Cybercrimes in India
About:
- It is described as a crime in which a computer is either the target of the offence or is utilised as a tool to carry out the crime.
- Cybercrimes are affecting people, companies, and nations at an unprecedented rate.
Cybercrime Types:
Ransomware attack that occurred recently:
- A hack of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ systems resulted in the compromise of about 40 million medical records.
- The Ministry of Defense’s ammunition and explosives producers, Solar Industries Limited, was compromised by the ransomware group BlackCat, which took over two terabytes of data.
Security flaws related to ransomware:
- The offenders demand large sums of money in exchange for disclosing hidden information.
- Over 75% of Indian organisations have experienced these kind of attacks, according to data.
- The average damage cost of a breach is ₹35 crore.
- Every vital infrastructure system, including banking, power, and transportation, would be far more open to attacks by hostile state and non-state actors.
Cyber capabilities are essential:
- In the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, hackers and GPS jamming are allegedly being used to render electronic systems in warheads, radars, and communication equipment inoperable.
Guidelines for the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In):
- mandatory reporting of cyberattack incidents within 48 hours of discovery
- A point person with domain expertise is assigned to communicate with CERT-In.
Additional rules:
- A fine of up to ₹500 crore is suggested in India’s draft Digital Personal Protection Bill 2022 for data breaches.
- The Defence Cyber Agency (DCyA), which may conduct both offensive and defensive operations, was established by the Indian military.
- Every Indian state has a cyber command centre of its own.
Experts in cyberspace:
- Compared to the 2 (one point two) million persons in the United States, India is expected to have a total workforce of about 3,00,000 in this area.
- The private sector comprises the majority of the organisations. Their involvement in India’s cybersecurity frameworks is still somewhat restricted.
Geneva Convention:
- 30 international corporations have pledged to work with like-minded state and intergovernmental frameworks to safeguard users and consumers against cyber intrusions.
India has ratified agreements on cybersecurity with:
- United States, Europe, Russia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
- international structures like the I2U2 and the Quad, of which India is a member.
- Two procedures on the subject of security in the context of information and communication technologies (ICTs) were established by the UN General Assembly.
- Russia founded the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG), which is made up of all UN members.
- The United States passed a resolution endorsing the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE), which is made up of 25 nations from all of the main regions.
The two rival permanent members of the UN Security Council diverge greatly in a wide range of areas, including:
- Online
- transparency
- limitations on the flow of data
- digital independence.
- The resolutions are complimentary rather than mutually exclusive, according to the member nations.
Cybercrime-related issues in India:
- Absence of a procedural code: The investigation of offences involving computers or the internet is not subject to a separate procedural code.
- Lack of technical personnel: The United States has made mediocre attempts to hire technical personnel to investigate cybercrime.
- Regular police officers lack the necessary training to obtain and analyse digital evidence; only technically qualified staff members could.
- Problems with cyber labs: As new technologies emerge, state cyber forensic laboratories need to be updated.
- Cryptocurrency-related crimes continue to go unreported since there is still a lack of resources available to address them.
- Transnational crimes: With extraterritorial jurisdiction, the majority of cybercrimes are transnational in character.
- India has extradition agreements and treaties with 12 and 48 nations, respectively.
The Way Ahead:
- It is imperative to have a comprehensive cyber security policy since cyber threats have the ability to compromise our vital industries, infrastructure, and security.
- With the advent of quantum computing and 5G, there will be more opportunities for cyber security breaches and malicious malware to become more potent.
- India’s cybersecurity policy might succeed if it took these realities and tendencies into account.
- Since the majority of cyberattacks come from beyond our borders, maintaining the security of our digital realm would require international cooperation.
- Cybercrimes are predicted to inflict $8 trillion in global harm this year.
- This unique chance to convene national and international engagement groups and direct the course of these discussions is presented by the G-20 summit in India.
- India might try to develop a worldwide cybersecurity architecture with a standard minimum acceptability.
- This would rank among the most important contributions any country has ever made in the modern era to collective security.
