case study on cyber crime in india

Landmark Cyber Law cases in India

• Post author By ashwin
• Post date March 1, 2021

By:-Muskan Sharma

Introduction

Cyber Law, as the name suggests, deals with statutory provisions that regulate Cyberspace. With the advent of digitalization and AI (Artificial Intelligence), there is a significant rise in Cyber Crimes being registered. Around 44, 546 cases were registered under the Cyber Crime head in 2019 as compared to 27, 248 cases in 2018. Therefore, a spike of 63.5% was observed in Cyber Crimes [1] .

The legislative framework concerning Cyber Law in India comprises the Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the “ IT Act ”) and the Rules made thereunder. The IT Act is the parent legislation that provides for various forms of Cyber Crimes, punishments to be inflicted thereby, compliances for intermediaries, and so on.

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However, the IT Act is not exhaustive of the Cyber Law regime that exists in India. There are some judgments that have evolved the Cyber Law regime in India to a great extent. To fully understand the scope of the Cyber Law regime, it is pertinent to refer to the following landmark Cyber Law cases in India:

• Shreya Singhal v. UOI [2]

In the instant case, the validity of Section 66A of the IT Act was challenged before the Supreme Court.

Facts: Two women were arrested under Section 66A of the IT Act after they posted allegedly offensive and objectionable comments on Facebook concerning the complete shutdown of Mumbai after the demise of a political leader. Section 66A of the IT Act provides punishment if any person using a computer resource or communication, such information which is offensive, false, or causes annoyance, inconvenience, danger, insult, hatred, injury, or ill will.

The women, in response to the arrest, filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 66A of the IT Act on the ground that it is violative of the freedom of speech and expression.

Decision: The Supreme Court based its decision on three concepts namely: discussion, advocacy, and incitement. It observed that mere discussion or even advocacy of a cause, no matter how unpopular, is at the heart of the freedom of speech and expression. It was found that Section 66A was capable of restricting all forms of communication and it contained no distinction between mere advocacy or discussion on a particular cause which is offensive to some and incitement by such words leading to a causal connection to public disorder, security, health, and so on.

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In response to the question of whether Section 66A attempts to protect individuals from defamation, the Court said that Section 66A condemns offensive statements that may be annoying to an individual but not affecting his reputation.

However, the Court also noted that Section 66A of the IT Act is not violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution because there existed an intelligible difference between information communicated through the internet and through other forms of speech. Also, the Apex Court did not even address the challenge of procedural unreasonableness because it is unconstitutional on substantive grounds.

• Shamsher Singh Verma v. State of Haryana [3]

In this case, the accused preferred an appeal before the Supreme Court after the High Court rejected the application of the accused to exhibit the Compact Disc filed in defence and to get it proved from the Forensic Science Laboratory.

The Supreme Court held that a Compact Disc is also a document. It further observed that it is not necessary to obtain admission or denial concerning a document under Section 294 (1) of CrPC personally from the accused, the complainant, or the witness.

• Syed Asifuddin and Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Anr. [4]

Facts: The subscriber purchased a Reliance handset and Reliance mobile services together under the Dhirubhai Ambani Pioneer Scheme. The subscriber was attracted by better tariff plans of other service providers and hence, wanted to shift to other service providers. The petitioners (staff members of TATA Indicom) hacked the Electronic Serial Number (hereinafter referred to as “ESN”). The Mobile Identification Number (MIN) of Reliance handsets were irreversibly integrated with ESN, the reprogramming of ESN made the device would be validated by Petitioner’s service provider and not by Reliance Infocomm.

Questions before the Court: i) Whether a telephone handset is a “Computer” under Section 2(1)(i) of the IT Act?

• ii) Whether manipulation of ESN programmed into a mobile handset amounts to an alteration of source code under Section 65 of the IT Act?

Decision: (i) Section 2(1)(i) of the IT Act provides that a “computer” means any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other high-speed data processing device or system which performs logical, arithmetic, and memory functions by manipulations of electronic, magnetic, or optical impulses, and includes all input, output, processing, storage, computer software or communication facilities which are connected or related to the computer in a computer system or computer network. Hence, a telephone handset is covered under the ambit of “computer” as defined under Section 2(1)(i) of the IT Act.

(ii)  Alteration of ESN makes exclusively used handsets usable by other service providers like TATA Indicomm. Therefore, alteration of ESN is an offence under Section 65 of the IT Act because every service provider has to maintain its own SID code and give its customers a specific number to each instrument used to avail the services provided. Therefore, the offence registered against the petitioners cannot be quashed with regard to Section 65 of the IT Act.

• Shankar v. State Rep [5]

Facts: The petitioner approached the Court under Section 482, CrPC to quash the charge sheet filed against him. The petitioner secured unauthorized access to the protected system of the Legal Advisor of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) and was charged under Sections 66, 70, and 72 of the IT Act.

Decision: The Court observed that the charge sheet filed against the petitioner cannot be quashed with respect to the law concerning non-granting of sanction of prosecution under Section 72 of the IT Act.

• Christian Louboutin SAS v. Nakul Bajaj & Ors . [6]

Facts: The Complainant, a Luxury shoes manufacturer filed a suit seeking an injunction against an e-commerce portal www.darveys.com for indulging in a Trademark violation with the seller of spurious goods.

The question before the Court was whether the defendant’s use of the plaintiff’s mark, logos, and image are protected under Section 79 of the IT Act.

Decision: The Court observed that the defendant is more than an intermediary on the ground that the website has full control over the products being sold via its platform. It first identifies and then promotes third parties to sell their products. The Court further said that active participation by an e-commerce platform would exempt it from the rights provided to intermediaries under Section 79 of the IT Act.

• Avnish Bajaj v. State (NCT) of Delhi [7]

Facts: Avnish Bajaj, the CEO of Bazee.com was arrested under Section 67 of the IT Act for the broadcasting of cyber pornography. Someone else had sold copies of a CD containing pornographic material through the bazee.com website.

Decision: The Court noted that Mr. Bajaj was nowhere involved in the broadcasting of pornographic material. Also, the pornographic material could not be viewed on the Bazee.com website. But Bazee.com receives a commission from the sales and earns revenue for advertisements carried on via its web pages.

The Court further observed that the evidence collected indicates that the offence of cyber pornography cannot be attributed to Bazee.com but to some other person. The Court granted bail to Mr. Bajaj subject to the furnishing of 2 sureties Rs. 1 lakh each. However, the burden lies on the accused that he was merely the service provider and does not provide content.

• State of Tamil Nadu v. Suhas Katti [8]

The instant case is a landmark case in the Cyber Law regime for its efficient handling made the conviction possible within 7 months from the date of filing the FIR.

Facts: The accused was a family friend of the victim and wanted to marry her but she married another man which resulted in a Divorce. After her divorce, the accused persuaded her again and on her reluctance to marrying him, he took the course of harassment through the Internet. The accused opened a false e-mail account in the name of the victim and posted defamatory, obscene, and annoying information about the victim.

A charge-sheet was filed against the accused person under Section 67 of the IT Act and Section 469 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Decision: The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore convicted the accused person under Section 469 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 67 of the IT Act. The accused was subjected to the Rigorous Imprisonment of 2 years along with a fine of Rs. 500 under Section 469 of the IPC, Simple Imprisonment of 1 year along with a fine of Rs. 500 under Section 509 of the IPC, and Rigorous Imprisonment of 2 years along with a fine of Rs. 4,000 under Section 67 of the IT Act.

• CBI v. Arif Azim (Sony Sambandh case)

A website called www.sony-sambandh.com enabled NRIs to send Sony products to their Indian friends and relatives after online payment for the same.

In May 2002, someone logged into the website under the name of Barbara Campa and ordered a Sony Colour TV set along with a cordless telephone for one Arif Azim in Noida. She paid through her credit card and the said order was delivered to Arif Azim. However, the credit card agency informed the company that it was an unauthorized payment as the real owner denied any such purchase.

A complaint was therefore lodged with CBI and further, a case under Sections 418, 419, and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 was registered. The investigations concluded that Arif Azim while working at a call center in Noida, got access to the credit card details of Barbara Campa which he misused.

The Court convicted Arif Azim but being a young boy and a first-time convict, the Court’s approach was lenient towards him. The Court released the convicted person on probation for 1 year. This was one among the landmark cases of Cyber Law because it displayed that the Indian Penal Code, 1860 can be an effective legislation to rely on when the IT Act is not exhaustive.

• Pune Citibank Mphasis Call Center Fraud

Facts: In 2005, US $ 3,50,000 were dishonestly transferred from the Citibank accounts of four US customers through the internet to few bogus accounts. The employees gained the confidence of the customer and obtained their PINs under the impression that they would be a helping hand to those customers to deal with difficult situations. They were not decoding encrypted software or breathing through firewalls, instead, they identified loopholes in the MphasiS system.

Decision: The Court observed that the accused in this case are the ex-employees of the MphasiS call center. The employees there are checked whenever they enter or exit. Therefore, it is clear that the employees must have memorized the numbers. The service that was used to transfer the funds was SWIFT i.e. society for worldwide interbank financial telecommunication. The crime was committed using unauthorized access to the electronic accounts of the customers. Therefore this case falls within the domain of ‘cyber crimes”. The IT Act is broad enough to accommodate these aspects of crimes and any offense under the IPC with the use of electronic documents can be put at the same level as the crimes with written documents.

The court held that section 43(a) of the IT Act, 2000 is applicable because of the presence of the nature of unauthorized access that is involved to commit transactions. The accused were also charged under section 66 of the IT Act, 2000 and section 420 i.e. cheating, 465,467 and 471 of The Indian Penal Code, 1860.

• SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. vs. Jogesh Kwatra [9]

Facts: In this case, Defendant Jogesh Kwatra was an employee of the plaintiff’s company. He started sending derogatory, defamatory, vulgar, abusive, and filthy emails to his employers and to different subsidiaries of the said company all over the world to defame the company and its Managing Director Mr. R K Malhotra. In the investigations, it was found that the email originated from a Cyber Cafe in New Delhi. The Cybercafé attendant identified the defendant during the enquiry. On 11 May 2011, Defendant was terminated of the services by the plaintiff.

Decision: The plaintiffs are not entitled to relief of perpetual injunction as prayed because the court did not qualify as certified evidence under section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act. Due to the absence of direct evidence that it was the defendant who was sending these emails, the court was not in a position to accept even the strongest evidence. The court also restrained the defendant from publishing, transmitting any information in the Cyberspace which is derogatory or abusive of the plaintiffs.

The Cyber Law regime is governed by the IT Act and the Rules made thereunder. Also, one may take recourse to the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 when the IT Act is unable to provide for any specific type of offence or if it does not contain exhaustive provisions with respect to an offence.

However, the Cyber Law regime is still not competent enough to deal with all sorts of Cyber Crimes that exist at this moment. With the country moving towards the ‘Digital India’ movement, the Cyber Crimes are evolving constantly and new kinds of Cyber Crimes enter the Cyber Law regime each day. The Cyber Law regime in India is weaker than what exists in other nations.

Hence, the Cyber Law regime in India needs extensive reforms to deal with the huge spike of Cyber Crimes each year.

[1] “Crime in India – 2019” Snapshots (States/UTs), NCRB, available at: https://ncrb.gov.in/sites/default/files/CII%202019%20SNAPSHOTS%20STATES.pdf (Last visited on 25 th Feb; 2021)

[2] (2013) 12 SCC 73

[3] 2015 SCC OnLine SC 1242

[4] 2005 CriLJ 4314

[5] Crl. O.P. No. 6628 of 2010

[6] (2018) 253 DLT 728

[7] (2008) 150 DLT 769

[8] CC No. 4680 of 2004

[9] CM APPL. No. 33474 of 2016

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One stop platform of the latest cyber security news, reports, trends, stats and much more!

5 Biggest Cyber Attacks in India

Cyber Threat Report of 2019: 69% of Firms Face Serious Cyber Attacks in India!

Do you know that India is in has been ranked second  position among st the countries affected by cyber-attacks between  2016-2018? According to a source , there was a 22% rise in cyber attacks in India on IoT deployments. India has faced the most number of attacks in the IoT department this year. In fact, India has been consecutively facing cyber-attacks, for the second time in a row! 

In a recent study, it was revealed that out of 15 Indian cities, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bengaluru have faced the maximum number of cyber attacks. In the Annual Cyber Security Report by CISCO, 53% of cyber attacks caused more than $500K of financial loss to organizations in 2018. 

India has faced a rise of 7.9% in data breaches since 2017. Also, the average cost per data breach record is mounting to INR 4,552 ($64). Cyber attacks in India have risen up to such an extent that our country ranks fourth out of the top 10 targeted countries in the world. In a report by India Today , Chennai experienced the highest percentile of cyber attacks with a stat of 48% in the first quarter of 2019.

No survey or warning has brought any change in the cyber security policies of companies across the nation. In spite of witnessing several cyber attacks in India, people are still not aware of lucrative cyber security solutions to prevent their organization from any other attack. Here are some recent series of cyber attacks that massively brought loss to renowned companies in India. 

Table of Content

• 1.1 Cosmos Bank Cyber Attack in Pune 
• 1.2 ATM System Hacked 
• 1.3 UIDAI Aadhaar Software Hacked
• 1.4 Hack Attack on Indian Healthcare Websites 
• 1.5 SIM Swap Scam 
• 2 Cyber Security Measures for Organizations to Prevent Cyber Attacks

The 2019’s Biggest Cyber Attacks  in India

Cybercriminals have adapted advanced cyber attack techniques for their targeted end-users. Various business sectors and geographical locations have faced recent cyber attacks in India. 

Cosmos Bank Cyber Attack in Pune 

A recent cyber attack in India in 2018 was deployed on Cosmos Bank in Pune. This daring attack shook the whole banking sector of India when hackers siphoned off Rs. 94.42 crores from Cosmos Cooperative Bank Ltd. in Pune.

Hackers hacked into the bank’s ATM server and took details of many visas and rupee debit cardholders. Money was wiped off while hacker gangs from around 28 countries immediately withdrew the amount as soon as they were informed. 

ATM System Hacked 

Around mid-2018, Canara bank ATM servers were targeted in a cyber attack. Almost 20 lakh rupees were wiped off from various bank accounts. A count of 50 victims was estimated and according to the sources, cyber attackers held ATM details of more than 300 users. Hackers used skimming devices to steal information from debit cardholders. Transactions made from stolen details amounted from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 40,000. 

UIDAI Aadhaar Software Hacked

2018 started with a massive data breach of personal records of 1.1 Billion Indian Aadhaar cardholders. UIDAI revealed that around 210 Indian Government websites had leaked the Aadhaar details of people online.

Data leaked included Aadhaar, PAN and mobile numbers, bank account numbers, IFSC codes, and mostly every personal information of all individual cardholders. If it wasn’t enough shocking, anonymous sellers were selling the Aadhaar information of any person for Rs. 500 over Whatsapp. Also, one could get any person’s Aadhaar car printout by paying an extra amount of Rs.300. 

Hack Attack on Indian Healthcare Websites 

Indian-based healthcare websites became a victim of cyber attacks recently in 2019. As stated by US-based cyber security firms, hackers broke in and invaded a leading India-based healthcare website. The hacker stole 68 lakh records of patients as well as doctors. 

SIM Swap Scam  

Two hackers from Navi Mumbai were arrested for transferring 4 crore rupees from numerous bank accounts in August 2018. They illegally transferred money from the bank accounts of many individuals. By fraudulently gaining SIM card information, both attackers blocked individuals’ SIM cards and with the help of fake document posts, they carried out transactions via online banking. They also tried to hack the accounts of various targeted companies.  

Aforesaid stats and events of the latest cyber attacks in India are a wake-up call for all those individuals and companies who are still vulnerable to cyber threats. It is very essential for organizations to implement cyber security measures and follow the below-mentioned security guidelines.

Cyber Security Measures for Organizations to Prevent Cyber Attacks

• Educate employees on emerging cyber attacks with security awareness training .
• Keep all software and systems updated from time to time with the latest security patches.
• Implement email authentication protocols such as DMARC , DKIM , and SPF to secure your email domain from email-based cyber attacks.
• Get regular Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing to patch and remove the existing vulnerabilities in the network and web application.
• Limit employee access to sensitive data or confidential information and limit their authority to install the software.
• Use highly strong passwords for accounts and make sure to update them at long intervals.
• Avoid the practice of open password sharing at work .

Do You Know Who Is The Weakest Link In The Cyber Security Chain?

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Inside story of cyber attacks on India’s banks, airlines, railways… and the fightback

On March 2, 2014, Ukraine woke up to a major communication blackout. Mobile phones in the former Soviet republic stopped working, the internet and power grid were down. There was panic all around. As authorities tried to figure out what was happening, Russian forces invaded the country and took over the Crimean Peninsula and the key naval base of Sevastopol. The Russian cyberattack before the actual invasion was quite debilitating, and it offered a glimpse of future military tactics. Armies are now more likely to march in only after crippling the enemy’s communication, banking, power supply and transport systems through cyberattacks.

In fact, this was nearly tried out back in 2003 by the US before it invaded Iraq. It had plans to cripple the Iraqi banking system so that Saddam Hussein would have no money to fight back. But the Pentagon decided against it at the last moment, after the CIA warned that such an attack would also cripple the European banking system which was linked to Iraq’s.

Such attacks are not, however, limited to wars and conflicts. They have become quite common, and India is one of the major victims. More than 11.5 lakh incidents of cyberattacks were tracked and reported to India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) in 2021. According to official estimates, ransomware attacks have increased by 120 per cent in India. Power companies, oil and gas majors, telecom vendors, restaurant chains and even diagnostic labs have been victims of cyberattacks.

On October 12, 2020, Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, was hit by a massive power outage. Train services were cancelled, water supply was affected and hospitals had to rely on generators. Commercial establishments in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai struggled to keep their operations running until the crisis was resolved two hours later.

Maharashtra Power Minister Nitin Raut alleged sabotage, while cybersecurity experts suspected the hand of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which was engaged in a major standoff with the Indian Army in Ladakh. The needle of suspicion pointed towards 14 Trojan horses, a kind of malware which might have been introduced into the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company servers.

The suspicion was not out of place. Maharashtra Cyber, the nodal agency for cybersecurity in the state, has already been warned of attacks on power conglomerates and dispatch centres. It is an open secret that the PLA’s cyber warfare branch and a million malware families hosted by Chinese cyber espionage groups specialise in such attacks. India’s cybersecurity czar Lieutenant General (retd) Rajesh Pant would not take any chances. He called for reports from the state and Central power ministries. “Was there actuation in the grid? What were the indicators of compromise?” Several suspects—most of them Chinese—showed up.

Cyber forensic teams fanned out to investigate and two reports landed on Pant’s table, of which one said the outage was due to an external attack. Experts, however, concluded that although malware was detected, it did not cause the outage. “There are two types of operating systems connecting the power grid,” said an expert. “The malware was detected in the system that was not capable of putting lights out.”

Finally, the national power grid controlled by the Power System Operation Corporation Limited said the failure happened because of human error. Union Power Minister R.K. Singh, too, clarified that there was no link between the outage and the cyberattack.

“If you take a drop of water and analyse it, you will find a million impurities in it. Similarly, a million malwares are detected every day. What is important is to protect our systems against it,” said Brijesh Singh, additional director general of police, who was instrumental in setting up Maharashtra Cyber. All the same, India’s cyber-warriors are constantly on alert, guarding against malware infecting the country’s various infrastructure operating systems such as the railways, power supplies, banking, communication, information dissemination, hospital networks and airlines.

India, on its part, is worried most about its strategic adversary China, given the bad blood between the two countries. The mandate for coordinating India’s activities across multiple sectors to ensure a secure cyberspace has been given to Pant, who is the national cybersecurity coordinator (NCSC) under the National Security Council Secretariat.

Pant advises Prime Minister Narendra Modi on cybersecurity (he is the first Indian general to serve in this position) and assists National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his team in drawing up strategies to secure cyberspace. Pant and his team gather information on the intent and capabilities of not just principal players like China, but also their foot soldiers like Pakistan.

Insikt Group—the threat research division of the global cyberintelligence firm Recorded Future, which assists the US Cyber Command and 25 CERTs around the world—said intrusions targeting three Indian aerospace and defence contractors, major telecommunication providers in Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan and Pakistan and multiple government agencies across the region had been detected. At least six state and regional power dispatch centres and two ports were targets, Indian agencies were warned.

Pant and his team, while collating the information from such friendly agencies and from Indian cyberintelligence units, are trying to arm the country and its myriad entities to defend themselves against cyberattacks. Pant, who spent 41 years in the Army Corps of Signals, is a veteran in cyber warfare. Prior to moving to his new position, he was in Mhow, heading the Army’s cyber training establishment. Under his tutelage, India has made rapid strides in hacking, cryptography, reverse engineering and forensics. In 2020, India jumped 37 positions to reach the tenth position on the United Nations Global Cyber Security Index.

While the Mumbai outage was a wakeup call for the Indian cybersecurity establishment, it also showed that some critical sectors were not affected by the power grid failure or the cyber breach. For India’s cyber preparedness, these turned out to be good examples.

One such entity is the Bombay Stock Exchange, the world’s fastest stock exchange that operates at a median trade speed of six microseconds, processing more than three crore transactions a day. Notified as national critical infrastructure by the Central government, the BSE is now coming up with a power exchange, the third in the country after the Indian Energy Exchange and Power Exchange of India Ltd. Shivkumar Pandey, BSE’s group chief information security officer, said the stock exchange had a fully operational 24x7 next generation cybersecurity operation centre (SOC) that protects it from both internal and external threats.

Pandey said the BSE was a perennial target of sophisticated attacks, which it fights with the SOC operating from multiple sites in hybrid mode, utilising more than 40 niche security technologies. “The SOC is also enabled with AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) technology to proactively detect and respond to highly sophisticated cyberthreats which traditional technologies may fail to detect and alert on time,” he said. The BSE is working in close coordination with CERT-In to exchange intelligence information and contribute to the overall national information security infrastructure.

CERT-In has stepped up efforts to tackle the growing menace of cyberattacks. Dr Sanjay Bahl, director-general of CERT-In, sensitised board members of multiple organisations in the power and banking sectors on cybersecurity and the latest threat perceptions. The first lesson he imparted was to report the incident itself. The biggest drawback in India’s cyber preparedness is that most organisations—both private and public—are reluctant to report incidents of cyberattack for fear of bad publicity and losing customers.

A few months ago, an airport in a metro city faced a cyberattack where nearly a third of its infrastructure was targeted. Luckily, it got fixed quickly, but Central agencies were kept out of the loop initially. “Had it lasted for more than half an hour, it could have created a bigger problem,” said a government official. The incident made both Central and state agencies sit up and agree that they needed to work in tandem, remove overlaps, fix responsibility and integrate various arms for a coordinated response.

In February 2021, when SITA, the Geneva-based air transport data giant which serves more than 90 per cent of the world’s airlines, informed Air India that hackers stole the personal data of 4.5 million passengers, it presented yet another challenge for India’s cybersecurity establishment. The attack happened outside Indian jurisdiction, yet millions of Indians were affected. “The breach involved personal data spanning almost a decade from August 26, 2011 to February 3, 2021,” Air India said in a statement. While the Indian cyber-warriors tried their best to limit the damage caused by the breach, they soon realised that investigation into attacks which happened outside the Indian cyberspace was not easy because of jurisdictional issues.

Apart from airlines, railways and power, another major area of concern is the telecom sector. “It is the easiest target, as also the one that yields the most value to the attacker,” said a cyber expert. “Telecom carriers give attackers several gateways into multiple businesses.”

Telecom service providers are now required to connect only those new devices which are designated as “trusted products from trusted sources”. An intelligence report warned that a single telecom operator intrusion could give attackers access to a lot more information than they would get by going after individuals.

The government is, therefore, wary about rolling out 5G services. “An entirely new ecosystem has to be created and the country needs to be prepared for it,” said an expert. “5G has 200 times more access points for hackers than the existing networks. In fact, some IoT (Internet of Things) devices can be hacked in 15 minutes.”

India’s cyber-warriors are aware of this threat. The national committee on security and telecom, headed by deputy national security adviser Rajinder Khanna, has issued a directive aimed at creating a secure telecom network system. It has made Pant the designated authority to vet telecommunication sources and products that can enter the country’s telecom network.

Assisting Pant in this task is an army of cyber sleuths from different agencies, handpicked to be part of the ‘trusted telecom cell’. They run background checks of telecom vendors who take part in tenders and screen the ultimate beneficiaries. They examine virtually every chip and semiconductor to see their place of origin and what had gone into their making and design. Their findings are transmitted to nodal officers in Central ministries.

Pant, however, has not taken an alarmist position and blacklisted suspicious foreign entities like the US has been doing. While the US comes out with negative lists of Chinese tech companies like Huawei and ZTE which are barred from working with US firms, Pant is quietly drawing up a “positive” list, from which Indian entities can choose their partners. This also has enabled India to sail through the world of global commerce without ruffling diplomatic feathers.

Yet, India has a long way to go to catch up with leading global players in cybersecurity. The malware attack on Cosmos Bank in 2014, in which customers lost 094 crore, was a glaring example of how Indian markets could be easy targets for financial crime syndicates. Brijesh Singh, who handled the case, said he found fraudulent transactions made in 29 countries in two and a half hours. The manner in which the crime was committed showed sophistication and large-scale coordination by international hackers. “What was equally shocking was how online actors used unsuspecting people as money mules to launder money for various criminal operations,” he said.

The Cosmos Bank case has shown that Indian agencies need to step up further in monitoring and preventing money crimes. Sameer Ratolikar, chief information security officer of HDFC Bank, said Indian banks were facing more social engineering attacks like phishing, especially during the pandemic because of the growing number of online transactions.

• Cyber crime: There is not a single institution where the buck stops
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• Cybercriminals will exploit reliance on mobile devices

“Fraudsters target gullible customers and lure them with various financial offers, making them disclose their personal information like one-time passwords. This requires a layered defence, including customer awareness,” said Ratolikar. “Other important measures include sending OTPs on a different channel, device binding (the process of linking a token to a trusted device), adaptive authentication (a method for selecting the right authentication factors depending on a user’s risk profile and tendencies) and transaction monitoring solutions.”

The financial sector is also grappling with the problem of ransomware. ‘’Third party vendors are important vectors through which ransomware can be infiltrated,” said Ratolikar. “Therefore, having adequate security framework around them is important.” The best way of defence from ransomware is to create employee awareness, develop a proper incident-response plan and undertake regular tabletop exercises. Ratolikar is working closely with CERT-In, which offers real-time intelligence that helps shut down phishing sites located abroad.

While many of these attempts at hacking banks and airlines might appear the handiwork of non-state enemies and mafias, cybersecurity experts are not willing to dismiss them as private crimes.

Even the US, which boasts top-notch cyber defence capabilities, is not immune to attacks. American intelligence agencies believe that Russian saboteurs had hacked into their voting systems multiple times. The Texas-based cybersecurity firm SolarWinds, which has several high-profile clients like the department of homeland security, the treasury department and at least 100 private companies, too, was a victim. The US imposed sanctions on Russia in April, blaming it for the SolarWinds hack and for the interference in the 2020 elections.

Recorded Future has indicated that geopolitical rivalries and border skirmishes are responsible for most of India’s recent woes in cyberspace. It pointed towards China-sponsored groups APT41 and Barium as having targeted Indian companies multiple times. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent agency of the US government, endorsed this view in its annual report released in November, taking note of the PLA’s cyberattacks on Indian targets.

The US has documented the attacks and China has issued a denial, but India has got no proof. The good news is that the FBI is chasing some of these groups and probing their links with China’s ministry of state security.

“We are pursuing these criminals no matter where they are and to whom they may be connected,’’ James A. Dawson, FBI’s acting assistant director, told a federal grand jury during a hearing in one of those rare moments when global cyberthreats had real names and faces to them. The jury indicted five Chinese hackers—Zhang Haoran, Tan Dailin, Jiang Lizhi, Qian Chuan and Fu Qiang—for intrusions affecting 100 companies in the US, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan and Hong Kong.

The Chinese foreign ministry called the charges “speculation and fabrication”. The denials have become shriller, especially after the 2015 US-China Cyber Agreement to curb cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property. “Regrettably, the Chinese Communist Party has chosen a different path of making China safe for cybercriminals so long as they attack computers outside China and steal intellectual property outside China,” said Jeffrey A. Rosen, former acting attorney general of the US.

Emerging trends in cybersecurity indicate that nearly all future global conflicts will have a cyber component. Whether it is for spying on governments, targeting defence forces, hitting power and communication grids, crippling transport networks, subverting financial systems or sabotaging flights, the next war will begin in cyberspace. It may even be waged largely there, yet it will wreak havoc in everyday lives of common people, unless a robust defence is put up.

• Cyber warriors

Cell: +91 9510122995 Tel: 079-40030031 E-mail : [email protected] [email protected]

Important Cyber Law Case Studies

1.Pune Citibank MphasiS Call Center Fraud Some ex-employees of BPO arm of MPhasiS Ltd MsourcE defrauded US Customers of Citibank to the tune of Rs 1.5 crores. It was one of those cyber crime cases that raised concerns of many kinds including the role of "Data Protection". The crime was obviously committed using "Unauthorized Access" to the "Electronic Account Space" of the customers. It is therefore firmly within the domain of "Cyber Crimes". ITA-2000 is versatile enough to accommodate the aspects of crime not covered by ITA-2000 but covered by other statutes since any IPC offence committed with the use of "Electronic Documents" can be considered as a crime with the use of a "Written Documents". "Cheating", "Conspiracy", "Breach of Trust", etc. are therefore applicable in the above case in addition to the section in ITA-2000. Under ITA-2000 the offence is recognized both under Section 66 and Section 43. Accordingly, the persons involved are liable for imprisonment and fine as well as a liability to pay damages to the victims to the maximum extent of Rs 1 crore per victim for which the "Adjudication Process" can be invoked.

2.SONY.SAMBANDH.COM CASE India saw its first cybercrime conviction in 2013. It all began after a complaint was filed by Sony India Private Ltd, which runs a website called www.sony-sambandh.com, targeting Non-Resident Indians. The website enables NRIs to send Sony products to their friends and relatives in India after they pay for it online. The company undertakes to deliver the products to the concerned recipients. In May 2002, according to the cybercrime case study, someone logged onto the website under the identity of Barbara Campa and ordered a Sony Colour Television set and a cordless headphone. She gave her credit card number for payment and requested the products to be delivered to Arif Azim in Noida. The payment was duly cleared by the credit card agency, and the transaction was processed. After following the relevant procedures of due diligence and checking, the company delivered the items to Arif Azim. At the time of delivery, the company took digital photographs showing the delivery being accepted by Arif Azim. The transaction closed at that, but after one and a half months the credit card agency informed the company that this was an unauthorized transaction as the real owner had denied having made the purchase. The company lodged a complaint about online cheating at the Central Bureau of Investigation which registered a case under Section 418, 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code. The matter was investigated, and Arif Azim was arrested. Investigations revealed that Arif Azim while working at a call centre in Noida gained access to the credit card number of an American national which he misused on the company's site. The CBI recovered the colour television and the cordless headphone, in this one of a kind cyber fraud case. In this matter, the CBI had evidence to prove their case, and so the accused admitted his guilt. The court convicted Arif Azim under Section 418, 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code - this being the first time that cybercrime has been convicted. The court, however, felt that as the accused was a young boy of 24 years and a first-time convict, a lenient view needed to be taken. The court, therefore, released the accused on probation for one year. The judgment is of immense significance for the entire nation. Besides being the first conviction in a cybercrime matter, it has shown that the Indian Penal Code can be effectively applied to certain categories of cyber crimes which are not covered under the Information Technology Act 2000. Secondly, a judgment of this sort sends out a clear message to all that the law cannot be taken for a ride.

3. The Bank NSP Case One of the leading cybercrime cases is the Bank NSP case is the one where a management trainee of the bank was engaged to be married. The couple exchanged many emails using the company computers. After some time the two broke up and the girl created fraudulent email ids such as "indianbarassociations" and sent emails to the boy's foreign clients. She used the bank’s computer to do this. The boy's company lost a large number of clients and took the bank to court. The bank was held liable for the emails sent using the bank's system.

4. Andhra Pradesh Tax Case Dubious tactics of a prominent businessman, from Andhra Pradesh, were exposed after officials of the department got hold of computers, used by the accused in one of the many cyber fraud cases in India. The owner of a plastics firm was arrested and Rs 22 crore cash, was recovered from his house by sleuths of the Vigilance Department. They sought an explanation from him regarding the unaccounted cash within 10 days. The accused submitted 6,000 vouchers, to prove the legitimacy of trade and thought his offence would go undetected but after careful scrutiny of vouchers and contents of his computers, it was revealed that all of them were made after the raids were conducted. It was later revealed that the accused was running five businesses under the guise of one company and used fake and computerised vouchers to show sales records and save tax.

5.SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. vs. Jogesh Kwatra In India's first case of cyber defamation, the High Court of Delhi assumed jurisdiction over a matter where a corporation's reputation was being defamed through emails and passed an important ex-parte injunction. Amongst the many cyber cases in India, in this case, the defendant Jogesh Kwatra being an employee of the plaintiff company started sending derogatory, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, filthy and abusive emails to his employers as also to different subsidiaries of the said company all over the world with the aim to defame the company and its Managing Director Mr. R K Malhotra. The plaintiff filed a suit for permanent injunction restraining the defendant from doing his illegal acts of sending derogatory emails to the plaintiff. On behalf of the plaintiff, it was contended that the emails sent by the defendant were distinctly obscene, vulgar, abusive, intimidating, humiliating and defamatory in nature. Counsel further argued that the aim of sending the said emails was to malign the high reputation of the plaintiff all over India and the world. He further contended that the acts of the defendant in sending the emails had resulted in an invasion of the legal rights of the plaintiff. Further, the defendant is under a duty not to send the aforesaid emails. It is pertinent to note that after the plaintiff company discovered the said employee could be indulging in the matter of sending abusive emails, the plaintiff terminated the services of the defendant. After hearing detailed arguments of Counsel for Plaintiff, Hon'ble Judge of the Delhi High Court passed an ex-parte ad interim injunction, observing that a prima facie case had been made out by the plaintiff. Consequently, in this cyber fraud case in India, the Delhi High Court restrained the defendant from sending derogatory, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, humiliating and abusive emails, either to the plaintiff or to its sister subsidiaries all over the world, including their Managing Directors and their Sales and Marketing departments. Further, Hon'ble Judge also restrained the defendant from publishing, transmitting or causing to be published any information in the actual world, as also in cyberspace, which is derogatory or defamatory or abusive. This order of Delhi High Court assumes tremendous significance as this is the first time that an Indian Court assumes jurisdiction in a matter concerning cyber defamation and grants an ex-parte injunction restraining the defendant from defaming the plaintiff by sending derogatory, defamatory, abusive and obscene emails either to the plaintiffs or their subsidiaries.

6. Bazee.com case CEO of Bazee.com was arrested in December 2004 because a CD with objectionable material was being sold on the website. The CD was also being sold in the markets in Delhi. The Mumbai Police and the Delhi Police got into action. The CEO was later released on bail. This opened up the question as to what kind of distinction we draw between Internet Service Provider and Content Provider. The burden rests on the accused that he was the Service Provider and not the Content Provider. It also raises a lot of issues regarding how the police should handle cybercrime cases.

7. State of Tamil Nadu Vs Suhas Katti The Case of Suhas Katti is notable for the fact that the conviction was achieved successfully within a relatively quick time of 7 months from the filing of the FIR, making it one of the notable cyberlaw cases in India. Considering that similar cases have been pending in other states for a much longer time, the efficient handling of the case which happened to be the first case of the Chennai Cyber Crime Cell going to trial deserves a special mention. The case is related to the posting of obscene, defamatory and annoying message about a divorced woman in the Yahoo message group. E-mails were also forwarded to the victim for information by the accused through a false e-mail account opened by him in the name of the victim. The posting of the message resulted in annoying phone calls to the lady in the belief that she was soliciting. Based on a complaint made by the victim in February 2004, the Police traced the accused to Mumbai and arrested him within the next few days. The accused was a known family friend of the victim and was reportedly interested in marrying her. She, however, married another person. This marriage later ended in divorce, and the accused started contacting her once again. On her reluctance to marry him, the accused took up harassment through the Internet. On 24-3-2004, a Charge Sheet was filed, u/s 67 of the IT Act 2000, 469 and 509 IPC before The Hon'ble Addl. CMM Egmore by citing 18 witnesses and 34 documents and material objects. The same was taken on file in C.C.NO.4680/2004. On the prosecution side, 12 witnesses were examined, and entire documents were marked as Exhibits. The Defence argued, in this cyber crime case, that the offending emails would have been given either by the ex-husband of the complainant or the complainant herself to implicate the accused as accused alleged to have turned down the request of the complainant to marry her. Further, the defence counsel argued that some of the documentary evidence was not sustainable under Section 65 B of the Indian Evidence Act. However, the court relied upon the expert witnesses, and other evidence produced before it, including the witnesses of the Cyber Cafe owners, and came to the conclusion that the crime was proved. Ld. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, delivered the judgement on 5-11-04 as follows: "The accused is found guilty of offences under section 469, 509 IPC and 67 of the IT Act 2000, and the accused is convicted and sentenced for the offence to undergo RI for 2 years, under 469 IPC, and to pay a fine of Rs.500/- and for the offence u/s 509 IPC sentenced to undergo 1 year simple imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.500/- and for the offence u/s 67 of the IT Act 2000 to undergo RI for 2 years and to pay a fine of Rs.4000/-. All sentences to run concurrently." The accused paid the fine amount, and he was lodged at Central Prison, Chennai. This is considered as the first case convicted under section 67 of the Information Technology Act 2000 in India.

8. Nasscom vs. Ajay Sood & Others In a landmark judgment in the case of National Association of Software and Service Companies vs. Ajay Sood & Others, delivered in March, '05, the Delhi High Court declared 'phishing' on the internet to be an illegal act, entailing an injunction and recovery of damages. A cybercrime case study has been conducted on the same. Elaborating on the concept of 'phishing', in order to lay down a precedent in India, the court stated that it is a form of internet fraud where a person pretends to be a legitimate association, such as a bank or an insurance company in order to extract personal data from a customer such as access codes, passwords, etc. Personal data so collected by misrepresenting the identity of the legitimate party is commonly used for the collecting party's advantage. The court also stated, by way of an example, that typical phishing scams involve persons who pretend to represent online banks and siphon cash from e-banking accounts after conning consumers into handing over confidential banking details. The Delhi HC stated that, even though there is no specific legislation in India to penalize phishing, it held phishing to be an illegal act, by defining it under Indian law as "a misrepresentation made in the course of trade, leading to confusion, as to the source and origin of the email causing immense harm, not only to the consumer, but even to the person whose name, identity or password is misused." The court held the act of phishing as passing off and tarnishing the plaintiff's image. The plaintiff, in this case, was the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), India's premier software association. The defendants were operating a placement agency involved in headhunting and recruitment. In order to obtain personal data, which they could use for purposes of headhunting, the defendants composed and sent emails to third parties, in the name of Nasscom. The high court recognised the trademark rights of the plaintiff and passed an ex-parte ad interim injunction restraining the defendants from using the trade name or any other name deceptively similar to Nasscom. The court further restrained the defendants from holding themselves out as being associated with or a part of Nasscom. The court appointed a commission to conduct a search at the defendants' premises. Two hard disks of the computers, from which the fraudulent e-mails were sent by the defendants to various parties, were taken into custody by the local commissioner appointed by the court. The offending emails were then downloaded from the hard disks and presented as evidence in court. During the progress of the cyberlaw case in India, it became clear that the defendants, in whose names the offending e-mails were sent, were fictitious identities created by an employee on defendants' instructions, to avoid recognition and legal action. On discovery of this fraudulent act, fictitious names were deleted from the array of parties as defendants in the case. Subsequently, defendants admitted to their illegal acts and the parties settled the matter through the recording of a compromise in the suit proceedings. According to the terms of compromise, the defendants agreed to pay a sum of Rs1.6 million to the plaintiff as damages for violation of the plaintiff's trademark rights. The court also ordered the hard disks seized from the defendants' premises to be handed over to the plaintiff who would be the owner of the hard disks. This case achieves clear milestones: It brings the act of "phishing" into the ambit of Indian laws, even in the absence of specific legislation; it clears the misconception that there is no "damages culture" in India for violation of IP rights. this case reaffirms IP owners' faith in the Indian judicial system's ability and willingness to protect intangible property rights and send a strong message to IP owners that they can do business in India without sacrificing their IP rights.

9. Cyber Attack on Cosmos Bank In August 2018, the Pune branch of Cosmos bank was drained of Rs 94 crores, in an extremely bold cyber attack. By hacking into the main server, the thieves were able to transfer the money to a bank in Hong Kong. Along with this, the hackers made their way into the ATM server, to gain details of various VISA and Rupay debit cards. The switching system i.e. the link between the centralized system and the payment gateway was attacked, meaning neither the bank nor the account holders caught wind of the money being transferred. According to the cybercrime case study internationally, a total of 14,000 transactions were carried out, spanning across 28 countries using 450 cards. Nationally, 2,800 transactions using 400 cards were carried out. This was one of its kinds, and in fact, the first malware attack that stopped all communication between the bank and the payment gateway.

10. Tampering with Computer Source Documents In a case of manipulation, Tata Indicom employees were taken into custody in relation to the tampering of the electronic 32-bit number (ESN) that is programmed into cell phones. The theft was for Reliance Intercom. In a verdict on a later date, the court said that since the source code was manipulated, it calls the use of Section 65 under the Information Technology Act.

11. BSNL, Unauthorized Access In a leading cybercrime case, the Joint Academic Network (JANET) was hacked by the accused, after which he denied access to the authorized users by changing passwords along with deleting and adding files. Making it look like he was authorized personnel, he made changes in the BSNL computer database in their internet users’ accounts. When the CBI carried out investigations after registering a cybercrime case against the accused, they found that the broadband Internet was being used without any authorization. The accused used to hack into the server from various cities like Chennai and Bangalore, amongst others. This investigation was carried after the Press Information Bureau, Chennai, filed a complaint. In the verdict by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai, the accused from Bangalore would be sent to prison for a year and will have to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 420 IPC and Section 66 of the IT Act.

12. BPO Fraud In another incident involving MphasiS, India, four call centre employees gained the PIN codes, from four of the MphasiS’s client, Citi Group, in spite of not being authorized to do so. Various accounts were opened in Indian banks, under false names and within two months, they managed to transfer money to these accounts from Citigroup customers accounts using their PINs and other personal information. This cyber fraud case occurred in December 2004, but it wasn’t until April 2005 that the Indian police were able to identify the individuals to make an arrest. It was made possible with a tip provided by a U.S. bank when the accused tried to withdraw cash from these fake accounts. From the $426,000 that was stolen, only $230,000 were recovered. The accused were charged under Section 43(a), unauthorized access involved to carry transactions.

13. Bomb Hoax Mail In an email hoax, sent by a 15-year-old boy from Bangalore, the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) arrested him in 2009. The boy was accused of sending an email to a private news company saying, “I have planted 5 bombs in Mumbai, you have two hours to find them”. The concerned authorities were contacted immediately, in relation to the cyber case in India, who traced the IP address (Internet Protocol) to Bangalore.

14. A Look-alike Website A 9-person crime, was registered under Sections 65, 66, 66A, C and D of the Information Technology Act, along with Sections 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code. Under the complaint of this cyber fraud case in India, a company representative in the business of trading and distribution of petrochemicals in India and abroad had filed the report against the 9 accused of using a similar looking website to carry on the trade. The accused ran a defamation campaign against the company, causing them crores of rupees of loss from their customers, suppliers and even producers.

15. Cyber Terrorism Since the changes were carried out in the Information Technology Act in Mumbai, this case of cyber terrorism was its first project. A threat email had been delivered to the BSE and NSE, at 10:44 am on Monday. With the MRA Marg police and the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) working together on the cyber crime case, the accused has been detained. The IP address had been traced to Patna, Bihar. When checked for any personal details, two contact numbers were found, which belonged to a photo frame maker in Patna.

Personal Cases

• Cyber Police has arrested a Husband for misusing his wife’s FB account, in a cyber case in India. He hired an ethical hacker to hack into his wife’s FB account so that he can find pieces of evidence regarding her bad character.
• Using the trojan or malware, a woman’s webcam was accessed to capture her private videos and posted on an illegal website. The incident came into light when the Mumbai resident appeared for an interview.
• The cyber fraud case of duplication of a SIM card was registered with the police when a businessman from Ahmedabad caught wind of it. He registered a complaint under the cyber and financial crime since the defrauders had submitted fake documents with the mobile company to gain the businessman’s personal details.
• In a social media related cybercrime complaint, a famous Gujarati singer claimed that her photos were being used by an unknown man, saying they were married and had a child together.
• To gain personal revenge, an ex-boyfriend, working as a software engineer, posted his ex’s personal phone number on a 24*7 dating service helpline, was arrested in a leading cybercrime case.

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Shreya Taneja

Landmark Judgments On Cyber Law

1. Introduction - The term "Cyber Law" refers to the legal framework that governs cyberspace.

2. Landmark Judgments 1. Shreya Singhal Vs UOI AIR 2015 SC 1523. - Section 66A

3. M/s Gujarat Petrosynthese Ltd and Mr Rajendra Prasad Yadav Vs Union of India 2014 (1) Kar L J 121.

4. Shamsher Singh Verma Vs State of Haryana 2015 SCC OnLine SC 1242

5. 4. CBI Vs Arif Azim (Sony Sambandh case)

6. State of Tamil Nadu Vs SuhasKatti CC No. 4680 of 2004

7. SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt Ltd Vs Jogesh Kwatra CM APPL No. 33474 of 2016

8. Avnish Bajaj Vs State (NCT) of Delhi (2008) 150 DLT 769

9. Pune Citibank Mphasis Call Center Fraud

10. Christian Louboutin SAS Vs Nakul Bajaj &Ors (2018) 253 DLT 728

11. Devidas Ramachandra Tuljapurkar Vs the State of Maharashtra (2015) 6 SCC 1

12. Conclusion - The Cyber Law system is governed by the IT Act and the rules that have been established.

Key Takeaways

• The Information Technology Act of 2000 is part of India's legal framework for cyber law. It is the primary legislation that intends to provide penalties for a variety of cybercrimes.
• As India moves toward digitalization and artificial intelligence, there has been a huge increase in cybercrime.
• Some historic judgments have helped to shape India's Cyber Law system, and some of the most important ones are discussed in this article.

Introduction

The term "Cyber Law" refers to the legal framework that governs cyberspace. With India's move toward digitalization and artificial intelligence, there has been a considerable increase in Cyber Crime. In Cyber Crimes, a 63.5 percent increase was noted.

The Information Technology Act of 2000 is part of India's legal framework for Cyber Law. It is the parent legislation that intends to provide penalties for a variety of Cyber Crimes. Some historic judgements have helped to shape India's Cyber Law regime, and a few significant decisions are highlighted here.

Landmark Judgments

1. shreya singhal vs uoi air 2015 sc 1523.

Background Facts

The two women were arrested under Section 66A of the IT Act, alleged to have posted objectionable comments on Facebook regarding the complete shutdown of Mumbai after the demise of a political leader.

Section 66Aof IT Act states that whoever by using a computer resource or communication provides information that is offensive, false, or causes inconvenience, danger, annoyance, insult, hatred, injury, or ill will, be punished with imprisonment.

The women filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 66A of the IT Act on the grounds that it is violative of the freedom of speech and expression.

The validity of Section 66A of the IT Act was challenged before the Supreme Court.

While pronouncing the decision court discussed three concepts and they were discussion, advocacy, and incitement. The court was of the view that mere discussion or even advocacy of a cause, irrespective of how unpopular the same is at the heart of the freedom of speech and expression.

The court held that section 66A is ambiguous, and is violative of the right to freedom of speech and it takes within its range the speech that is innocent as well. It removed an arbitrary provision from IT Act, 2000 and upheld citizens’ fundamental right to free speech in India. It was of the view that even though section 66A is struck down, provisions in the Indian Penal Code, 1860 will continue to be applicable prohibiting racist speech, any speech that outrages the modesty of a woman or speech aimed at promoting enmity, abusive language, criminal intimidation, racism, etc.

2. M/s Gujarat Petrosynthese Ltd and Mr Rajendra Prasad Yadav Vs Union of India 2014 (1) Kar L J 121

Petitioners had asked Respondent to designate a Chairperson to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal (CAT) in order to ensure that the tribunal's proceedings were convened on a regular basis. It was submitted beforecourt that the agency would take all necessary measures to fill the vacancy.

Within six months, a chairperson will be appointed, and every effort will be made to do so.

It was further submitted that for the public interest, the chairperson should be appointed even before the end of the time.

The petitioners have asked this Court to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the respondent to appoint a Chairperson to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal (CAT), in order to ensure that the CAT's proceedings are held on a regular basis.

There is no need to offer any directions. However, it is expected that, after a period of more than two years, the respondent will take up the question of appointing a Chairperson to the CAT with urgency and do so as quickly as possible, taking into account Section 53 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The petition is dismissed with these observations and no cost order.

3. Shamsher Singh Verma Vs State of Haryana 2015 SCC OnLine SC 1242

The accused filed an appeal before SC after his application was rejected by the HC to exhibit the Compact Disc filed before the court for defence and to get the same proved from the Forensic Science Laboratory.

Whether Compact Disc requires a personal admission or denial from the complainant or witness regarding a document under Section 294 (1) of the CrPC?

The Supreme Court concluded that a Compact Disc is likewise a document and is admissible, and that the accused, complainant, or witness does not need to personally admit or deny a document under Section 294 (1) of the CrPC .

4. CBI Vs Arif Azim (Sony Sambandh case)

The website www.sony-sambandh.com allowed NRIs to send Sony products to their Indian friends and relatives after paying online for the same. Someone logged in May 2002 into the website under the name of Barbara Campa and a Sony Colour TV set along with a cordless telephone was ordered for Arif Azim in Noida. The payment was made by her through a credit card and the said order was delivered to Arif Azim. Though the credit card agency informed the company that it was an unauthorized payment, the purchase was denied by the actual owner.

The complaint was lodged with CBI and a case under Section 419, 418, and 420 of IPC,1860 was registered. An investigation was held, and it was concluded that Arif Azim while working at the Noida Call Centre, got access to the credit card details of Barbara Campa which he misappropriated.

Whether IPC, 1860 can be reliable and effective legislation to rely on when the IT Act is not exhaustive?

Court Decision

The court found Arif Azim guilty, but because he was a young boy and a first-time offender, the court was lenient. The convicted person was given a one-year probationary period.

The Indian Penal Code, 1860, was cited by the court as an effective piece of legislation to depend on when the IT Act was not sufficient.

5. State of Tamil Nadu Vs SuhasKatti CC No. 4680 of 2004

The accused was the victim’s family friend and wanted to marry her but she married another man which resulted in a divorce. After her divorce, the accused influenced her again and, on her unwillingness to marry him, he took the course of harassment through the Internet. He opened a false e-mail account in the victim's name and posted obscene, defamatory, and annoying information about the victim.

Chargesheet was filed under Section 67 of the IT Act and Section 469 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against the accused.

The accused was convicted under Section 469 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 67 of the IT Act by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. He was punished with a Rigorous Imprisonment of 2 years along with a fine of Rs. 500 under Section 469 of the IPC, Simple Imprisonment of 1 year along with a fine of Rs. 500 under Section 509 of the IPC, and Rigorous Imprisonment of 2 years along with a fine of Rs. 4,000 under Section 67 of the IT Act.

The present case is a landmark case in Cyber Law as it ensured efficient handling of the case by making conviction possible within 7 months from filing the FIR.

6. SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt Ltd Vs Jogesh Kwatra CM APPL No. 33474 of 2016

The defendant, Jogesh Kwatra, was an employee in the plaintiff’s company. He started sending vulgar, abusive, derogatory, and filthy emails to his employers and to subsidiaries of the company all over the world to defame the company and its Managing Director. The investigation took place, and it was found that the email originated from a Cyber Cafe in New Delhi. The defendant was identified by the Cyber Cafe attendant during the inquiry. The defendant was terminated from service on May 11, 2011.Following that, he became vindictive and attempted to settle scores by sending emails attempting to ruin the reputation of plaintiffs 1 and 2 and to libel them, among other things. As a result, a lawsuit has been filed against the defendant, seeking a perpetual injunction.

Whether the plaintiffs are entitled to the relief of perpetual injunctions sought in the plaint's prayer clause?

Is it true that the plaintiffs did not come to court with clean hands?

Because the court did not qualify as certified evidence under section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, the plaintiffs are not entitled to a perpetual injunction. There was no concrete evidence as to who was sending these emails. The defendant, on the other hand, was barred from posting or transmitting any information in Cyberspace that was insulting to the plaintiffs by the court.

7. Avnish Bajaj Vs State (NCT) of Delhi (2008) 150 DLT 769

In this case, Avnish Bajaj, the CEO of Bazee.com, was arrested for screening cyber pornography under Section 67 of the IT Act. Someone else, however, was using the Bazee.com website to sell copies of a CD containing pornographic material.

Mr. Bajaj was not involved in the airing of pornographic content, according to the court. Such material could not be read on the Bazee.com website, which receives a commission and makes money from sales and adverts made on its pages.

The court points out that the evidence gathered demonstrates that the cyber pornographic offence was committed by someone other than Bazee.com.

The CEO has granted bail on the condition that two sureties of Rs1 lakh each be provided.

However, the onus is on the accused to show that he was only a service provider and not a content creator.

8. Pune Citibank Mphasis Call Center Fraud

In 2005, $ 3,50,000 was fraudulently moved from four Citibank accounts in the United States to a few fictitious accounts via the internet. The staff acquired the customers' trust and collected their PINs under the belief that they would be able to assist them in dealing with challenging situations. Instead of decoding encrypted software or breaching firewalls, they were looking for flaws in the MphasiS system.

The defendants in this case are MphasiS call centre ex-employees, according to the court. Every time an employee enters or exits, they are examined. As a result, it's apparent that the employees had the numbers memorised. SWIFT, or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, was utilised to transfer the cash. Unauthorized access to the consumers' electronic accounts was used to commit the crime. As a result, this case is classified as a "Cyber Crime."

The IT Act is wide enough to cover these types of crimes, and any offence under the IPC involving the use of electronic documents can be prosecuted in the same way as crimes involving traditional documents.

Because of the nature of illegal access that is involved in committing transactions, the court ruled that section 43(a) of the IT Act, 2000 is applicable. The defendants were additionally charged under sections 66 and 420 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, as well as sections 465,467, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

9. Christian Louboutin SAS Vs Nakul Bajaj &Ors (2018) 253 DLT 728

A luxury shoe company filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against an e-commerce portal for facilitating trademark infringement with a seller of counterfeit goods.

Whether the defendant is permitted to utilise the plaintiff's logos, marks, and images, which are protected under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act?

The defendant is more than an intermediary, according to the Court, because the website has complete control over the products supplied through its platform. It recognises and promotes third-party vendors to market their wares. The Court also stated that an e-commerce platform's active participation would insulate it from the rights granted to intermediaries under Section 79 of the IT Act.

10. Devidas Ramachandra Tuljapurkar Vs the State of Maharashtra (2015) 6 SCC 1

The Supreme Court evaluated whether the charges could be brought under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code for the publication of a poem including historically significant figures.

Whether the poem "Gandhi Mala Bhetala" published among members of the All-India Bank Association Union could lead to the author being charged with a crime punishable under section 292 IPC?

The court quashed the accusations since the poem was already performed and published by others, and after hearing the comments of specific employees, he tendered an unqualified apology before initiation of the proceedings, and for these reasons, the court quashed the charges.

The community standard test is used to identify obscenity, according to the court.

Once the matter has been determined to be obscene, the question of whether the contested issue comes within any of the section's exceptions may arise.

The Cyber Law system is governed by the IT Act and the rules that have been established. When the IT Act cannot offer a specific offence or does not contain exhaustive provisions relating the offence, resort might be given to the IPC provisions.

Even still, it is clear that Cyber Law is insufficient to cope with the current offence.As India moves closer to being a digital nation, crime is on the rise, and new forms of Cyber Crime are emerging every day. As a result, the need to improve and advance legislation to deal with Cyber Crime is growing, as India's Cyber Law has been found to be inadequate in comparison to other states.

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Financial fraud top cyber crime in India; UPI, e-banking most targeted: Study

Financial frauds accounted for 75% of cyber crimes in india from jan 2020 to jun 2023, according to a study by an iit kanpur-incubated start-up..

Financial frauds accounted for over 75 per cent of cyber crimes in the country from January 2020 till June 2023, with nearly 50 per cent cases related to UPI and internet banking, according to a new study by an IIT Kanpur-incubated start-up.

Social media-related crimes such as cheating by impersonation, cyber-bullying, sexting and email phishing accounted for 12 per cent of the online offences during the period, the study showed.

The findings have been mentioned by the Future Crime Research Foundation (FCRF), a non-profit start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, in its latest comprehensive whitepaper 'A Deep Dive into Cybercrime Trends Impacting India'.

For online financial frauds, which accounted for the maximum 77.41 per cent offences during the period, the FCRF noted that "this category is a dominant concern, covering fraudulent activities related to online financial transactions".

"Subcategories include debit/credit card fraud, business email compromise, internet banking-related fraud, and the alarmingly prevalent UPI (Unified Payments Interface) fraud (47.25 per cent)", it said.

These figures underscore the need for robust cyber security measures to safeguard financial transactions conducted online, the FCRF said.

Social media-related crimes accounted for 12.02 per cent online offences, according to the whitepaper.

"This category encompasses a wide range of crimes associated with online platforms and social media. Subcategories within this domain include cheating by impersonation, cyber-bullying, sexting, email phishing, and more. While cyber-bullying and impersonation accounted for significant percentages, email phishing and provocative speech for unlawful acts had a comparatively lower impact," it noted.

The FCRF stated that "other notable categories" contributed to nine per cent of the online crimes which delve into several other cybercrime categories with smaller but notable percentages, including online cyber-trafficking, online gambling, ransomware, cryptocurrency crime, and cyber terrorism.

Highlighting the diverse methods cybercriminals use to target digital infrastructure, the whitepaper also flagged that 1.57 per cent online crimes pertained to hacking or damage to computer systems such as unauthorised access, data breach, email hacking and website defacement or hacking.

"It is crucial for law enforcement agencies, individuals, businesses, and policymakers to understand the changing landscape of cybercrimes in India. This report not only highlights the distribution of cybercrimes but also underscores the need for collaborative efforts to combat these threats," FCRF co-founder Harshvardhan Singh said.

Singh added that "as technology continues to advance, so do the tactics of cybercriminals, making it essential for all stakeholders to stay informed and vigilant".

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Cyber Crime in India: A Comprehensive Overview of the Legal Landscape

Table of Contents

Introduction

Cyber crime in India is a growing concern, with the number of cases reported increasing every year. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the legal landscape of cyber crime in India, including an analysis of the relevant laws, regulations, and policies that govern this area. It also looks at the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies in tackling cyber crime, and provides suggestions for improving the legal framework. Finally, it examines the role of technology in combating cyber crime and suggests ways to enhance the security of digital systems.

Overview of Cyber Crime in India: A Legal Perspective

Cyber crime in India is a growing menace that has become a major cause of concern for the nation. The rapid advancement of technology has led to the emergence of new forms of criminal activities that are enabled by the use of the internet and other digital networks. Cyber crime in India has become a serious threat to the security of the nation, as it has the potential to cause immense damage to individuals, businesses, and the government.

In India, cyber crime is regulated by the Information Technology Act, 2000. This Act provides for the legal framework for the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of cyber crimes. It defines various cyber offences such as hacking, phishing, cyber stalking, cyber terrorism, cyber fraud, and cyber pornography. The Act also provides for the establishment of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal to adjudicate disputes relating to cyber crimes.

The Indian Penal Code (IPC) also provides for certain offences related to cyber crime. These include offences such as identity theft, cheating by impersonation, mischief by damaging computer systems, and publishing obscene material in electronic form. The IPC also provides for the punishment of those who are found guilty of cyber crime.

The Government of India has also taken several steps to combat cyber crime in the country. These include the setting up of the National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCSC) to coordinate the efforts of the government and other stakeholders in combating cyber crime. The government has also launched the Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative in 2018 to provide cyber security awareness and training to citizens.

The Indian judiciary has also played an important role in tackling cyber crime in the country. Several landmark judgments have been passed by the Supreme Court and High Courts in India in cases related to cyber crime. These judgments have provided clarity on the legal aspects of cyber crime. For example,

Vishal Kalra v. State of Maharashtra (2014): In this case, the Bombay High Court held that the creation and distribution of fake profiles on social media constituted an offence under the Information Technology Act. The Court also held that the victims of such offences were entitled to compensation.

State of Tamil Nadu v. Suhas Katti (2012): In this case, the Madras High Court held that cyberstalking and online harassment constituted offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. The Court also held that the anonymity provided by the internet did not give individuals the right to commit offences.

Overall, cyber crime in India is a growing menace that needs to be addressed effectively. The government, judiciary, and other stakeholders need to work together to ensure that the laws and regulations related to cyber crime are properly enforced and that cyber criminals are brought to justice.

Cyber Crime Legislation in India: An Overview

India has been a leader in the development of cyber crime legislation, as the country has long recognized the importance of protecting its citizens from cyber threats. The Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) is the primary law governing cyber crime in India. The IT Act was amended in 2008 to expand its scope and to address the increasing number of cyber crimes in the country.

The IT Act defines cyber crime as any illegal activity committed using a computer, computer system, or network. It also outlines various cyber crimes, such as hacking, data theft, identity theft, cyber stalking, and cyber terrorism. The Act also criminalizes the publication of obscene material online, as well as cyber fraud and forgery.

The IT Act outlines the procedures for investigating and prosecuting cyber crimes. It provides for the establishment of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals from decisions of the lower courts. The Act also outlines the penalties for cyber crimes, which range from fines to imprisonment.

In addition to the IT Act, the Indian government has enacted several other laws to address cyber crime. These include the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011, which outlines the responsibilities of online intermediaries such as search engines and social media platforms; the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, which outlines the requirements for protecting sensitive personal data; and the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009, which outlines the procedures for blocking access to certain websites.

The Indian government has also taken steps to strengthen the enforcement of cyber crime laws. In 2013, the government established the National Cyber Security Coordinator to coordinate the efforts of various government agencies in combating cyber crime. The government has also established the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to monitor and respond to cyber security threats.

In summary, India has taken significant steps to address cyber crime through the enactment of comprehensive legislation and the establishment of specialised agencies to enforce the law. The country has also taken steps to strengthen its cyber security infrastructure, which has enabled it to better protect its citizens from cyber threats.

Investigating and Prosecuting Cyber Crime in India

The investigation and prosecution of cyber crime in India is an important and growing field of law enforcement. Cyber crime is a rapidly evolving form of criminal activity that can involve the use of computers, networks, and the internet to commit a wide range of offenses. Cyber criminals use sophisticated techniques to access, alter, or destroy data, steal information, or disrupt services. Cyber crime can have serious consequences for victims, including financial losses, identity theft, and the disruption of critical services.

In India, the government has taken a number of steps to address cyber crime. The Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) was enacted to provide legal recognition to digital signatures and electronic records, and to provide legal remedies for cyber crimes. In addition, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 provides for the admissibility of electronic evidence in court.

The Indian government has also established the National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCSC) to coordinate the efforts of law enforcement agencies in combating cyber crime. The NCSC is responsible for monitoring cyber crime, providing technical assistance to law enforcement agencies, and coordinating the investigation and prosecution of cyber crime cases.

The investigation and prosecution of cyber crime cases in India is a complex process. It requires the cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies, including the police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In addition, private sector organizations, such as internet service providers (ISPs) and software companies, must also be involved in the investigation and prosecution of cyber crime cases.

The investigation and prosecution of cyber crime cases in India is further complicated by the fact that the perpetrators of these crimes often operate from outside the country. This requires the cooperation of international law enforcement agencies in order to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.

Challenges in Enforcing Cyber Crime Laws in India

Enforcing cyber crime laws in India is a challenging task due to the ever-evolving nature of the internet and the lack of a comprehensive legal framework. Cyber crime laws in India are still in their infancy and are often inadequate to deal with the complex nature of cyber crime. This is due to the fact that the existing laws are not designed to address the nuances of cyber crime, such as the use of encryption, malware, and other technologies that can be used to perpetrate criminal activities.

The lack of a unified legal framework is a major challenge in enforcing cyber crime laws in India. The existing laws are fragmented and are spread across various statutes, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. This makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to effectively prosecute cyber criminals, as they have to navigate a complex legal landscape.

Another challenge in enforcing cyber crime laws in India is the lack of awareness among the public. Cyber crime is often viewed as a victimless crime, and many people are unaware of the risks associated with it. This lack of awareness makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to educate the public about the dangers of cyber crime and the need to take precautions to protect themselves.

The lack of resources is another challenge in enforcing cyber crime laws in India. Law enforcement agencies often lack the resources and expertise to effectively investigate and prosecute cyber criminals. This is due to the fact that cyber crime investigations require specialised skills and technology, which are often beyond the scope of the resources available to law enforcement agencies.

overall, Enforcing cyber crime laws in India is a significant challenge due to the absence of international cooperation. Cyber criminals often operate beyond borders, which creates obstacles for law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute them. International cooperation is crucial for combating cyber crime effectively, but this is frequently impeded by jurisdictional conflicts and the absence of a unified legal framework.

Role of Technology in Combating Cyber Crime in India

The role of technology in combating cyber crime in India is of paramount importance. Cyber crime is a major issue in India, with an estimated 5.5 million cyber crime cases reported in 2019 alone. The Government of India as mentioned earlier has established the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to provide technical assistance and guidance to Indian citizens in the event of a cyber attack. CERT-In is responsible for monitoring and responding to cyber security incidents, and issuing alerts and advisories to the public.

In addition, the Government of India has also set up the National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) to monitor cyber threats and vulnerabilities, and to coordinate responses to cyber security incidents. The NCCC is also responsible for developing and implementing cyber security policies and strategies.

Technology plays a key role in combating cyber crime in India. Technologies such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption are used to protect networks and systems from malicious attacks. These technologies help to detect and prevent unauthorised access to networks and systems, and can also be used to monitor network traffic for suspicious activity.

In conclusion, cyber crime in India is a growing concern, and the legal landscape is constantly evolving to address this issue. The Indian Penal Code, the Information Technology Act, and the various state laws all provide legal remedies for victims of cyber crime. However, there is still a need for greater awareness and implementation of these laws in order to ensure that victims of cyber crime receive the justice they deserve. It is also important for individuals to take steps to protect themselves from cyber crime by being aware of the risks and taking appropriate measures to secure their online accounts and data.

Protect Yourself from Cyber Crime in India

Cyber crime is a growing problem in India, with a variety of malicious activities taking place online. To protect yourself and your business from cyber crime, it is important to understand the legal landscape in India.

The Indian legal system has been slow to respond to the increasing prevalence of cyber crime, but there are several laws and regulations in place to protect citizens and businesses from cyber criminals. The Information Technology Act of 2000 is the primary law governing cyber crime in India, and it outlines the legal framework for cyber security, data protection, and privacy. The Act also provides for criminal sanctions for those who commit cyber crimes, including imprisonment and fines.

In addition to the Information Technology Act, there are several other laws and regulations in place to protect citizens and businesses from cyber crime. These include the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Copyright Act, the Indian Evidence Act, and the Indian Contract Act. Each of these laws provides for criminal and civil remedies for those who commit cyber crimes.

To ensure that you are protected from cyber crime, it is important to stay up to date on the legal landscape in India. To learn more about the legal landscape in India and how to protect yourself from cyber crime, visit LegalIT.ai .

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Cybercrime and cybersecurity in India: causes, consequences and implications for the future

• Published: 10 September 2016
• Volume 66 , pages 313–338, ( 2016 )

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• Nir Kshetri 1  

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Cybercrime is rising rapidly in India. Developing economies such as India face unique cybercrime risks. This paper examines cybercrime and cybersecurity in India. The literature on which this paper draws is diverse, encompassing the work of economists, criminologists, institutionalists and international relations theorists. We develop a framework that delineates the relationships of formal and informal institutions, various causes of prosperity and poverty and international relations related aspects with cybercrime and cybersecurity and apply it to analyze the cybercrime and cybersecurity situations in India. The findings suggest that developmental, institutional and international relations issues are significant to cybercrime and cybersecurity in developing countries.

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Kshetri, N. Cybercrime and cybersecurity in India: causes, consequences and implications for the future. Crime Law Soc Change 66 , 313–338 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9629-3

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Overview of famous cyber crime cases that target people instead of money

This article has been written by Mayuri Shukla, pursuing the Diploma in Cyber Law, FinTech Regulations and Technology Contracts from LawSikho . The article has been edited by Zigishu Singh (Associate, LawSikho) and Smriti Katiyar (Associate, LawSikho).

Table of Contents

Introduction

Man has become increasingly dependent on the internet for all of his needs as technology improves. The internet has given man instant access to everything from a single location. Social networking, online shopping, data storage, gaming, online education, and online jobs are just a few of the things that may be done using the internet. The internet is used in almost every facet of daily life. Post the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, the work from home culture emerged, entrapping man further into the web of tech-based tools to fulfil work, education, entertainment and communication needs. When the Internet was first conceived, the founders of the Internet had no idea that it would grow into an all-encompassing revolution that might be used for criminal purposes and would demand control. There are a lot of disturbing things going on online these days. Because of the anonymous nature of the Internet, anyone with knowledge of the internet can participate in a range of illicit acts with impunity, and these individuals have been abusing this feature of the Internet to further illegal activities in cyberspace. This is the reason cyber laws are required in India. The concept of cybercrime rose in popularity as the internet and its attendant benefits expanded in popularity. Hence, there are various sorts of cybercrime.

Cybercrime is defined as any illicit activity that involves the use of a computer as a tool, a target, or both. Cybercrime is a rapidly evolving field of crime that is growing at an exponential rate. There are various Cyberlaw issues involved at every point in time, from registering your domain name,   setting up your website, marketing your website, sending and receiving emails, to the moment you perform electronic commerce transactions on the aforementioned site. Criminals have realised the convenience of committing crimes in the online world thus the enactment of proper laws and infrastructure to regulate cybercrime has become a serious concern. The primary victims of the violation are women and children. Basically, cybercrime is on the rise because it is seen as the simplest method of committing a crime, and people with a lot of computer knowledge but no job or financial resources resort to this source and begin abusing the internet. Cybercriminals can easily acquire access to data from this location and exploit it to withdraw money, blackmail, or commit other crimes.

In layman’s terms, “Cyber Crime” refers to offences or crimes committed via electronic communications or information technologies. These are generally illicit activities that involve a computer and a network. Because there is no longer a need for the criminal to be physically present when committing a crime, the volume of cybercrime activities is expanding as a result of the internet’s development. One unique feature of cybercrime is that the victim and the perpetrator may never meet face to face. To limit the possibilities of detection and prosecution, cybercriminals frequently operate from nations where there is little to no cybercrime legislation. Cybercriminals are on the rise because they don’t see much of a threat and believe they are safe because they are so well-versed in the networking infrastructure. They are also the ones who create fake accounts and then use them to perform crimes. Cyberlaw is significant because it encompasses nearly all elements of transactions and activities on and with the Internet. At first glance, Cyberlaw may appear to be a highly technical field with little relevance to ordinary Cyberspace operations. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Every action and reaction in Cyberspace has certain legal and Cyber legal implications, whether we recognize them or not.

Types of cybercrime across the globe

Ddos attacks.

These are used to take down a network and make an online service inaccessible by flooding the site with traffic from a number of sources. Botnets are large networks of compromised devices formed by installing malware on users’ PCs. Once the network is down, the hacker enters the system.

Botnets are networks made up of infected machines that are managed from afar by hackers. These botnets are then used by remote hackers to transmit spam or attack other computers. Botnets may also be used to execute destructive functions and serve as malware.

Identity Theft

When a criminal acquires access to a user’s personal information, they can use it to steal money, access secret information, or commit tax or health insurance fraud. They can also use your name to create a phone/internet account, organise criminal action, and claim government benefits in your name. They might do so by breaking into users’ passwords, stealing personal information from social media, or sending out phishing emails.

Cyber stalking

This type of cybercrime entails online harassment, in which the person is bombarded with messages and emails. Cyber stalkers typically utilise social media, websites, and search engines to frighten and terrify users. The cyber stalker usually knows their target and makes them feel threatened or worried about their safety.

Social engineering

Criminals use social engineering to make direct contact with you, generally via phone or email. They frequently masquerade as a customer service person in order to earn your trust and obtain the information they want. This is usually a password, your employer’s name, or your bank account number. Cybercriminals will gather as much information about you as possible on the internet before attempting to add you as a buddy on social media platforms. They can sell your information or open accounts in your name after they acquire access to an account.

Potentially Unwanted Programs

PUPS, or Potentially Unwanted Programs, are a sort of malware that is less dangerous than other cyberattacks. They remove essential applications from your computer, such as search engines and pre-installed programmes. Because they may include malware or adware, it’s a good idea to install antivirus software to protect yourself against dangerous downloads.

Hackers send malicious email attachments or URLs to users in order to obtain access to their accounts or computers in this form of attack. Many of these emails are not detected as spam because cybercriminals are getting more organized. Users are duped into clicking on links in emails that imply they need to change their password or update their payment information, allowing hackers to access their accounts.

Prohibited/illegal content

Criminals engage in this cybercrime by exchanging and disseminating unsuitable material that can be unpleasant and offensive. Sexual activities between adults, recordings with excessive violence, and movies depicting criminal action are examples of offensive content. Materials inciting terrorism and child exploitation are examples of illegal content. This sort of information may be found on both the public internet and the dark web, which is an anonymous network.

Online scams

These are frequently in the form of advertisements or spam emails that contain promises of prizes or money offers that are too good to be true. Scams on the internet include alluring offers that are “too good to be true,” and when clicked on, can result in malware interfering with and compromising information.

Exploit kits

To acquire control of a user’s computer, exploit kits require a vulnerability (a flaw in software code). They are ready-to-use tools that thieves may purchase online and employ against anyone who has access to a computer. Exploit kits, like conventional software, are updated on a regular basis and are available on dark web hacker forums.

SQL injections

SQL(Structured Query Language) injection is a hacking method that allows hackers to take advantage of security flaws in the software that runs a website. It may be used to attack any SQL database that isn’t adequately secured or isn’t protected at all. This procedure entails putting SQL code – most typically usernames and passwords – into a web form entry field to grant the hacker more access to the site’s backend or to a specific user’s account. In most cases, when you enter login information into sign-in forms, it is transformed to a SQL command. This command compares the data you’ve entered to the database’s relevant table. If your input data matches the data in the table, you’re permitted access; if it doesn’t, you’ll notice an error similar to what you’d see if you typed in the wrong password. An SQL injection is a command that, when placed into a web form, attempts to update the database’s content to represent a successful login. It may also be used to obtain information from unsecured websites, such as credit card numbers or passwords.

Cross-site scripting

XSS (previously CSS, but changed to avoid confusion with cascading style sheets) is a simple approach to get around a security mechanism. Cross-site scripting is a difficult-to-detect flaw in a website that makes it vulnerable to attack. A hacker infects a web page with a malicious client-side script or programme in a conventional XSS attack. When you visit this website, the script is immediately downloaded and performed in your browser. In order to fool you and collect private information, attackers typically inject HTML, JavaScript, VBScript, ActiveX, or Flash into a susceptible programme.

Salami Slicing Attack

The most popular use of the salami-slicing technique is money laundering, but it is not limited to that. The salami approach may also be used to collect little bits of data over time to create a comprehensive picture of an organisation. This act of disseminating information might be used against a person or a company. Data can be gathered from websites, adverts, recycle bin documents, and other sources, gradually accumulating a database of factual intelligence about the target.

Cases that involve cyber crime

Uidai aadhaar software hacked.

A billion Indian Aadhaar card details were leaked in India and this is one of the most massive data breaches that happened in 2018. UIDAI released the official notification about this data breach and mentioned that around 210 Indian Government websites were hacked . This data breach included Aadhar, PAN, bank account IFSC codes, and other personal information of the users and anonymous sellers were selling Aadhaar information for Rs. 500 over Whatsapp. Also, one could get an Aadhaar card printout for just Rs.300.

Mobikwik data breach

ATM system hacked

Around mid-2018 a cyber-attack was launched against Canara bank ATM servers in India. Several bank accounts were emptied of about 20 lakh rupees. According to reports, cybercriminals had access to ATM data for more than 300 individuals, resulting in a total of 50 victims. Skimming devices were used by hackers to collect information from debit cardholders. The value of transactions conducted using stolen information ranged from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 40,000.

Baazee.com case

In December 2004, the CEO of Baazee.com was arrested after a CD containing inappropriate information was sold on the website. The CD was also available in Delhi’s marketplaces. Later, the CEO was released on bail bond. This raised the question of how we should distinguish between Internet Service Providers and Content Providers. The accused bears the burden of proving that he was the Service Provider rather than the Content Provider. It also creates a lot of questions about how police should handle cyber-crime cases, and it necessitates a lot of education.

List of Blackbaud breach victims tops 120

The National Trust in the United Kingdom has joined a growing list of education and charitable organisations whose alumni or contributors’ data has been compromised as a result of a two-month-old ransomware attack at US cloud software provider Blackbaud. The Trust, which manages hundreds of vital and historical sites throughout the UK, including natural landscapes and landmarks, parks, gardens, and stately homes, told BBC that the data of its volunteers and fundraisers had been compromised, but the data on its 5.6 million members was safe. The organisation is investigating and alerting anyone who could be affected. It has also reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is currently dealing with a significant number of reports, including Blackbaud’s, in accordance with UK data protection laws.

Phishing scam targets Lloyds Bank customers

A phishing scam is presently infecting the inboxes of Lloyds Bank customers via email and text messages. Griffin Law, a law firm, has warned individuals about the fraud after learning of around 100 people who have received the texts. Customers’ bank accounts have been hacked, according to the email, which seems to be official Lloyds Bank correspondence. “Your Account Banking has been blocked, owing to recent actions on your account, we have temporarily suspended your account until you authenticate your account,” it says.

Cyber gangsters hit UK medical firm poised for work on coronavirus with Maze ransomware attack

The computer systems of a medical research business on standby to conduct trials of a potential future vaccine for the Covid-19 coronavirus were assaulted by cybercriminals. After Hammersmith Medicines Research refused to pay a ransom, the Maze ransomware organisation hacked the company’s computer systems, exposing the personal information of thousands of former patients. Early clinical trials of medications and vaccines are conducted by the business, which conducted studies to create the Ebola vaccine and treatments to treat Alzheimer’s illness.

Carnival cruise lines hit by ransomware, customer data stolen

Carnival Corporation has revealed that it has been the target of an unidentified ransomware assault that has accessed and encrypted a piece of one of its brands’ IT systems, putting the personal information of both customers and employees at risk. Carnival, like the rest of the travel sector, has been hit by the Covid-19 epidemic – it also owns Princess Cruises, which owns the ill-fated Diamond Princess, which was at the centre of the original outbreak – it has filed a report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.  The company said cyber thieves who gained access to its systems also grabbed a number of its data files, implying that it may be vulnerable to a double extortion attempt similar to those carried out by the Maze and ReVIL/Sodinokibi gangs.

Cosmetics company Avon offline after cyber attack

After an alleged ransomware attack on its IT systems, parts of the UK website of Brazilian-owned cosmetics and beauty company Avon remained offline more than a week after the attack. The assault is thought to have harmed the back-end systems used by the company’s well-known sales reps in nations other than the United Kingdom, including Poland and Romania, which are currently operational. People have been unable to place orders with the firm as a result of this. On June 9, 2020, Avon notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission of the breach, stating that the company had had a “cyber event” in its IT infrastructure that had disrupted systems and impacted operations.

As people’s reliance on technology grows, cyber laws in India and around the world must be updated and refined on a regular basis. The pandemic has also driven a large portion of the workforce into a remote working mode, highlighting the importance of app security. Legislators must go above and beyond to stay ahead of the impostors in order to stop them in their tracks. Cybercrime can be managed, but it will require the cooperation of legislators, Internet or network providers, intermediaries such as banks and shopping sites, and, most crucially, consumers. Online safety and resilience can be achieved by the judicious actions of various stakeholders, assuring their adherence to the law of the cyberland. In a nutshell, cybercrime refers to any crime done via electronic methods, such as net extortion, cyberbullying, child pornography, and internet fraud. The internet is a significant breeding ground for pornography, which has frequently been subjected to obscenity-based regulation. However, what is considered obscene in India may not be so in other countries. Pornography is rampant online due to the fact that each country’s legal position on the subject is varied. Pornography, on the other hand, falls under the category of obscenity and is criminal under Indian law, according to the Indian Constitution. Child pornography is a severe crime that can result in the toughest penalties allowed by law. Pedophiles prey on minors in chat rooms. Because the photographs, once posted, spread like wildfire and may never be taken down completely, the internet enables for long-term exploitation of such children. Internet crimes against minors are a serious concern that is being addressed by authorities, but there is no simple solution to this problem.

To summarize, while a crime-free society is a utopian concept and only exists in dreams, there should be a continued effort to keep crimes to a minimum. . Electronic crime is expected to increase, especially in a society that is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, and lawmakers will have to go the extra mile to keep fraudsters at bay. Technology has always been a double-edged sword that may be used for both good and evil purposes. They fall under the category of cybercrime and become punishable offences when they fall into the wrong hands with a criminal intent to profit from or misuse software. As a result, rulers and legislators should make constant efforts to ensure that technology develops in a healthy manner and is employed for legal and ethical economic growth rather than criminal activity thus minimizing the increasing rate of cyber-crimes that aim to target people instead of money.

• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/legal-writing/cyber-crimes-in-india-and-its-legal-remedies-35244/
• https://www.appknox.com/blog/cybersecurity-laws-in-india
• https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/panda-security/types-of-cybercrime/
• https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/cybercrime/module-2/key-issues/computer-related-offences.html
• https://www.infosecawareness.in/cyber-laws-of-india
• https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-1019-importance-of-cyber-law-in-india.html
• https://www.digit.in/technology-guides/fasttrack-to-cyber-crime/the-12-types-of-cyber-crime.html
• https://www.news18.com/news/india/explained-what-is-cyber-crime-its-types-and-laws-in-india-3735560.html
• https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252493515/Top-10-cyber-crime-stories-of-2020
• https://www.kratikal.com/blog/5-biggest-cyber-attacks-in-india/
• http://www.cyberlawclinic.org/casestudy.htm

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A Case Study on Zonal Analysis of Cybercrimes Over a Decade in India

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Human intelligence has transformed the world through various innovative technologies. One such transformative technology is the internet. The world of the internet, known as cyberspace, though powerful, is also where most crimes occur. Cybercrime is one of the significant factors in cybersecurity, which plays a vital role in information technology and needs to be addressed with high priority. This chapter is a case study where we analyze cybercrimes in India. The data collected from NCRB for 2010 to 2020 are a primary source for the analysis. A detailed analysis of cybercrime across India is done by dividing locations into seven zones: central, east, west, north, south, northeast, and union territories. Cybercrimes reported in each zone are examined to identify which zone requires immediate measures to be taken to provide security. The work also identifies the top ten states which rank high in cybercrime. The main aim of this chapter is to provide a detailed analysis of crimes that occurred and the measures taken to curb them. Along with the primary data, secondary data from CERT-In are also used to provide an analysis of measures taken for handling cybercrime over a decade. The outcome facilitates various stakeholders to better bridge the gap in handling cybercrime incidences, thus helping in incidence prevention and response services as well as security quality management services.

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A Study on Cyber Crime and its Legal Framework in India

• Apoorva Bhangla and Jahanvi Tuli
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Apoorva Bhangla

Student at NMIMS School of Law, India

Jahanvi Tuli

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Cyber-crime mainly involves activities that use internet and computers as a tool to extract private information of an individual either directly or indirectly and disclosing it on online platforms without the person’s consent or illegally with the aim of degrading the reputation or causing mental or physical harm. With the advancement in technology a steep increase in the rate of cyber-crimes has been observed. With the increase of dependency on cyberspace internet crimes committed against women have also increased. This is mainly because around more than half of the online users are not fully aware of the functioning of online platforms, they are ignorant towards technological advancements and have minimal adequate training and education. Thus, cybercrime has emerged as a major challenge for the law enforcement agencies of different countries in order to protect women and children who are harassed and abused for voyeuristic pleasures. Women are commonly targeted for cyber stalking, cyber pornography, impersonation etc. India is one of the few countries which has enacted the IT Act 2000 to deal with issues pertaining to cyber-crimes in order to protect the women from exploitation by vicious predators however this act doesn’t address some of the gravest dangers to the security of the women and issues involving women are still growing immensely.

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International Journal of Law Management and Humanities, Volume 4, Issue 2, Page 493 - 504

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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits remixing, adapting, and building upon the work for non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright © IJLMH 2021

I. Introduction

The advent of technology has provided women an opportunity to explore their strengths and widen their capabilities. With the rapid modernisation taking place all over the world, internet has become a part of our daily lives. It has proved to be an efficient tool of communication. However, with the increase of dependency on cyberspace internet crimes committed against women have also increased. Women all over the world have been victims to a number of harassments for decades now. With the advent of technology and digitalisation people have the ability to communicate virtually with anybody, anytime and anywhere across the globe. Cyber-crime has emerged as one of the results of this modernisation. Online platforms are often used to harass and abuse women for voyeuristic pleasures. One of the major reasons as to why it takes place is because of the fact that around more than half of the online users are not fully aware of the functioning of online platforms such as WhatsApp, skype, Facebook, etc. There is minimal adequate training and education that is provided to the users. Moreover, ignorance towards technological advancements has carved its way for such heinous crimes. Women are commonly targeted for cyber stalking, cyber pornography, impersonation etc. The victims often trust the offender and share their private data or information as a consequence of which innumerable cyber-crimes take place daily. Due to fear of defamation in the society and lack of evidence it becomes really difficult to identify the origin of the crime. Cyber-crime has become a concept wherein majority of cases the victims have been women who have fallen prey to technological fancies. A steep increase in the rate of cyber-crimes has been observed in different countries where the primary concern has always been the protection of women. India is one of the few countries which has enacted the IT Act 2000 to deal with issues pertaining to cyber-crimes in order to protect the women from exploitation by vicious predators and provide them support so that they can fight back against all wrongdoings. Many institutions have taken up the issues pertaining to cybercrime in order to raise awareness for the safety of women but still a steep increase has been observed in this area, which poses a negative impact on the development of the nation. 

II. What is Cyber Crime?

Cybercrimes can be defined as: “Offences 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”. [1]

Cyber-crime involves the use of internet and computer. It threatens an individual’s privacy by disclosing or publishing their personal or confidential information online with the aim of degrading their reputation and causing them physical or mental harm either directly or indirectly. Women are generally the targets of these offenders because they are inexperienced and lack knowledge of the cyber world, thereby falling prey to the technological fancies.

Debarati Halder and K. Jaishankar further define cybercrime from the perspective of gender and defined “cybercrime against women” as “Crimes targeted against women with a motive to intentionally harm the victim psychologically and physically, using modern telecommunication networks such as internet and mobile phones”.

Types of Cyber Crime

• Cyberstalking

In today’s modern world, it is one of the most commonly committed crimes. It involves following a person’s movements and pursuing him/her stealthily. It involves gathering data that maybe used to harass a person or making false accusations or threats. A cyber stalker uses internet to stalk someone and thus, doesn’t pose a direct physical threat to an individual but due to the anonymity of the interactions that take place online the chances of identification of the cyber stalker becomes quite difficult which makes this crime more common than physical stalking. 

One of the major targets of cyber stalking is women and children who are stalked by men and adult predators namely, for revenge, for sexual harassment and for ego. Most of the times, the victim is unaware of the use and rules of the internet and the anonymity of the users has contributed to the rise of cyber stalking as a form of crime. The offender  for committing this offence maybe charged for breach of confidentiality and privacy under section 72 of the IT Act, 2000 as cyber stalking is yet not covered under existing cyber laws in India. Also, section 441 and 509 of IPC are also applicable for the same.

• Cyber Pornography

It is a major threat to women and children security as it involves publishing and transmitting pornographic pictures, photos or writings using the internet which can be reproduced on various other electronic devices instantly. It refers to portrayal of sexual material on the internet.

According to A.P. Mali, “It is the graphic, sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures or words that also includes pornography is verbal or pictorial material which represents or describes sexual behaviour that is degrading or abusive to one or more of participants in such a way as to endorse the degradation. The person has chosen or consented to be harmed, abused, subjected to coercion does not alter the degrading character of such behaviour.” [2] Around 50% of the total websites on the internet show pornographic material wherein photos and pictures of women are posted online that are dangerous to women’s integrity. 

According to IT Amendment Act 2008 “crime of pornography under section 67-A, whoever publishes and transmits or causes to be a published and transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct can be called as pornography. Section 292/293/294, 500/506 and 509 of Indian Panel Code, 1860 are also applicable and victim can file a complaint near the Police Station where the crime has been committed or where he comes to know about crime. After proving crime, the accused can be called as first conviction with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years including fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees. In the second conviction the term of imprisonment may extend to seven years and fine may extend to ten lakh rupees”.

• Cyber Morphing

It is a form of crime in which the original picture is edited by an unauthorised user or a person possessing a fake identity. Photographs are taken of female users from their profiles and are then reposted for pornographic purposes by fake accounts on different sites after editing them. Due to the lack of awareness among the users the criminals are encouraged to commit such heinous crimes. Cyber morphing or Cyber obscenity is punishable under section 43 and 66 of Information Act 2000.

• Cyber Bullying

Cyberbullying involves the use of internet for causing embarrassment or humiliation to someone place by sharing their personal or private data by sending, posting or sharing harmful or false content over digital devices like computers, tablets, laptops and cell phones. It can take place through SMS, online gaming communities, online forums or social media platforms wherein information can be exchanged online and is available to a number of people. Cyberbullying is persistent and permanent and therefore, can harm the online reputation of not just the victim but both the parties involved. 

• Email Spoofing and Impersonation

It is one of the most common cybercrime. It involves sending e-mail which represents its origin. In today’s times, this from of crime has become immensely common that it becomes really difficult to assess as to whether the mail that is received is truly from the original sender. Email spoofing is mostly used to extract personal information and private images from women fraudulently and are later used to blackmail them. According to a report, there has been a 280% of increase of phishing attacks since 2016. Avanan research depicts that around 4% of the total emails that are received by an individual user are fraudulent emails. In Gujarat Ambuja’s Executive case, the 51 year old cyber 1 criminal created a fake email ID and pretending to be a woman indulged in a “cyber relationship” extorting Rs 96 lakh from an Abu Dhabi based businessman. [3]

Email spoofing is an offence under section 66-D of the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 and section 417, 419 and 465 of Indian Panel Code 1860. It is a cognizable, bailable and compoundable offence with permission of the court before which the prosecution of such offence is pending and triable by any magistrate.

• Online Trolling

It is a form of online violence on social media platforms where people are given the liberty to speak their mind. Online harassers often tend to target people who express their opinions and think differently from the prevailing societal norms. On such section constitutes of females who are targeted by social media bullies. According to Digital Hifazat report, “women that are vocal online, especially on topics that have been traditionally relegated to ‘male expertise’ like religion or politics, or about women’s experiences, including those of sexuality, menstruation, or speaking out about patriarchy, are subjected to a vicious form of trolling, usually from self-identified right-wing accounts on Twitter.” [4]

Social media bullying takes a toll on the mental as well as the physical health of the victims. Abuse, hate speech and mean comments are the most common elements of trolling. The most common consequences of trolling are self-censorship and mental health concerns. 

III. Extent of cybercrime against women in india

With approximately 688 million active users, India is the second largest internet market in the world. [5] Sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat are the most liked in India. While internet population has been increasing there still is a gender divide. According to a report published by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) on internet usage in India, about 67% of the users are male compared to which only 33% are female. [6] This disparity between the male and female users is the major reason for the growth of cybercrime incidents against women.

Cyber-crimes are illegal activities which is forbidden by the law and committed by the use of internet and cyber technology. Cyber-crimes can be committed against any person, property or government but this paper solely focuses on cyber- crimes against women. According to National Crime Research Bureau there was sharp increase in the number of reported cyber-crime in 2017 in comparison to past years. Further increase in the reported cybercrimes can be seen in the year 2018. “While a total of 21,796 crimes were recorded under both IPC and IT Act in 2017, the number has increased to 27,248 in 2018.” [7] In 2017 NCRB for the first time had included categories relating to women and child on the nature of crimes committed against them.

Since the 1990s the information technology has taken giant strides forward and every family who has a modest income has the internet service. Individuals from varying age are able to use it everywhere starting from their home to their workplace. It can be deduced that internet has become a world on its own with its own place where one can share, have cultural values or opportunities.  But it has its own disadvantages, the cyber world has become a place for wrongdoers to defraud women and some even going as low as to encroach children. The ceaseless advancement of internet is making it harder to detect and regulate leading to rise of cyber criminals. Due to technological innovations cyber criminals are able to commit crime with a fake identity from any place in the world. This means that they do not have any physical contact with the real world and are mostly getting away with it without any punishment. With the protection of anonymity people are able to access any kind of material on the web which leads to huge number of anti-social, violent and aggressive content.

One of the major reason for the rise of cyber-crime against women apart from the advancement of internet is the fact that Indian women are not open on reporting a cyber-crime. They fear that it will bring disgrace to their families. Most of the times they believe that it is their own fault that the crime happened. Cyber space is a world on its own and people come and go as they please. This makes the cyber criminals to commit a crime and escape punishment easily. Through various instances it can be seen that women befriend men on the internet who forms a bond by discussing their lives and pretending to be the woman’s true friend. Gradually they form a strong friendship and then starts to send obscene messages. In this tinstance it is the duty of the woman to report the person but it can be seen that in the most of the cases they shy away and this gives more courage to the cyber-criminal. A 2016 survey on Violence Online in India conducted by the Feminism in India portal on 500 individuals (97% women and 3% trans-genders) found that 58 percent of respondents “had faced some kind of online aggression in the form of trolling, bullying, abuse or harassment”. But 38% of those who faced such violence did not take any action. [8] The victim women needs to understand that by reporting the man the problem can be solved and further saving the lives of other woman who can be the criminal’s future targets.

IV. The legal framework

There are two unique features of the Internet. Firstly, it is not confined to a particular boundary and the cyber-criminal can commit a crime from ay part of the world. The second unique feature is that it provide anonymity to its users which has its own boon and bane. For people who use this anonymity for putting out their opinion to the world it’s a boon but the perpetrators who use this anonymity for commission of crime it is a bane. Therefore this features not only pose a challenge in crime prevention but also in the implementation of law. At present there is no specific law that deals with cyber-crime against women. Other laws which can be used in the specific case, most women are not aware of. Women does not know about their rights or that such rights exist.

There are many laws in statues and regulations which penalises cyber-crime. But the majority of the laws belong to the Indian penal Code (IPC), 1860 and the Information technology Act (IT Act), 2000. The IPC is the general criminal code of India which defines offences and prescribes punishment for the same. IPC covers laws and punishment pertaining to physical world and has been legislatively amended and judiciously interpreted to be applicable to cyber criminals. Whereas the IT Act is a specific code pertaining to use of information technology and crime committed through it. In 2008 IT Amendment Act was enacted inclusive of certain crimes related to cyber world. Both IT Act and IPC are complementary to each other on cyber-crime against women. The below mentioned table is taken from a discussion paper published by IT for Change it showcases the laws that a cyber-criminal can be charged with when he/she commits a crime against women. Following which the loopholes in the said laws is analysed.

Table 1. Key legal provisions that can be invoked to address online Violence against women [9]

Lacuna in the Existing Provision of Law

• The verbal abuse made online which does not contain any sexual content is not properly tackled. General sexist comments have not been taken under Section 499 and Section 507 of the IPC which deals with criminal defamation and criminal intimidation pertaining to those trolls that are of personal nature. Further, doxing without any circulation of sexual material and without any intimidation is not included. Section 66 of the IT Act criminalises hacking but it does not explicitly state the act of doxing through hacking. Online trolling, verbal abuse, hacking for doxing has been treated as personal and isolated crime in Section 499 and Section 507 of IPC and Section 66 of the IT Act. It is important to note that this act of abuse is committed against women because she is a women. From the past it can be seen that the abuse is based on the women’s sexuality and caste.
• Section 66E of IT Act and Section 354C, Section 354D of the Criminal Laws Amendment Act 2013 are the exception to violence as physical harm and not as intrusion to bodily integrity and personal autonomy as defined by the other sections of IT Act and IPC. These sections also just focuses on physical privacy and not on the “informational privacy”. [10] It is to be considered that Section 509 of IPC mention “Privacy” but it only talks about privacy with respect to women’s modesty. “Sexual violence is largely viewed from the standpoint of maintaining public decency through curbing obscenity and protecting the modesty of women.” [11] Further, it can be seen that withdrawn at any point. Sexual violence is combined with the need to regulate the ratification and representation of sexuality which results in reinforcing genders norms of protecting women’s sexuality rather than protecting her bodily integrity or their informational privacy. Section 72 [12] and Section 43 read with Section 66 [13] of the IT Act is an economic offence and not a gender or social offence.
• Psychological violence based on gender against women is not recognised by the law outside their familial setting. Acknowledgement of psychological violence that is the circulation of private information through infringement of privacy which is not of sexual nature is not been done.
• Additionally laws like Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 which deals with cases related to psychological violence at home and live in relationships does not talk about cybercrime with respect to women.

V. Suggestions

• While using online platform not divulging any personal data is almost impossible and thus, one should beware while sharing any personal information online.
• It is imperative that an eye should be kept on phony email messages and such emails should not be responded to that ask for personal information. Also, email address should be guarded.
• While engaging in online activities it is imperative that attention should be paid to privacy policies on websites and steer clear of fraudulent websites used to steal personal information.
• It is necessary that response to offences on the internet against women should be seen as part of the broader movement against harassment and abuse. Broader efforts should be initiated as it is ultimately a people- centred challenge.
• Keeping up with the pace of change is the need of the hour. Keeping up with the technological advancements is a challenge that is essential to overcome as most of the online crimes takes place due to the lack of knowledge and awareness among the users.
• A collaborative effort among media, clubs, associations and women’s media networks is critical to promote women’s leadership and decision making in the society.
• Online diligence, monitoring and reporting against violence and cyber-crime should be done effectively and efficiently.
• There should be an E-portal where women can report their problems online themselves without suffering from the stigma of involving police in such matters. Also, the database of criminals should be maintained which could help in law enforcement.
• Women should be made aware about using online media platforms and adequate procedures should be followed by them. They need to be aware of their right in the cyberspace.
• Education systems must initiate contemporary issues regarding online crimes and awareness should be spread regarding safe internet uses.
• The government should make more rigid rules to apply on the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as they have the entire record of the data that is accuses by the users surfing on the web. Also, in case of any suspicious activities a report should be made by them in order to prevent crimes at an early stage.

VI. Conclusion

“The law is not the be-all and end-all solution.” Victims are still not getting justice despite of a strong legal base in spite of them remaining silent. Cyber-crime against women is just a reality check of what really is going on in the real world. The lines between the online and offline world is getting blurred. Cyber-crime happens because the criminals think that is a much easier way with less punishment. With millions of users in the online platforms complaint mechanisms has also become fruitless.

For instance in the recent boy’s locker room case where group of teenage boys from Delhi shared pictures of underage women and objectified them by passing derogatory comments on group chat in Instagram and Snapchat. When a girl shared the screenshots of the chats the group was busted. Women all over country raised voices but it could be seen that they were not shocked. The reason is that objectification of women has become quite normal in the society. Women have has accepted this mentality of objectification by male as every day new cases come into light. Years have passed and still women lives in the fear of going out alone outside in the real world. In fact the online world which she could go to in the safety of her home has also become an unsafe place.

It comes upon the women to take preventive measures such as usage of data security, not leaving digital footprint, keeping everything password protected. But this are all superficial ways. The major problem that has always been existing is the patriarchy and misogyny in the society. To solve this problem a long term measure need to be undertaken that will help in dealing with cyber-crime against women.

There is the need of the hour to evolve the societal and cultural norms with the development of information technology. Mandatory steps need to be taken. Steps like digital literacy, development of data security, providing access of technology to women and girls and most of all enactment of laws specifically on cyber-crime especially with reference to women.

[1] DEBRATI HALDER &   K. JAISHANKAR,   CYBER CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA

[2] Adv. Prashant Mali, IT Act 2000: Types of Cyber Crimes & Cyber Law in India-Part 1 .

[3] Case of Cyber Extortion , INDIA FORENSIC, (Jan 20, 2021), http://www.indiaforensic.com/cyberextortion.htm

[4] Trolls Target Women: Dealing with Online Violence, THE CITIZEN, (Jan 21, 2021), https://www.thecitizen.in/ index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/7/17330/Trolls-Target-Women-Dealing-with-Online-Violence

[5] Digital population in India as of January 2020 , STATISTA, (Jan 21, 2021),   www.statista.com/statistics/309866/ india-digital-population/.

[6] India Internet 2019 , IAMAI, (Jan 28, 2021), https://cms.iamai.in/Content/ResearchPapers/d3654bcc-002f-4fc7-ab39-e1fbeb00005d.pdf

[7] Crime in India- 2018 , NCRB, (Jan 28, 2021), https://ncrb.gov.in/crime-india-2018

[8] Pasricha & Japleen, “Violence” online in India: Cybercrimes against women and minorities on social media , http://feminisminindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/FII_cyberbullying_report_website.pdf

[9] Technology-mediated violence against women in India, IT FOR CHANGE, (Jan 29, 2021), https://itforchange.net/e-vaw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DISCUSSIONPAPER.pdf

[10] “Information privacy, or data privacy (or data protection), concerns personally identifiable information or other sensitive information and how it is collected, stored, used, and finally destroyed or deleted – in digital form or otherwise. In relation to technology, it pertains to the relationship between collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, and the legal and political issues surrounding them.”

[11] supra note 9

[12] Breach of privacy and confidentiality

[13] Data Theft

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Cyber Crime In India: An Overview

Types of cybercrimes:.

• Cyber crimes against persons like harassment occur in cyberspace or through the use of cyberspace.Harassment can be sexual, racial, religious, or other.
• Cyber crimes against property like computer wreckage (destruction of others' property), transmission ofharmful programs, unauthorized trespassing, unauthorized possession of computer information.
• Cyber crimes against government like Cyber terrorism
• Cyber-Stalking: It means to create physical threat that creates fear to use the computer technology such as internet, e-mail, phones, text messages, webcam, websites or videos.  
• Dissemination of Obscene Material: It includes Indecent exposure/ Pornography (basically child pornography), hosting of web site containing these prohibited materials. These obscene matters may cause harm to the mind of the adolescent and tend to deprave or corrupt their mind.  
• Defamation: It is an act of imputing any person to lower down the dignity of the person by hacking his mail account and sending some mails with using vulgar language to unknown persons mail account.  
• Hacking: It means unauthorized control/access over computer system and act of hacking completelydestroys the whole data as well as computer programmes. Hackers usually hacks telecommunication and mobile network.  
• Cracking: It is one of the serious cyber crimes known till date .Cracking means that a stranger hasbroken into your computer systems without your knowledge and consent and has tampered withprecious confidential data and information.  
• E-Mail Spoofing: A spoofed e-mail may be said to be one, which misrepresents its origin. It shows itsorigin to be different from which actually it originates.  
• SMS Spoofing: Spoofing is a blocking through spam which means the unwanted uninvited messages.Wrongdoer steals mobile phone number of any person and sending SMS via internet and receiver gets the SMS from the mobile phone number of the victim. It is very serious cyber crime against any individual.  
• Carding: It means false ATM cards i.e. Debit and Credit cards used by criminals for their monetary benefits through withdrawing money from the victim's bank account mala-fidely. There is always unauthorized use of ATM cards in this type of cyber crimes.  
• Cheating & Fraud: It means the person who is doing the act of cyber crime i.e. stealing password and data storage has done it with having guilty mind which leads to fraud and cheating.  
• Child Pornography: It involves the use of computer networks to create, distribute, or access materials that sexually exploit underage children.  
• Assault by Threat: refers to threatening a person with fear for their lives or lives of their families through the use of a computer network i.e. E-mail, videos or phones.
• Intellectual Property Crimes: Intellectual property consists of a bundle of rights. Any unlawful act by which the owner is deprived completely or partially of his rights is an offence. The common form of IPR violation may be said to be software piracy, infringement of copyright, trademark, patents, designs and service mark violation, theft of computer source code, etc.  
• Cyber Squatting: It means where two persons claim for the same Domain Name either by claiming that they had registered the name first on by right of using it before the other or using something similar to that previously. For example two similar names i.e. www.yahoo.com and www.yaahoo.com.  
• Cyber Vandalism: Vandalism means deliberately destroying or damaging property of another. Thus cyber vandalism means destroying or damaging the data when a network service is stopped or disrupted. It may include within its purview any kind of physical harm done to the computer of any person. These acts may take the form of the theft of a computer, some part of a computer or a peripheral attached to the computer.  
• Hacking Computer System: Hacktivism attacks those included Famous Twitter, blogging platform by unauthorized access/control over the computer. Due to the hacking activity there will be loss of data as well as computer. Also research especially indicates that those attacks were not mainly intended for financial gain too and to diminish the reputation of particular person or company.  
• Transmitting Virus: Viruses are programs that attach themselves to a computer or a file and then circulate themselves to other files and to other computers on a network. They usually affect the data on a computer, either by altering or deleting it. Worm attacks plays major role in affecting the computerize system of the individuals.  
• Cyber Trespass: It means to access someone's computer without the right authorization of the owner and does not disturb, alter, misuse, or damage data or system by using wireless internet connection.  
• Internet Time Thefts: Basically, Internet time theft comes under hacking. It is the use by an unauthorized person, of the Internet hours paid for by another person. The person who gets access to someone else's ISP user ID and password, either by hacking or by gaining access to it by illegal means, uses it to access the Internet without the other person's knowledge. You can identify time theft if your Internet time has to be recharged often, despite infrequent usage.
• Cyber Terrorism: Cyber terrorism is a major burning issue in the domestic as well as global concern. The common form of these terrorist attacks on the Internet is by distributed denial of service attacks, hate websites and hate e-mails, attacks on sensitive computer networks etc. Cyber terrorism activities endanger the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.  
• Cyber Warfare: It refers to politically motivated hacking to damage and spying. It is a form of information warfare sometimes seen as analogous to conventional warfare although this analogy is controversial for both its accuracy and its political motivation.  
• Distribution of pirated software: It means distributing pirated software from one computer to another intending to destroy the data and official records of the government.  
• Possession of Unauthorized Information: It is very easy to access any information by the terrorists with the aid of internet and to possess that information for political, religious, social, ideological objectives.

Analysis Of Cybercrimes In India:

Origin Of Cyber Crime:

Cyber laws:.

• Tampering with Computer source documents - Sec.65
• Hacking with Computer systems, Data alteration - Sec.66
• Publishing obscene information - Sec.67
• Un-authorised access to protected system Sec.70
• Breach of Confidentiality and Privacy - Sec.72
• Publishing false digital signature certificates - Sec.73  
• Sending threatening messages by email - Sec 503 IPC
• Sending defamatory messages by email - Sec 499 IPC
• Forgery of electronic records - Sec 463 IPC
• Bogus websites, cyber frauds - Sec 420 IPC
• Email spoofing - Sec 463 IPC
• Web-Jacking - Sec. 383 IPC
• E-Mail Abuse - Sec.500 IPC  
• Online sale of Drugs under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act
• Online sale of Arms Arms Act

Steps Ton Prevent Cyber Crimes

• Never disclose personal information publicly on websites. This is as good as disclosing one's identity to a stranger in public place.
• Always avoid sending any photograph online particularly to strangers and chat friends as there have been incidents of misuse of the photographs.
• Never enter credit card number to any side that is not secured, to prevent its misuse.

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INCREASE IN CYBER CRIMES

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes the statistical data on crimes in its publication “Crime in India”. The latest published report is for the year 2022. As per the data published by the NCRB, State/UT-wise details of cases registered under cyber crimes (involving communication devices as medium/target) for last three years are at the Annexure.

The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for capacity building of their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include the following:

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) to deal with all types of cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.
• Seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) have been constituted for Mewat, Jamtara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vishakhapatnam, and Guwahati under I4C covering the whole country based upon cyber crime hotspots/ areas having multi jurisdictional issues by on boarding States/UTs to enhance the coordination framework among the Law Enforcement Agencies of the States/UTs. Seven workshops were organized for JCCTs at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Vishakhapatnam, Lucknow, Ranchi and Chandigarh in 2023.
• National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Investigation) has been established, as a part of the I4C, at New Delhi to provide early stage cyber  forensic  assistance  to Investigating Officers (IOs) of State/UT Police. So far, National Cyber Forensics Laboratory (Investigation) have provided its services to State LEAs in around 9,000 cyber forensics like mobile forensics, memory forensics, Call Data Record (CDR) Analysis, etc. to help them in investigation of cases pertaining to cyber crimes.
• The ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ ( https://cybercrime.gov.in ) has been launched, as a part of the I4C, to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Cyber crime incidents reported on this portal, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action thereon are handled by the State/UT Law Enforcement Agencies concerned as per the provisions of the law.
• The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’, under I4C, has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters. So far, an amount of more than Rs. 1200 Crore have been saved in more than 4.7 lakh complaints. A toll-free Helpline number ‘1930’ has been operationalized to  get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.
• The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform, namely ‘CyTrain’ portal  has been developed  under  I4C, for capacity building of police officers/judicial  officers through online course  on critical  aspects of cyber crime investigation, forensics, prosecution etc. along with certification. More than 76,000 Police Officers from States/UTs are registered and more than 53,000 Certificates issued through the portal.
• Till date more than 3.2 lakhs SIM cards and 49,000 IMEIs as reported by Police authorities have been blocked by Government of India.
• I4C has imparted cyber hygiene training to 6,000 officials of various Ministries/ Departments of Government of India.
• I4C has imparted cyber hygiene training to more than 23,000 NCC cadets.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 122.24 crores under the ‘Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC)’ Scheme, to the States/UTs for their capacity building such as setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, hiring of junior cyber consultants and training of LEAs’ personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers. So far, cyber forensic-cum-training  laboratories  have  been   commissioned  in  33 States/UTs. So far, more than 24,600 LEA personnel, judicial officers and prosecutors have been provided training on cyber crime awareness, investigation, forensics etc.
• National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Evidence) has been set up at Hyderabad. Establishment of this laboratory provides the necessary forensic support in cases of evidence related to cyber crime, preserving the evidence and its analysis in line with the provisions of IT Act and Evidence Act; and reduced turnaround time.
• To spread awareness on cyber crime, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include; dissemination of messages through SMS, I4C social media account i.e. X (formerly Twitter) (@Cyberdost), Facebook(CyberDostI4C), Instagram (cyberdostI4C), Telegram(cyberdosti4c), Radio campaign, engaged MyGov for publicity in multiple mediums, organizing Cyber Safety and Security Awareness weeks in association with States/UTs, publishing of Handbook for Adolescents/Students, etc. The States/UTs have also been requested to carry out publicity to create mass awareness.
• CERT-In issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats/vulnerabilities and countermeasures to protect computers, mobile phones, networks and data on an ongoing basis.
• CERT-In, through RBI, has advised all authorised entities and banks issuing pre-paid payment instruments (wallets) in the country to carry out special audit by CERT-In-empanelled auditors, close the non-compliances identified in the audit report and ensure implementation of security best practices.
• CERT-In and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) jointly carry out a cyber security awareness campaign on ‘beware and be aware of financial frauds’ through the Digital India Platform.

State/UT-wise details of cases registered under cyber crimes (involving communication devices as medium/target) for last three years

     Source: Crime in India published by NCRB.

               # Clarifications are pending from Nagaland for the year 2022

   This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra  in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

RK/ASH/AKS/RR/PR/AK/548

• भारत सरकार Government of india
• गृह मंत्रालय Ministry of Home Affairs

राष्ट्रीय साइबर अपराध रिपोर्टिंग पोर्टल National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal

Women/Children Related Crime

FINANCIAL FRAUD

OTHER CYBER CRIME

Learning Corner

CITIZEN MANUAL

It is a document to describe the functionalities and workflow that is provided to citizens on the cybercrime portal for reporting cybercrimes.

CYBER SAFETY TIPS

To stay safe in the online world, it is important to follow important cyber safety practices which may help in protecting ourselves and our families from imminent threats that may harm our data and devices.

CYBER AWARENESS

Cyber awareness is an ongoing process of educating employees and citizens about the threats that lurk in cyberspace and how to act responsibly.

DAILY DIGEST

Comprehensive document prepared by Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) to aware employees and citizens about cyber fraud modus operandi.

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CBI arrested 43 individuals in Delhi-NCR for running a global cybercrime network. The network, operating since 2022, defrauded victims of over 20 million USD by impersonating legitimate entities. The operation received support from FBI and Interpol.

Home Minister Amit Shah highlighted the significant increase in cyber fraud complaints in India, with approximately 27 lakh cases reported in the past year. He emphasized the connection of 99.5% of police stations to the government's CCTNS for enhanced vigilance.

In a major cyber heist, hackers stole Rs 16.50 crore from Nainital Bank in Noida (Sector 62) between June 16-20. Using managerial login credentials, funds were transferred to 89 accounts. The IT manager discovered this during balance sheet reconciliation. Investigation led by ACP Vivek Ranjan Rai's special team focuses on the undetected server breach.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre issues a public advisory cautioning citizens about fake emails impersonating government notices. Recommendations include verifying email origin and contacting relevant departments for confirmation. Recent surge in fraudulent emails with serious accusations highlighted in the advisory.

The Government of India has launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to assist victims in reporting cyber fraud. It provides a streamlined process for individuals to file complaints and seek help.

Bilaspur software engineer Nitin Jain lost Rs 1.40 crore to scammer Rohit Jain, who used 11 SIM cards. Solved in 48 hours by SP Rajnesh Singh, Rohit posed as Ekta, an RBI officer, and a judge, meeting Nitin in Pune and threatening police raids. Police froze 35-40 bank accounts following Rohit’s arrest.

Gurgaon police arrested a man in Nuh's Chandka village for allegedly cheating a Rapido bike rider out of Rs 6,000 using a fake SMS. In a separate incident, three men were arrested for robbing another Rapido driver of his bike and cell phone in Gurgaon on July 21.

Bilaspur resident Nitin Jain was scammed out of Rs 1.40 crore by Rohit Jain, who used multiple personas including a woman named 'Ekta Jain'. The scam involved various frauds amounting to Rs 30 lakh, Rs 20 lakh, Rs 15 lakh, and another Rs 20 lakh.

IPS officer Manish Shankar Sharma faces cyber fraud exploiting his identity for ransom. Received awards for Indo-US relations, terrorism strategies, and rare honors from India, Bosnia, US.

cyber crime cases Photos

Digital arrest: How cyber criminals are tapping your fears to hijack your brain

Forget phishing, a whole new generation of cybercrooks is here. with a mix of online and phone calls, they make people follow their commands, at times for days, and empty out their bank accounts. here's all about scams like digital arrest and how to avert being defrauded..

Listen to Story

• Cyber scammers are controlling the brains of their victims by using their fears
• It starts with tracking victims, calling and threatening them, and looting money
• Experts suggest what you can do to avoid getting scammed and losing millions

A blank screen flashed on Prabir's phone. He ignored the call, once, twice and finally, the third time, he picked it up. It was a video call. But the screen remained blank, he didn't know what to do or expect next. In a few seconds, a woman appeared on the call. She was nude. Before Prabir could understand what was happening, the call was over. A WhatsApp notification followed. It was a screenshot of his picture with the nude woman. The message read, "Give us Rs 15 lakh, or we will share the picture with everyone." Prabir had been cyber-scammed sitting in his house in Raigarh in Chhattisgarh.

Scamming people is as old as human civilisation. However, the methods are new in the digital age. And they are continuously evolving.

"People are scammed anywhere they live. Earlier, they used to live in villages and towns. Now, they live on their phones, so they are scammed on the internet," Hemant Tiwari, the DCP of Delhi Police's Cyber Crime Unit tells IndiaToday.in.

The new age scammers are using social media to extract information about people, use our fears against us and defraud us of our hard-earned money.

The newest form of cyber scam is 'digital arrest', where people are asked to stay on video calls for hours till they transfer all their money.

But, there is nothing called digital arrests in law.

"Digital arrests is a word scammers use in cyber frauds and scams. But the larger issue is people getting scammed over phone calls, video calls for large amounts of money," DCP Tiwari added.

Many cases of people being called by scammers impersonating police officers and CBI officials have been reported in 2024.

WHY CYBERCRIMES ARE EXPLODING IN INDIA

Innovation is also the demand of the industry of fraudsters.

These cyber scammers have now come up with fake letterheads of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Crime Investigation Department (CID).

It goes on to describe how people are made to be present on video calls for a prolonged time. "In certain instances, unsuspecting victims undergo 'digital arrest' and remain visually available over Skype or WhatsApp video calls to the fraudsters, till their demands are met."

"The fraudsters are known to use studios modelled on Police Stations and government offices and wear uniforms to appear genuine," it adds.

Citizens have been asked to be alert.

"On receiving such calls, people should immediately report the incident on cybercrime helpline number 1930 or www.cybercrime.gov.in for assistance," it added.

Delhi Police has also started a campaign to raise people's awareness on the menace called 'digital arrests'.

It all begins with a phone call.

Dr Sneha Sharma, Consultant Psychiatrist, Anvaya Healthcare, explains the human psychology that allows crooks to exploit our fears.

"We pick up the calls out of curiosity and continue it due to fear. When people get scared, the rational part of their brain stops working. The emotional part takes over. They are not thinking at that moment," Dr Sharma tells IndiaToday.in

"Does the CBI investigate these crimes? They think what can we all lose? My social status, my loved ones and a lot of time in fighting allegations even if they are false," she adds.

Sometimes, all it takes to be saved is to ask a few questions to the scammers.

A lawyer in Lucknow received a call telling him his son was going to be arrested for rape if he did not pay up Rs 10 lakh to the CID. He was asked to stay on the call till the payment went through. This was a 'digital arrest', he was told.

The lawyer was worried about his son, but he asked the CID impersonators for more details about his son's case, and he realised that the facts did not match. He told them, "I have understood, you are scammers. Do not call me again."

DELHI WOMAN STAYED ON VIDEO CALL FOR 13 HOURS, LOST Rs 83 LAKH

Not everyone is as alert and as lucky.

For Krishna Dasgupta from CR Park in South Delhi, it started with a recorded message from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The message said the 72-year-old's number would be blocked due to sharing of pornographic content.

A fake FIR and CBI impersonators awaited Krishna, followed by a video call which lasted 13 hours.

The scammers promised they were speaking to their seniors and that they intended to help her. She was given several official notices on WhatsApp. Finally, they pressured her into transferring Rs 83 lakh to what they said were Mumbai police and CBI officials.

She obeyed every command of the fake CBI officials for 13 hours, even having her meal while on the video call and going to the bank and transferring a huge amount of money.

Only later would she find out she had been scammed. This is how the brain is hijacked through fear.

Similarly, a 36-year-old Noida woman was duped out of nearly Rs 10 lakh after being subjected to a 48-hour digital arrest.

WHO ARE THESE CYBER SCAMMERS? WHERE ARE THEY FROM?

As for the scammers. Experts believe that they are part of the larger racket of people taken to South-East Asian countries from India.

These scammers are tricked into going there for employment and are then given the jobs of calling people up as impersonators of investigative agencies and extorting money, says DCP Tiwari.

Some scammers can also be traced back to Nuh and Mewat in Haryana, says crime expert Singh.

WHO GETS SCAMMED? ARE SOME PEOPLE MORE VULNERABLE?

Experts believe victims of cyber crime have a specific profile. There is a category which is more vulnerable than others.

Older people are more prone to getting cyber scammed.

"These are people, educated, 50–60 years of age, belonging to the upper-middle class. They are living alone or not with younger people who are more aware of technology. These older people are more prone to getting scammed. They have more savings, and they get fearful more easily," DCP cyber crime Tiwari tells IndiaToday.In.

HOW FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS CAN BE USED AGAINST YOU

This is how scammers controlled Prabir's mind.

He was threatened that his family members could be in danger. The scammers also knew some of his family members lived in Delhi. Scared, Prabir decided to send the money to the scammers. All the Rs 15 lakh as demanded.

"I had to agree for my family's safety," Prabir tells IndiaToday.in.

He is 60 and he lives alone. The scammers even knew about his family. But how?

"The scammers do background research before calling a person. They check their social media profiles to find out details about them. Finally, people get convinced that it is the CID or the CBI because of such intricate information," DCP Tiwari tells IndiaToday.in.

One needs to understand that in the age of social media, most people know what one has had for dinner or where one went on a holiday. There shouldn't be any element of surprise if a stranger has these details.

For Prabir, a call from police impersonators was next.

"They acted as if they would help me out of this situation and charged me another Rs 10 lakh. I had to agree for my family's safety. Now both the scammer and the ones pretending to be cybercrime officers have charged me Rs 5 lakh each, after the initial amount," Prabir told IndiaToday.in.

HOW CYBERCRIMINALS ARE MANIPULATING FEAR AND TECHNOLOGY

"People are giving money away as they are scared. They aren't aware of such crimes until someone close to them gets scammed. Then people get alert," says cyber crime expert Singh.

The stakes get higher when a loved one is involved. People choose between wasting years on investigations or giving the money away. Other important factors such as social status and long police cases come in, says psychiatrist Dr Sneha Sharma.

This is what Prabir did.

He was scammed, threatened and tracked for almost a month. In total, he gave Rs 40 lakh to the cyber crooks. He stopped speaking to his family, started eating less and was stressed and hopeless.

Realising something was amiss, Prabir's daughter spoke to him, and he confided in her. She finally took him to the police to file a complaint.

People must know that any agency discussing a digital arrest is a scam. If they are asking for money on a phone call, it is likely to be a scam. There is more.

"It is going to be a conversation between younger people of a family and the older people. Warning and informing them about cyber crime, digital arrests and such scams," says DCP cyber crime Hemant Tiwari.

But what to do during a cyber scam call?

Hang up the call, first.

"If you get a call, and they tell you, they are from CBI, CID, ED (Enforcement Directorate) and they want to arrest you for a crime. And the next step is to ask for money. It is a scam, hang up the call," cyber crime expert Singh tells IndiaToday.in.

What should be the next step?

"If you still have doubts, speak to your local police station, they will tell you if it is a legitimate complaint or not," Singh added.

Not letting your guard down, cross-questioning and asking for a physical meeting should be of help.

"People should say, I will not give money away online. I need to see the documents, meet the officer in the police station or the office. Scammers will also gauge if you are alert enough, they will not try and scam you if you are careful," said DCP Hemant Tiwari.

Taking a step back helps too.

"Listen to what the scammer is actually saying. Do not respond too quickly. The more time you take to think, the less are the chances of you getting scammed. Just breathe and think. If you can, share what is happening to someone you can trust and ask for their help," psychiatrist Sharma tells IndiaToday.in.

A step back, some thought, and then stepping ahead with caution could help you save yourself and your loved ones from a cyber scam. Anyone can get a call from these scammers. What will matter is caution and asking questions. And knowing that digital arrests do not exist or that police or an investigative agency will not arrest you or ask you for money on a call. The brain is our biggest weapon, we should use it best, and not let it get hijacked. Published By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 11, 2024

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Cyber Police Stations and Cybercrime against Women in India

Among the various victim groups targeted by cybercriminals, women have become particularly vulnerable to online harassment, cyberstalking, identity theft, revenge porn, and other forms of gender-based cyber violence. This article intends to address and map the distribution of cybercrime police stations in India with a special emphasis on addressing cybercrime against women. By establishing a robust network and checkpoints of cybercrime police stations, societies may take a significant step towards creating a safer digital environment for all.

In the digital era, rapid advancements in technology have transformed the way we live, work, and interact with each other. While these advancements have brought numerous benefits, they have also given rise to new challenges, particularly in the realm of cyber security. Cybercrime, encompassing a range of illegal activities conducted through digital channels, has become a pervasive threat that affects individuals, businesses, and societies worldwide. Within the broad spectrum of cybercrime, a distressing trend has emerged: “the alarming increase in cybercrime incidents targeting women.” In 2021, the percentage of cybercrime that was reported in India compared to all crimes was 0.86%. According to data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, four out of every one lakh persons experience cybercrime in some way, and of those four, one is a woman. According to the NCRB, as of 2019, there was an 18.4% hike in cybercrime incidences overall in India, whereas cases of cybercrime against women increased by 28%.

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Cyber frauds cost India Rs 177 crore in FY24: How to protect yourself

The amount of money lost due to cyber fraud in india has more than doubled from rs 69.68 crore in fy23 to rs 177.05 crore in fy24..

Photo: Shutterstock

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• National Cybercrime Reporting Portal : The Ministry of Home Affairs has launched a portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) for reporting cyber incidents, including financial frauds.
• National Cybercrime Helpline: A dedicated helpline number (1930) is available for reporting cybercrime.
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The biggest data breaches in 2024: 1 billion stolen records and rising

Thanks to unitedhealth, snowflake and at&t (twice).

We’re over halfway through 2024, and already this year we have seen some of the biggest, most damaging data breaches in recent history. And just when you think that some of these hacks can’t get any worse, they do.

From huge stores of customers’ personal information getting scraped, stolen and posted online, to reams of medical data covering most people in the United States getting stolen, the worst data breaches of 2024 to date have already surpassed at least 1 billion stolen records and rising. These breaches not only affect the individuals whose data was irretrievably exposed, but also embolden the criminals who profit from their malicious cyberattacks.

Travel with us to the not-so-distant past to look at how some of the biggest security incidents of 2024 went down, their impact and. in some cases, how they could have been stopped. 

AT&T’s data breaches affect “nearly all” of its customers, and many more non-customers

For AT&T, 2024 has been a very bad year for data security. The telecoms giant confirmed not one, but two separate data breaches just months apart.

In July, AT&T said cybercriminals had stolen a cache of data that contained phone numbers and call records of “nearly all” of its customers, or around 110 million people , over a six-month period in 2022 and in some cases longer. The data wasn’t stolen directly from AT&T’s systems, but from an account it had with data giant Snowflake (more on that later).

Although the stolen AT&T data isn’t public (and one report suggests AT&T paid a ransom for the hackers to delete the stolen data ) and the data itself does not contain the contents of calls or text messages, the “metadata” still reveals who called who and when, and in some cases the data can be used to infer approximate locations. Worse, the data includes phone numbers of non-customers who were called by AT&T customers during that time. That data becoming public could be dangerous for higher-risk individuals , such as domestic abuse survivors.

That was AT&T’s second data breach this year. Earlier in March, a data breach broker dumped online a full cache of 73 million customer records to a known cybercrime forum for anyone to see, some three years after a much smaller sample was teased online.

The published data included customers’ personal information, including names, phone numbers and postal addresses, with some customers confirming their data was accurate . 

But it wasn’t until a security researcher discovered that the exposed data contained encrypted passcodes used for accessing a customer’s AT&T account that the telecoms giant took action. The security researcher told TechCrunch at the time that the encrypted passcodes could be easily unscrambled, putting some 7.6 million existing AT&T customer accounts at risk of hijacks. AT&T force-reset its customers’ account passcodes after TechCrunch alerted the company to the researcher’s findings. 

One big mystery remains: AT&T still doesn’t know how the data leaked or where it came from . 

Change Healthcare hackers stole medical data on “substantial proportion” of people in America

In 2022, the U.S. Justice Department sued health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group to block its attempted acquisition of health tech giant Change Healthcare, fearing that the deal would give the healthcare conglomerate broad access to about “half of all Americans’ health insurance claims” each year. The bid to block the deal ultimately failed. Then, two years later, something far worse happened: Change Healthcare was hacked by a prolific ransomware gang; its almighty banks of sensitive health data were stolen because one of the company’s critical systems was not protected with multi-factor authentication .

The lengthy downtime caused by the cyberattack dragged on for weeks, causing widespread outages at hospitals, pharmacies and healthcare practices across the United States. But the aftermath of the data breach has yet to be fully realized, though the consequences for those affected are likely to be irreversible. UnitedHealth says the stolen data — which it paid the hackers to obtain a copy — includes the personal, medical and billing information on a “substantial proportion” of people in the United States. 

UnitedHealth has yet to attach a number to how many individuals were affected by the breach. The health giant’s chief executive, Andrew Witty, told lawmakers that the breach may affect around one-third of Americans , and potentially more. For now, it’s a question of just how many hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. are affected. 

Synnovis ransomware attack sparked widespread outages at hospitals across London 

A June cyberattack on U.K. pathology lab Synnovis — a blood and tissue testing lab for hospitals and health services across the U.K. capital — caused ongoing widespread disruption to patient services for weeks. The local National Health Service trusts that rely on the lab postponed thousands of operations and procedures following the hack, prompting the declaration of a critical incident across the U.K. health sector.

A Russia-based ransomware gang was blamed for the cyberattack, which saw the theft of data related to some 300 million patient interactions dating back a “significant number” of years. Much like the data breach at Change Healthcare, the ramifications for those affected are likely to be significant and life-lasting. 

Some of the data was already published online in an effort to extort the lab into paying a ransom. Synnovis reportedly refused to pay the hackers’ $50 million ransom , preventing the gang from profiting from the hack but leaving the U.K. government scrambling for a plan in case the hackers posted millions of health records online. 

One of the NHS trusts that runs five hospitals across London affected by the outages reportedly failed to meet the data security standards as required by the U.K. health service in the years that ran up to the June cyberattack on Synnovis.

Ticketmaster had an alleged 560 million records stolen in the Snowflake hack

A series of data thefts from cloud data giant Snowflake quickly snowballed into one of the biggest breaches of the year, thanks to the vast amounts of data stolen from its corporate customers. 

Cybercriminals swiped hundreds of millions of customer data from some of the world’s biggest companies — including an alleged 560 million records from Ticketmaster , 79 million records from Advance Auto Parts and some 30 million records from TEG — by using stolen credentials of data engineers with access to their employer’s Snowflake environments. For its part, Snowflake does not require (or enforce) its customers to use the security feature, which protects against intrusions that rely on stolen or reused passwords. 

Incident response firm Mandiant said around 165 Snowflake customers had data stolen from their accounts, in some cases a “significant volume of customer data.” Only a handful of the 165 companies have so far confirmed their environments were compromised, which also includes tens of thousands of employee records from Neiman Marcus and Santander Bank , and millions of records of students at Los Angeles Unified School District . Expect many Snowflake customers to come forward. 

(Dis)honorable mentions

Cencora notifies over a million and counting that it lost their data:

U.S. pharma giant Cencora disclosed a February data breach involving the compromise of patients’ health data, information that Cencora obtained through its partnerships with drug makers. Cencora has steadfastly refused to say how many people are affected, but a count by TechCrunch shows well over a million people have been notified so far. Cencora says it’s served more than 18 million patients to date. 

MediSecure data breach affects half of Australia:

Close to 13 million people in Australia — roughly half of the country’s population — had personal and health data stolen in a ransomware attack on prescriptions provider MediSecure in April. MediSecure, which distributed prescriptions for most Australians until late 2023, declared insolvency soon after the mass theft of customer data.

Kaiser shared health data on millions of patients with advertisers:

U.S. health insurance giant Kaiser disclosed a data breach in April after inadvertently sharing the private health information of 13.4 million patients, specifically website search terms about diagnoses and medications, with tech companies and advertisers. Kaiser said it used their tracking code for website analytics. The health insurance provider disclosed the incident in the wake of several  other telehealth startups, like Cerebral , Monument and Tempest , admitting they too shared data with advertisers.

USPS shared postal address with tech giants, too:

And then it was the turn of the U.S. Postal Service caught sharing postal addresses of logged-in users with advertisers like Meta, LinkedIn and Snap, using a similar tracking code provided by the companies. USPS removed the tracking code from its website after TechCrunch notified the postal service in July of the improper data sharing, but the agency wouldn’t say how many individuals had data collected. USPS has over 62 million Informed Delivery users as of March 2024.

Evolve Bank data breach affected fintech and startup customers:

A ransomware attack targeting Evolve Bank saw the personal information of more than 7.6 million people stolen by cybercriminals in July. Evolve is a banking-as-a-service giant serving mostly fintech companies and startups , like Affirm and Mercury. As a result, many of the individuals notified of the data breach had never heard of Evolve Bank, let alone have a relationship with the firm, prior to its cyberattack.

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UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 13 August 2024

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 13 August 2024 covers important current affairs of the day, their backward linkages, their relevance for Prelims exam and MCQs on main articles

InstaLinks :  Insta Links help you think beyond the  current affairs issue and help you think multidimensionally to develop depth in your understanding of these issues. These linkages provided in this ‘hint’ format help you frame possible questions in your mind that might arise(or an examiner might imagine) from each current event. InstaLinks also connect every issue to their static or theoretical background.

Table of Contents 

Gs paper 2: (upsc current affairs – 13 august  2024), un member states have adopted the convention against cybercrime, content for mains enrichment (cme):, nagaland’s drtps initiative, facts for prelims (ffp), overnight index swap (ois) market, nitrogen-use efficiency in indian rice varieties, perseid meteor shower, neelakurinji , megaquake advisory, gs paper 2:.

Syllabus: Internal Security: Cybercrime

Source: UN News

Context: The UN member states have adopted the Convention Against Cybercrime after nearly three years of negotiations .

What is Cybercrime?

Cybercrime refers to criminal activities conducted via the Internet or involving computer systems. It includes:

• Hacking : Unauthorized access to computer systems or networks.
• Phishing : Fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information by pretending to be a trustworthy entity.
• Online Fraud : Scams or deceitful schemes to steal money or personal information.
• Malware : Software designed to harm or exploit computers and networks.
• Cyberstalking : Harassment or stalking conducted online.

Cybercrimes fall under State subjects as per the  Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

What is the Convention Against Cybercrime?  

It is a treaty adopted by the United Nations to create a global legal framework for combating cybercrime. It aims to address various cybercrimes, including online fraud, scams, harassment, child sexual abuse imagery, and money laundering, by establishing common standards for investigation and prosecution across member states.

Key Points:

• Objective : To provide a unified approach to prevent and combat cybercrime internationally, ensuring cooperation among countries in investigating and prosecuting such crimes.
• Adoption : The convention was adopted by all UN member states after extensive negotiations. It reflects a global consensus on the need for a robust response to cybercrime.
• Ratification : The treaty will enter into force once ratified by at least 40 UN member states.

Key Provisions:

• Domestic Legislation : Requires states to criminalize unauthorized access to information and communications systems.
• Child Protection: Mandates that states criminalize the production, distribution, and sale of online child sexual content.
• Human Rights: Ensures that treaty implementation aligns with international human rights obligations.
• Data Collection: Allows states to collect or record data for convictions and compel service providers to provide incriminating information.

Key issues with the UN Cybercrime Treaty:

• Human Rights Concerns : Criticized for potentially enabling authoritarian regimes to suppress dissent and violate freedoms.
• Surveillance Risks: Lacks oversight on data access and sharing, raising global surveillance concerns.
• Implementation Challenges : Poor drafting may endanger security researchers and journalists, and allow secretive IT interventions.
• Lack of Oversight : No measures for judicial oversight or proper handling of electronic evidence.

India’s Position on the Convention:

• India supports transferring personal data with prior written authorization and safeguards.
• Points of Contact : India supports designating 24/7 points of contact for cybercrime investigations and cooperation.

Budapest Convention:

The Budapest Convention , established by the Council of Europe in 2001 and effective in 2004, is the only binding international treaty on cybercrime. It facilitates cross-border cybercrime investigations and serves as a model for national cybercrime laws and international cooperation. It also includes a protocol on xenophobia and racism online. While it highlights the limitations of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) for digital issues, India has chosen not to join the convention despite ongoing calls for its participation.

Countermeasures taken by India against cyber threats.

• For Critical information infrastructure (CII )- Creation of the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre, the national nodal agency in respect of CII protection. It was envisaged to act as a 24×7 centre to battle cyber security threats in strategic areas such as air control, nuclear and space.
• Establishment of  Defence Information Assurance and Research Agency  for cyber security issues of the tri-services and Defence Ministry.
• For the Financial sector –  CERT-Fin will work closely with all financial-sector regulators and stakeholders on issues of cyber security.
• Establishment of cyber security infrastructure
• CERT-in  –  The main function of CERT-In is to provide early security warning and effective incident response. It is also a national agency to collects, analyzes and disseminates information on cyber incidents and takes emergency measures for handling cyber-attacks.
• IT Act 2000  –  This act provides a legal framework against cybercrimes related to “electronic commerce”.
• National Cyber Security Policy 2013  has been framed to create a secure cyber ecosystem, ensure compliance with global security systems and strengthen the regulatory framework.
• I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center)  was set up in 2016 to look into every kind of cybercrime.
• The Indian Common Criteria Certification Scheme (IC3S)is  to evaluate and certify IT Security Products and Protection Profiles.
• Cyber Swachhta Kendra  was introduced for internet users to clean their computers and devices by wiping out viruses and malware.
• Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative  was launched to spread awareness about cybercrime and build capacity for safety measures for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT staff across all government departments.

Global Effort:  Bletchley Declaration :

The Bletchley Declaration, named after the historic code-breaking site, signifies a  global commitment to addressing AI’s ethical and security challenges,  particularly generative AI. Signed at the AI Safety Summit (in 2023), it highlights the increasing global recognition of AI risks and involves major world powers like China, the EU, India, and the US.

Insta Links:

• Cybersecurity Challenges in India

Mains Link:  

Keeping in view India’s internal security, analyse the impact of cross-border cyber-attacks. Also, discuss defensive measures against these sophisticated attacks. (UPSC 2021)

Prelims Link:

With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (UPSC 2020)

• Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units
• Create meaningful short stories and songs
• Disease diagnosis
• Text-to-Speech Conversion
• Wireless transmission of electrical energy

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only (b) 1, 3 and 4 only (c) 2, 4 and 5 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 13 August 2024 Content for Mains Enrichment (CME):

Source: TOI

Context: Nagaland became the first state in India to adopt a Disaster Risk Transfer Parametric Insurance Solution (DRTPS) by signing an MoU with SBI General Insurance.

The insurance aims to protect critical infrastructure and reduce economic losses from extreme weather events over a three-year period (2024-2027).

Parametric insurance provides a predefined payout when specific events, like natural disasters , occur, ensuring quick financial support and enhancing the state’s resilience .

The significance of this initiative lies in its ability to enhance Nagaland’s financial resilience and safeguard livelihoods against the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Providing quick payouts after disasters helps ensure rapid recovery and reduces economic losses, setting a precedent for disaster risk management in India.

Source: WFP

Context: The WFP and the Government of Odisha launched India’s first 24/7 ‘Grain ATM,’ called ‘Annapurti ,’ in Bhubaneswar.

This initiative allows Public Distribution System beneficiaries to access food grains anytime under the National Food Security Act . The machine, which can dispense up to 50 kilograms of grain in five minutes after biometric authentication, reduces waiting times by 70% and can be powered by solar panels. This partnership aims to enhance food security across Odisha, providing consistent access to essential grains for all beneficiaries.

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 13 August 2024 Facts for Prelims (FFP)

 Source: BS

Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is reviewing the investment limit for foreign investors in the Overnight Index Swap (OIS) market .

• The OIS market allows investors to hedge against interest rate fluctuations , and its activity has increased since Indian bonds were included in JPMorgan’s emerging market debt index .

This shift is expected to enhance liquidity, improve price discovery, and reduce transaction costs in this segment.

 Source: TH

Context: A study has identified significant variations in nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) among popular Indian rice varieties.

• This finding could lead to the development of new rice varieties that require less nitrogen while maintaining high yields, potentially reducing costs associated with imported fertilizers and decreasing nitrogen-related pollution.
• Nitrogen-use efficiency refers to the crop yield relative to the amount of nitrogen (both natural and artificial) available to it.
• The study found that some rice varieties are five times more efficient in nitrogen use than others, although higher NUE doesn’t always correlate with the highest yields , which farmers typically prefer.

The researchers emphasize the need to shift focus from merely increasing crop yields , as done during the Green Revolution, to improving NUE to reduce fertilizer waste and environmental pollution.

Context: The Perseid meteor shower , which began in July and will continue until late August.

• The shower, visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere, occurs when the Earth passes through debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle.
• The comet, which orbits the Sun every 133 years, poses no threat to Earth , as its debris mostly burns up in the atmosphere.

During the peak, over 60 meteors per hour may be visible , though local weather conditions could affect visibility.

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle that are usually visible from mid-July to late August.

 Source: TH  

Context: The overuse and misuse of antibiotics pose significant dangers, particularly to the microbiome, the complex community of microorganisms in the human body.

• While antibiotics are vital for treating infections, they also indiscriminately kill beneficial bacteria, leading to a disruption known as dysbiosis.
• Dysbiosis can have severe and long-lasting effects on health , contributing to conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, weakened immune function, and metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes.
• It also affects various “gut-organ axes,” impacting the brain, liver, skin, and respiratory systems .

Misuse of these “miracle” drugs can turn them into poisons , disrupting the delicate balance of the microbiome and leading to a range of health problems.

Neelakurinji

 Source: TH Context : Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), a flowering shrub native to the Western Ghats , has been officially listed as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List of threatened species .

• Known for its once-in-12-years mass blooming that attracts significant tourist attention, the species was only recently assessed by the IUCN.
• The shrub is endemic to high-altitude grasslands in southwest India , with blooming cycles that create striking purple-blue landscapes.
• Habitat loss due to tea and softwood plantations, urbanization, invasive species, and climate change have contributed to its vulnerability.

The assessment highlights that approximately 40% of Neelakurinji’s habitat has been lost , with the remaining areas under threat from various factors.

 Source: IE

Context: Japan issued its first-ever “megaquake advisory” following a 7.1-magnitude earthquake recently.

• The advisory warns of a higher likelihood of strong shaking and large tsunamis along the Nankai Trough, a subduction zone where tectonic plates collide, potentially leading to a megaquake (magnitude 8+).
• While the advisory indicates an increased risk, it does not predict a specific earthquake.
• The Nankai Trough has historically produced large quakes every 100-150 years, and the next major quake has a 70% chance of occurring within 30 years.

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 13 August 2024 [PDF]

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Australia’s cyber security skills gap remains pressing issue

Study reveals australia’s critical shortage of cyber security professionals, escalating the risk of data breaches.

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Australia’s cyber security skills gap continues to be a pressing issue that has led to a spate of data breaches , increasing the risk of future cyber security incidents, a study has found.

According to an analysis of the latest Australian census, as well as labour force data by StickmanCyber, an Australian cyber security service provider, there are only 11,387 cyber security professionals holding vital roles such as penetration tester, cyber security engineer, cyber security analyst, cyber governance risk and compliance specialist.

These professionals make up just 3% of Australia’s ICT workforce. In comparison, there are 50,000 ICT project managers in Australia and 7,000 chief information officers. Across the country, there are more than twice as many software engineers in New South Wales than cyber security professionals in the whole of Australia.

Australian businesses also have more ICT than cyber security professionals available to them. According to the study, there’s roughly one ICT worker for every seven companies, but just one cyber security professional per 240 Australian businesses.

To plug the cyber security talent gap, Australia has become dependent on skilled migrants, with 51% of cyber security professionals born outside of Australia.

The gender mix in Australia’s cyber security industry also leaves much to be desired – just 16% of Australian cyber security professionals are women, and only one in 20 penetration testers or cyber security architects are women. “The Australian cyber security industry is growing, but there’s a worrying shortage of technical cyber security skills and very few Australians are in dedicated cyber security roles such as penetration testing ,” said Ajay Unni, CEO and founder of StickmanCyber.

“Many recent high-profile breaches are a natural consequence of Australia’s cyber security and technical skills gap,” he added. “Too much of the cyber security burden is falling to IT teams and professionals with a broad knowledge of IT, who lack specialised cyber security expertise. They don’t have the expertise needed to protect a business. There is also a degree of disproportionate trust in technology.”

Read more about cyber security in Australia

• The OAIC has called for organisations to proactively address  privacy risks from outsourcing personal information handling  to third parties.
• Cisco is looking to  tap opportunities in sustainability, AI and cyber security  as it navigates Australia’s economic headwinds.
• Australia’s  new cyber security strategy  will focus on building threat-blocking capabilities, protecting critical infrastructure and improving the cyber workforce, among other priorities.
• MongoDB’s certification  from Australia’s Information Security Registered Assessor Program will pave the way for federal government agencies to use its Atlas database service for protected workloads.

Noting that there are no quick fixes to the problem, Unni called for Australia to incentivise young people and students to pursue a career in cyber security – especially women.

“Companies also need to improve working conditions and reduce burnout to ensure that people stay in the field,” he said. “In the short-term, businesses that cannot find the skills they need in-house must look to trusted third-party security service providers who have the skills they lack.”

Under Australia’s cyber security strategy for 2026 to 2028 , plans are afoot to improve cyber maturity generally, including the development of a diverse cyber workforce.

Proposed measures include aligning migration policy with cyber skill requirements, and guiding employers to target and retain diverse talent, to support the professionalisation of the cyber workforce.

Read more on IT technical skills

OAIC files civil penalty action against Medibank

Australia budget closes in on digital divide, cyber resilience

Australia to spend A$9.9bn on intelligence and cyber capabilities

OAIC: Uber failed to protect personal data of Australians

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