Violation of cyber laws could land you in severe jail terms

The internet has taken over today's world by storm. The users of the internet should use it in a responsible manner, else it may land you in severe jail terms. A report says, 92% of teens report going online every day while 24% of those teens are quoted that they are "online constantly". With this the cybercrime rate too has gone up. Cybercrime is any crime conducted by the use of Computers and/or networks where the computer is used either as a weapon or as the target.

Every day we hear stories on cybercrime related to cloning of credit/debit cards at ATMs, ransomware, identity theft, KYC (know your customer) frauds, cryptojacking, drugs and illegal arms sale through Dark Web, social-media stalking, child pornography, online job fraud and lottery, social engineering, web defacement, cyber terrorism etc. published in the media. Cybercrimes can be against the government, which include cyberterrorism, spreading computer viruses, cyber extortion, hacking of government websites etc. Attacks against individuals include harassment, stalking, impersonation and privacy invasion; and on property include vandalism, stealing confidential information, copyright issues and so on.

Cybercrimes are covered under the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code. The IT Act, 2000, which came into force on October 17, 2000, deals with cybercrime and electronic commerce. The IT Act was later amended in the year 2008. The Act defines cybercrimes and punishments. Amendments to the Indian Penal Code, 1860, The Reserve Bank of India Act were also done under this IT Act. The purpose of this Act is to safeguard e-governance, e-banking, and e-commerce transactions.

There were several sections of the IT Act that came under effect where cybercrimes got registered under the Section 65, section 66 and Section 67. Apart from the above laws, there are many more sections under IT Act and IPC, which have provisions for cybercrimes. Even with cyber laws in place, the rate of cybercrime is increasing drastically. India reported a rise of 11.8% in cybercrime in the year 2020, during which around 50,000 cases were reported.

The Police are grappling with solving cybercrimes due to challenges faced by them like underreporting, the jurisdiction of crime, public unawareness and increasing technology costs of investigating crime. There is a need to update these laws as rapid technological developments are taking place and criminals are inventing new techniques of committing cybercrime. Coordination amongst law enforcement agencies at the National and International level also need to be intensified for effective cybercrime control.