Cyber Law &

IT ACT 2000
 Background for Cyberlaws

 In 1969 America’s Department of Defense commissioned the

construction of a super network called ARPANET.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network(ARPANET).
 Basically intended as a military network slowly grew and the internet
was born.
 According to International Data Corporation (IDC), Approximately 163
million individuals or entities will use the internet by the end of this year
as opposed to 16.1 million in 1995.
 This present state of the Internet make the necessity of Cyberlaws
more important.
 Need for Cyberlaw

• Due to the anonymous nature of the Internet, it is possible to

engage into a variety of criminal activities with impunity and
people with intelligence, have been grossly misusing this
aspect of the Internet to perpetuate criminal activities in
cyberspace.

• Also the number of users are increasing rapidly.

• Hence the need for Cyberlaws arises.

 Cyber Crime

• The Computer as a Target

Using a computer to attack other computers.
e.g. Hacking, Virus/Worm attacks, DOS attack etc.

• The Computer as a Weapon

Using a computer to commit real world crimes.
e.g. Cyber Terrorism, IPR violations, Credit card frauds,
EFT frauds, Pornography etc.
 Criminal Misuse of Information
Technologies
Unauthorized access & Hacking
Any kind of access without the permission of either the rightful owner
or the person in charge of a computer, computer system or computer
network.
Every act committed towards breaking into a computer and/or
network is hacking.

Trojan Attack
The program that act like something useful but do the things that are
quiet damping. The programs of this kind are called as Trojans.

Virus and Worm attack

A program that has capability to infect other programs and make copies
of itself and spread into other programs is called virus.
Programs that multiply like viruses but spread from computer to
computer are called as worms.
E-mail related crimes
Email Spamming
Sending malicious codes through email
Email bombingSending threatening emails
Defamatory emails
Email frauds

Denial of Service attacks

Flooding a computer resource with more requests than it can handle.
This causes the resource to crash thereby denying access of service
to authorized users.
attempts to "flood" a network, thereby preventing legitimate network
traffic
attempts to disrupt connections between two machines, thereby
preventing access to a service
 Cyber law

• Cyber law is a system of law and regulation for the

cyber space. Simply speaking cyber law is a generic
term which refers to all the legal and regulatory aspects
of internet and the world wide web.
• The growth of Electronic Commerce has propelled the need
for vibrant and effective regulatory mechanisms which would
strengthen the legal infrastructure, and would be crucial for
the success of Electronic Commerce.
• The cyberlaw of India is defined under IT Act, 2000
 IT ACT 2000

• The Act came into effect following the clearance of the

Information Technology Bill 2000 in May 2000 by both the
houses of the Parliament. The Bill received the assent of the
President Of India in August 2000 (IT Act 2000).
• The IT Act 2000 attempts to change outdated laws and
provides ways to deal with cyber crimes. Such an act is
required as people can perform purchase transactions over
the net through credit cards without fear of getting misused.
• IT Act 2000 is very important to control cyber crime.
 Various Objectives of IT ACT 2000

• Chapter-II of the Act specifically stipulates that any subscriber

may authenticate an electronic record by affixing his digital
signature.
• Chapter-IV of the said Act gives a scheme for Regulation of
Certifying Authorities. The Act envisages a Controller of Certifying
Authorities who shall perform the function of exercising
supervision over the activities of the Certifying Authorities as also
laying down standards and conditions governing the Certifying
Authorities as also specifying the various forms and content of
Digital Signature Certificates.
• Chapter-VII of the Act details about the scheme of things relating
to Digital Signature Certificates. The duties of subscribers are
also enshrined in the said Act.
 Various Objectives of IT ACT 2000

• Chapter-IX of the said Act talks about penalties and adjudication

for various offences. The penalties for damage to computer,
computer systems etc. has been fixed as damages by way of
compensation not exceeding Rs. 1,00,00,000 to affected persons.
• Chapter-X of the Act talks of the establishment of the Cyber
Regulations Appellate Tribunal, which shall be an appellate body
where appeals against the orders passed by the Adjudicating
Officers, shall be preferred.
• Chapter-XI of the Act talks about various offences and the said
offences shall be investigated only by a Police Officer not below
the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. These offences
include tampering with computer source documents, publishing of
information, hacking which is obscene in electronic form.
 Various Objectives of IT ACT 2000

The Act also provides for the constitution of the Cyber

Regulations Advisory Committee, which shall advice
the government as regards any rules, or for any other
purpose connected with the said act.
 Advantage of IT ACT 2000

• The E-commerce industry carries out its business via

transactions and communications done through electronic
records. It thus becomes essential that such transactions be
made legal.
• The Act legalizes the e-mail and gives it the status of being
valid form of carrying out communication in India. This implies
that e-mails can be duly produced and approved in a court of
law as a legal document.
• The Act now allows Government to issue notification on the
web thus helping E-governance.
• It eases the task of companies of the filing any form, application
or document by laying down the guidelines to be submitted at
any appropriate office, authority, body or agency owned or
controlled by the government.
 Advantage of IT ACT 2000

• The act also provides statutory remedy to the corporate in

case the crime against the accused for breaking into their
computer systems or network and damaging and copying
the data is proven. The remedy provided by the Act is in the
form of monetary damages, not exceeding Rs. 1 crore.

• The law has also laid guidelines for providing Internet

Services on a license on a non-exclusive basis.

• The law sets up the Territorial Jurisdiction of the

Adjudicating Officers for cyber crimes and the Cyber
Regulations Appellate Tribunal.
 Criticism of IT Act 2000

• The law misses out completely the issue of Intellectual

Property Rights, and makes no provisions whatsoever for
copyrighting, trade marking or patenting of electronic
information and data.

• The law even stays silent over the regulation of electronic

payments gateway and segregates the negotiable
instruments from the applicability of the IT Act.

• The act empowers the Deputy Superintendent of Police to

look up into the investigations and filling of charge sheet
when any case related to cyber law is called.
 Criticism of IT Act 2000

• Internet is a borderless medium; it spreads to every corner

of the world where life is possible and hence is the cyber
criminal.

• Adequate and reasonable provisions must me made in the

IT Act, 2000 regarding “Internet censorship”
 Digital Signature

• Digital signature provides authentication to an electronic

record.
• Makes electronic document valid. Carry same property as of
a handwritten signature on a paper.
• It consist of public key and a private key.
– Private key is allocated to a individual which enables the user to fix a
digital signature.
– Public key is available to all who want to check authentication of
records.

The key are provided by regulatory authorities and are

unique.
 Benefit of Digital Signature

Benefits of Digital Signature

• Authentication
• Integrity

Drawbacks of Digital Signature

• Doesn’t provide certainty of date and time

 Few tips to protect you from cyber
crime

• Protect your PC

• Use a firewall
• Install anti-virus software and prevent virus infections.
• Make regular backups
• Secure wireless networks
• Get the latest updates and browse the internet safely.
 Few tips to protect you from cyber
crime

• Protect yourself

• Bank online safely

• Shop only safely
• Use strong passwords
• Be careful with file sharing
• Protect your privacy
 Making Cyber law more effective

• A sound Cyber law regime:

It is important to realize that we need “qualitative law” and not
“quantitative law”.

• A sound enforcement machinery:

A law might have been properly enacted and may be theoretically
effective too but it is useless unless enforced in its true letter and
spirit. The law enforcement machinery in India is not well
equipped to deal with cyber law offences and contraventions.

• A sound judicial system:

A sound judicial system is the backbone for preserving the law
and order in a society. In short, the dream for an “Ideal Cyber Law
in India” requires a “considerable” amount of time, money and
resources.
 Cyber Law Cases in India

• Parliament Attack Case

• Official Website of Maharashtra Government Hacked

• City Principal Seeks Police Help To Stop Cyber Crime

• Community sites: The new Danger

 Conclusions

• Computer – related crime is a real.

• Increase in number of crimes.
• Law should be alter as and when required.
• Cyber law defined as a though full group conversation about
core values and distinct benefits to the society will persist .
• Law as that applicable to physical , geographically defined
territories.
• It is the duty of every citizen to contribute toward making the
said cyber space.
Thank You