Akshita Bhansali (Gujarat National Law University)

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Cyber Crimes and Recent Legal Developments

What are Cyber-crimes?

Cybercrime is a broad term used to define criminal activity in which computers or computer
networks are used as a tool, a target, or a place of criminal activity. It covers crimes like
phishing, Credit card frauds, bank robbery, illegal downloading, industrial espionage, child
pornography, kidnapping children via chat rooms, scams, cyber terrorism, creation and or
distribution of viruses, spam and so on.

What are legal provisions to protect?

There are provisions in Indian Penal code as well as Information Technology Act, such as in
IPC Sections 464 (Making a false document or false electronic record), 468 (Forgery for the
Purpose of Cheating i.e. forged electronic record), 469 (Forgery for the Purpose of Harming
Reputation i.e. forged electronic record), and 471 (Forgery for the Purpose of Harming
Reputation i.e. forged electronic record) of the IPC and Sections 43 (data protection),
section 66 (hacking), section 66A (measures against sending offensive messages),
section 66B (punishment for illegally possessing stolen computer resources or communication
devices), section 67 (protection against unauthorised access to data), 69 (cyberterrorism), ,
and section 72 (privacy and confidentiality) of the Information Technology Amendment Act
of 2008, among others, govern cybersecurity.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has been established by the Central
Government to address matters connected to cybercrime in the country. Complainants can
make complaints against Child Pornography/Child Sexual Abuse Material, rape/gang rape
imageries, or sexually explicit information using the government's online cybercrime reporting
site, www.cybercrime.gov.in. Through their law enforcement apparatus, states/UTs are largely
responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation, and punishment of crimes.
Recent legal development

The Government of India has established new rules to regulate social media and OTT (over-
the-top) platforms. It was duly established to curb the usage and propagation of hate speech.
The need for protecting women and men from sexual offenses that occur on these platforms.
Another major issue is the misuse of personal content and even obscene content on the same
platforms.

As there is increase in use of cryptocurrency The Ministry for Electronics and Information
Technology (MeitY) has recommended a framework for adopting blockchain technology
within the Government mechanism for e-governance services. A report, National Strategy on
Block-chain published by MeitY emphasized creating digital platforms using blockchain
infrastructure for service delivery to citizens and businesses. The document also recommended
promoting research and development and harnessing the benefits of the emerging technology.

Conclusion

Cyberspace is an extremely difficult terrain to deal with and therefore some activities fall into
the grey zone where there is no law to govern them. The technology is evolving and with the
evolution is coming disturbing elements surfacing on the dark web. Intelligent people are
exploiting the internet for evil deeds and sometimes for monetary profit. There is a long way
to go before having a vast and comprehensive law for cybercrimes in India.