Cyber Crime
For Prelims: Cyber Crime, Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, Internet of Things,
Crypto-Currency, Massive Open Online Courses.
For Mains: Cyber Crime, Related Challenges and Measures to Deal with it.
Source: PIB
Why in News?
The Indian government has taken significant steps to strengthen the mechanism for dealing with
Cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
What is Cyber Crime?
About:
Cybercrime is defined as a crime where a computer is the object of the crime or is
used as a tool to commit an offense.
Cybercrimes fall under State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the
Constitution of India.
It involves illegal or unauthorized activities that exploit technology to commit various
forms of crimes.
Cybercrime covers a wide range of offenses and can affect individuals, organizations, and
even governments.
Types:
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks: These are used to make an online
service unavailable and take the network down by overwhelming the site with traffic
from a variety of sources.
Botnets: Botnets are networks from compromised computers that are controlled
externally by remote hackers. The remote hackers then send spam or attack other
computers through these botnets.
Identity Theft: This cybercrime occurs when a criminal gains access to a user’s
personal information or confidential information and then tries to tarnish reputation
or seek a ransom.
Cyberstalking: This kind of cybercrime involves online harassment where the user is
subjected to a plethora of online messages and emails. Typically, cyberstalks use
social media, websites, and search engines to intimidate a user and instill fear.
Phishing: It is a type of social engineering attack often used to steal user data,
including login credentials and credit card numbers. It occurs when an attacker,
masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an email, instant
message, or text message.
What are the Challenges Related to Cyber Security in India?
Profit-Friendly Infrastructure Mindset:
Post liberalisation, the Information Technology (IT), electricity and telecom sector have
witnessed large investments by the private sector.
Operators are not investing in protective infrastructure, rather they are focused on the
profitable infrastructure only, because they think investment on cyber-attack
preparedness may not generate good profits.
All operators are focused on profits, and do not want to invest in infrastructure that
will not generate profits (i.e. protective infrastructure).
Absence of Separate Procedural Code:
There is no separate procedural code for the investigation of cyber or computer-related
offences.
Trans-National Nature of Cyber Attacks:
Most cybercrimes are trans-national in nature. The collection of evidence from foreign
territories is not only a difficult but also a tardy process.
Expanding Digital Ecosystem:
In the last couple of years, India has traversed on the path of digitalizing its various
economic factors and has carved a niche for itself successfully.
The latest technologies like 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) will increase the coverage
of the internet-connected ecosystem.
With the advent of digitalisation, paramount consumer and citizen data will be stored in
digital format and transactions are likely to be carried out online which makes India
a breeding ground for potential hackers and cyber-criminals.
Limited Expertise and Authority:
Offenses related to crypto-currency remain under-reported as the capacity to solve
such crimes remains limited.
Although most State cyber labs are capable of analysing hard disks and mobile
phones, they are yet to be recognized as 'Examiners of Electronic Evidence' (by the
central government). Until then, they cannot provide expert opinions on electronic data.
What Measures Can be Taken to Tackle Cyber Crimes in India?
Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign:
The governments at various levels need to conduct massive cybersecurity awareness
campaigns, regarding Cyber frauds, use strong, unique passwords, being careful using
public wi-fi, etc.
Cyber Insurance:
Develop cyber insurance policies that are tailored to the specific needs of different
businesses and industries. Customized policies will help ensure that organizations have
coverage for the most relevant cyber risks they face.
Cyber insurance provides financial coverage against losses resulting from cyber
incidents and by mitigating the financial impact of these incidents,
organizations can recover more quickly and continue their operations.
Data Protection Law:
Data is referred to as the new currency, thus is a requirement for a stringent data
protection regime in India.
In this context, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and
India’s Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 are steps in the right direction.
Collaborative Trigger Mechanism:
For a country like India where the citizenry is more vulnerable to cybercrime, there is an
urgent need for a collaborative trigger mechanism.
This mechanism would bind all parties and enable law enforcers to act quickly and
safeguard citizens and businesses from a fast-growing menace.
In this context, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre will assist in
centralizing cybersecurity investigations, prioritize the development of
response tools and bring together private companies to contain the menace.
What are the Government Initiatives to Cope with Cyber Crimes in India?
Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): This center coordinates efforts to tackle all
types of cyber-crimes across the country.
National Cyber Forensic Laboratory: It provides early-stage cyber forensic assistance to
Investigating Officers of all State/UT Police through both online and offline modes.
CyTrain Portal: A Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform for capacity building of
police officers, judicial officers, and prosecutors through online courses on critical aspects of cyber-
crime investigation, forensics, and prosecution.
National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: A platform where the public can report incidents of
cyber-crimes, with a special focus on crimes against women and children.
Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System: It is a system for
immediate reporting of financial frauds and assistance in lodging online cyber complaints
through a toll-free helpline.
Cybercrime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) Scheme: Financial
assistance provided to States/UTs for developing capabilities of Law Enforcement Agencies
in investigating cyber-crimes.
Joint Cyber Coordination Teams: Constituted to enhance coordination among Law Enforcement
Agencies of States/UTs, particularly in areas with multi-jurisdictional issues related to cyber-crimes.
Central Assistance for Modernization of Police: Providing financial support to States/UTs for
acquiring modern weaponry, advanced communication/forensic equipment, and cyber
policing equipment.
Conclusion
It is of critical importance to ensure global cooperation through information sharing and
strengthening joint efforts in cybersecurity research and development as most cyberattacks
originate from beyond the borders.
It is important for the corporates or the respective government departments to find the
gaps in their organisations and address those gaps and create a layered security system,
wherein security threat intelligence sharing is happening between different layers.
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