INTRODUCTION
First, we should understand what cyber laws are. The laws that prevail in cyberspace and protect the data are known as cyber laws. All the sources that are found on the internet are found in cyberspace. The most common source which protects cyberspace is the Information Technology Laws, 2000. The main purpose of this act is to provide legal protection to electronic commerce and to facilitate all the records that are in the hands of the government. Cybercrimes are those illegal acts that include hacking and stealing the data found on the internet be it online shopping, online transactions etc. sometimes I also think that whether my data, my details are safe or not. And to answer this question has a very big answer that is NO. Data protection aims to give us privacy rights in the interest of the public to protect these details. Our data is completely in danger zone but just to make those hackers stay in fear and to make our details safe on the internet various acts are formed by the governments of various countries according to their laws and rights. We saw a very common example of ‘the boy’s locker room’ where all the underage boys were sharing pictures of underage girls and were talking terrible things about them. They also made rape threats to them and their cyber security were endangered during the times. As we all know that the entire world is on the internet now. From a kid to an old person everyone knows how to operate the internet and all the details are open on the internet. For example, Aadhaar card details, passport forms, bank account details etc.
CYBER SECURITY DURING COVID ERA
Since the end of 2019, most nations have started to work from home, doing all their work online. Even I attend all the webinars, my college events, and classes on the internet. This obviously needed our information. All these things were openly filled on the internet. All the payments were done through online transactions which required our bank details, that were also exposed in the market. All the details were and are still on the internet and we are not sure when and how they will get hacked by anyone. The government has mode the following acts just to ensure our privacy and data protection: –
- Information technology act, 2000: In our country the cyber laws are mostly governed by the information technology act, 2000. This act provides a legal inclusiveness to electronic commerce and facilitates registration of real time records with the government. Cybercrimes have been growing for a few years; therefore, a number of amendments were made to protect the data from getting hacked. The IT act that was enacted by the parliament highlights the painful punishments and penalties that are put on those who do these crimes for safeguarding the e-commerce, e-banking and e-governance sectors. This act guides the Indian legislation to govern cyber-crimes in a more efficient way.
- Indian penal code,1980: cybercrimes also include many criminal activities like theft, fraud, defamation and mischief and all these activities come within the sector of the Indian penal code and are subject to the provisions under the Indian penal code. The Indian penal code therefore makes sures these thefts and associated cyber frauds, invoked along with the information technology act, 2000. All the Relevant sections include section 464, 468,465,471,469.
- NIST Compliance: The cyber-security framework authorized by the national institute of standards and technology (NIST) has established this sector as the most reliable global body by offering an easy approach to improve cyber-security. The NIST cyber-security framework encompasses all the required guidelines, standards and practices that are best to manage the cyber related risks in a responsible manner. This framework makes the main priority for flexibility and cost effectiveness.
CONCLUSION
The internet is the most important part of our daily lives now. Everything we do is on the internet exposed to the entire world. Be it social media, our own bank details, college details etc. we are always in danger. Those who hack and do all these cybercrimes should be afraid of the laws that are being made by law and it should be executed in a way that every little detail of the person is protected. It is practically now possible to completely stop all these cybercrimes but we can at least have a back that we can take to take a stand for ourselves in times of trouble. If the internet has made our lives easy, it has also made a very difficult situation if it is done for illegal matters. So, the government should work on the new laws and amendments by considering the modern techniques that the new hackers use to do all these crimes.
Author’s Name: Duaa Hashmi (Aligarh Muslim University, Mallapuram)
