Encryption Standards In India

Although India is a destination for technology related services yet when it comes to use of the same India is poorly situated. India has a badly drafted and decayed cyber law in the form of information technology act, 2000 that needs urgent repeal, inadequate cyber security, missing cyber forensics capabilities, inadequate critical infrastructure protection and so on.

On the policy front also India has no cyber security policy, encryption policy, cyber crimes policy, ICT crisis management policy and so on. So on both law making and policy formulation, India has performed extremely poor.

Naturally, India is facing growing numbers of cyber attacks. In fact, India has no effective and practically applicable crisis management plan for cyber attacks and cyber terrorism. There are growing cases of cyber terrorism against India in one form or other. Some of them have been detected while others are still stealth in nature.

In fact, cyber attacks and cyber terrorism preparedness of India is missing at all. Cyber Terrorism is a concept that is closely related to National Security and Cyber Security of any Nation, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. While the definition and nature of Cyber Terrorism is still debatable yet none can doubt about the use of ICT for attacking crucial computer systems of others, says Dalal.

Encryption is a very useful technology to thwart cyber attacks upon sensitive and crucial computer systems and networks. Encrypted data is more difficult to intercept and decrypt than data and information traveling in plain text. Encryption makes online banking and e-commerce more secure and reliable.

Presently, we have neither encryption laws in India nor there are any encryption standards and norms in India. Due to security concerns of intelligence agencies of India, encryption is still a feared technology in India. Indian Government must clear its head regarding crucial issues like Encryption Standards, Network Sniffing, E-Mails Sniffing, Mobile Phones Interceptions, Cell Phone Data Usages, etc, says Dalal.

Encryptions standards must be urgently formulated and immediately implemented. The more we ignore and postpone the same the greater would be practical difficulties and commercial losses for India.

Cyber Terrorism In India

Cyber terrorism in India and its solutions has become a topic of much discussion these days. There is no second opinion that cyber terrorism is a national security hazard and India must take good care of the same.

India is facing serious cyber threats and cyber terrorism against India is one of them. Cyber terrorism in India and its preparedness are not upto the mark. This is primarily because of the reason that India has no national security policy. National security policy of India is required so that issues like cyber crimes, cyber security threats, cyber attacks, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, cyber warfare, etc can be effectively tackled.

Another crucial lacuna in Indian national security policy is that cyber security policy of India is missing. Till now we have not yet formulated any information security policy of India.

Further, critical infrastructure protection in India is also need of the hour. As more and more crucial public functions and essential services are attached to and delivered through technology, critical infrastructure of India is at grave risk. India is planning to provide mandatory e-governance services for Indian citizens by government departments. This would tie up the essential computer systems of Indian government with cyberspace and thereby making them vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Securing Critical National Infrastructure of India from Cyber Attacks is not an easy task, suggests Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi base ICT law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. It has to be tackled in a Techno Legal manner. A sound Legal Framework must be supplemented by Technical Expertise to achieve this crucial task, suggests Dalal. Indian Crisis Management Plan to tackle Cyber Attacks and Cyber Terrorism is need of the hour, says Dalal.

Cyber terrorism is an issue that cannot be taken lightly by India. The cyber law of India, i.e. information technology act, 2000, carries a single provision to deal with cyber terrorism. When we need an entire legislation for cyber security and cyber terrorism, enacting a single provision is not enough.

In fact, this shows the indifference and insensitivity of Indian government towards one of the most potential form of national security threat, i.e. cyber threats. Time has come to enact good cyber laws and cyber security laws in India so that cyber threats and cyber crimes can be tackled effectively.

Internet Kill Switch In India

Indian government in general and intelligence and security agencies of India in particular are not at all comfortable with the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in India. For instance, use of encryption technology in India is feared like a plague by Indian government. That is why there are practically no encryption laws and regulations in India.

Similarly, Internet in India is under potential threats of e-surveillance and civil liberties violations. We have no lawful interception law in India and phone tapping and e-surveillance in India is done in an illegal and unconstitutional manner. As a result, Internet censorship in India, phone tapping and e-surveillance in India have increased a lot.

India has poor cyber law and inadequate cyber security. We have no cyber security policy as well as a national security policy in India. Critical infrastructure protection in India has not yet received the attention of Indian government.

No doubt critical infrastructure protection in India is absolutely required but Internet kill switch is no a solution to cyber security problems of India. Further, Internet kill switch should not be used as a tool of e-surveillance and Internet control in India. On the contrary, we need active steps to formulate anti Internet kill switch measures in India.

We originally raised these concerns in India for the first time and it seems now the media has also taken note of this issue. We once again reiterate the need of anti Internet kill switch laws in India before it is too late.