The Information Technology Industry in India has quickly become recognized as one of the most important contributors to the country’s overall economic expansion. In addition, this industry has a beneficial effect on the lives of the people living in the surrounding area as a result of the contribution it makes, either directly or indirectly, to a wide variety of socio-economic parameters. These aspects include, among others, diversity, employment rates, and general living standards.
In addition, the government sector has provided support for the growing acceptance of Information Technology in the sectors of the nation’s economy that promote the use of Information Technology, as well as National Initiatives such Unique Identification Development Authority of India and National e-government Programmes. Nevertheless, despite the growth of India’s Information Technology companies, there has been an urgent need to safeguard the computer environment and to establish an adequate level of confidence and trust in this industry. This is the case despite the fact that India has a large number of Information Technology companies. It is of utmost importance for the country to establish a cyber security ecosystem as quickly as humanly possible. Our digital defences are more vulnerable than they have ever been as a direct result of this. There were 1.16 million incidents of cyber security in 2020, which is a threefold increase from the previous years’ total number of incidents. This information was gleaned from the statistics collected by the Indian government in 2020.
In a “cyber-war”, where is the enemy? The investigating agencies, be it FBI or the CBI, would just love to know that hackers have managed to positively identify which sites belong to those responsible for the terrorist attacks. Even if they could be identified, attacking them could destroy crucial evidence. Blindly attacking sites perceived to be vaguely Arabic is just plain stupid (or at least not a sign of a true genius). Attacking sites of people who aren’t even remotely involved to vent emotions is even more moronic.
Despite the fact that India does not have any specific laws pertaining to cyber security, the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, addresses both cyber security as well as the crimes that are associated with being online. The Indian Penal Code, 1860 which punishes offences, including those committed in cyberspace, as well as the Companies (Management) Rules 2014, which were formed under the Companies Act 2013, both have certain laws pertaining to cyber security.
Cyber criminals and malicious hackers know just how important these tools are to not only work, but everything we do in our personal lives as well. And because we rely on them so heavily, they are a prime target for attack. Viruses and other malware used to attack computers, networks and websites has changed over the years. While destructive in nature, they did not have the same intent and outcome that malware does today. Unfortunately, there are just too many strains of malicious software for each one of them to make the news like they did in the old days.
The reasons why hackers hack can be motivated by different agendas, such as malicious intent, for the challenge, or for profit. Whatever their motivations, website owners must be constantly on guard or run the risk of their sites going down, and experience loss to their business and/or business reputation. To some, hacking is just an amusing game or challenge just to prove how smart you are. A trait that most hackers share is a strong sense of curiosity. They pride themselves on their ability to create new programs. They brag to their social circle about any high-profile system that they have hacked. You can employ more security measures to protect your computer system e.g. Firewalls, anti-spyware, anti-viral etc., but these types of hackers just find it more of a challenge to defeat these security defenses. Yes, these types of hackers are annoying, but the ones you really need to worry about are the hackers who hack for profit—your criminal hackers.
The Indian government is comprised of a number of institutions, each of which deals with a unique aspect of cyber security, and these institutions collaborate with one another. In the pursuit of a common goal, it is of the utmost importance to coordinate the efforts of specialists who are now employed by several different government ministries and departments. It is possible that the government will create an organisation that operates in a manner analogous to a National Cyber Command.
The protection of data is a public resource, and the most amount of information that can be transmitted is done so with the help of the internet and other forms of electronic communication. The vast majority of nations, both their governments and their citizens, are dependent on the internet for a variety of everyday operations, and as a result, the majority of these nations have enacted some kind of data privacy regulation. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enacted in the European Union, while in the United States, the California Consumer Privacy Act was passed. Despite the fact that the personal information of a number of Indian citizens has been stolen or otherwise compromised on multiple occasions, there has been no rush to pass the Data Protection Bill since it was presented to the Indian Parliament in 2019—a fact that has been widely reported in the media.
The way that there is right now an issue with digital protection isn’t something that ought to be overlooked. Legislators should exceed everyone’s expectations to guarantee that shams are kept under control in this general public, as it is unavoidable that this pace of crime will increase. But it takes the combined efforts of governments, Internet or network providers, intermediaries such as banks and shopping sites, and most crucially, consumers.
Dr S. Krishnan is an Associate Professor in Seedling School of Law and Governance, Jaipur National University, Jaipur. Garima Dhaka is an Assistant Professor in School of Law, Vivekananda Global University, Jaipur.