With the second-largest population of internet users in the world, India is also highly exposed to cybercrimes. where does India really stand in terms of cybersecurity laws? In the year 2017, India lost 18 billion US dollars to cybercrimes & the year succeeding that reported over 27 thousand cyber crimes. In fact, the IT ministry recently told the parliament of India that nearly 7 lakh cyber attacks happened by August of this year.
This speaks volumes about how bad the country has been at fighting cybercrimes. But in the wake of the current scenario when governments are making efforts to save the assets in the cyber world.
The Cybersecurity Laws that India has
In India, your security on the cyber world isn’t protected by cyber laws but by IT Laws enacted in the year 2000 with amendments made nearly a decade ago in the year 2011. Though they cover a plethora of subjects to provide people with safety on the internet, the laws are neither perfect nor compliant enough to stand in the current day scenario. The vague pointers covered under it make it worse, leaving open many ways people can get around them.
Besides the IT Laws, provisions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) also condemn certain cyber offences. The reality is that these laws might seem competent on the surface level, but they don’t really do much when it comes to cyber crimes happening at an alarming rate. Since most offences are deemed bailable under the law, true justice cannot be expected out of it.
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Where do they lack?
In the past decade, the cyber-world has taken a big leap in terms of advancements. Similarly, cyber crimes have worsened over this period, affecting organizations worse than ever. So, IT laws last updated a decade ago are not competent enough to solve current problems. A few of the most alarming disadvantages of Indian IT Laws include –
- They don’t adequately deal with the matter of third-party transfers & across-border transfer of data. Thus there is no legal solution if an organization decides to disclose the personal information of its consumers to third parties.
- The episodes of data breaches – one of the most commons forms of cybercrimes – is not illegal but rather unethical at the best in the system. So, in cases like the Cambridge Analytica scandal, we don’t have adequate laws to condemn the guilty.
- The current amendments are both inadequate and ineffective in regulating new technologies like the Cloud, Big Data, IoT or Artificial Intelligence.
A glimmer of hope
Though the cybersecurity laws in the country are in shambles, on the bright side the government is now addressing cybercrime concerns with more sincerity. In fact, the Karnataka government is on its way to developing a strong cybersecurity policy to promote digitization & help fight cybercrimes in the state. Though small, it is a glimmer of hope. In the coming time, we can hope that the central government takes adequate steps to develop strong cybersecurity policies & cyber laws to govern the crimes of the net-world too.
