legislation.
• In India, the legal provisions that regulate obscenity are sections 292, 293 and 294 of the Indian Penal Code, sections 3 and 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act and section 67 of the Information Technology Act. The Information Technology Act prohibits the publishing of information which is obscene in nature in electronic form.

Cyber Surakshit Bharat

• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched the Cyber Swatchta Kendra, a Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) as a part of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). It provides free mobile and desktop security solution. Follow this link: http://www.cyberswachhtakendra.gov.in/security-tools.html
• Awareness of end-users on cyber security is another important aspect, which is promoted under Cyber Surakshit Bharat. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=36&v=AJeHwxMT6-s