National Spectrum Act Of India In Pipeline

Telecom related issues and decisions of India government are neither productive nor in the national interest. This gives lots of scope for corruption and scams like 2G scam. With increasing incidences of corruption, scams and frauds in India, a public anti corruption movement erupted and this led to the commitment to formulate the Jan Lokpal Bill 2011.

However, corruption related issues, including telecom scams, cannot be tackled effectively till we have a strong and effective Jan Lokpal Act 2011. The same must be supplemented with strong telecom related laws. Fortunately, Indian government is planning to enact a National Spectrum Act for better management of scarce spectrum resources, among other things.

Further, Indian government is also in the process of formulating the National Telecom Policy 2011 (NTP-2011), which is likely to come into effect by this year-end. However, there are some other important issues that have skipped the attention of Indian government.

Issues like Consumer Friendly National Telecom policy of India, Telecom Security of India, establishment of Telecom Security Council of India, establishment of Telecom Security Regulatory Authority of India (TSRAI), etc must be considered by Indian Government in general and Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) in particular on a “priority basis”, suggests Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. Further, Telecom Security Policy of India must also be formulated as soon as possible as India has already taken more than enough time in this regard, suggests Dalal.

Even issues pertaining to mobile security in India and mobile cyber security in India are still to be addressed. As more and more mobile connections would be taken in India, the chances of their abuse and cyber crimes against them would also increase. Till now there is no mobile security policy of India.

Let us hope that Indian government would come up with suitable telecom related laws as soon as possible.

Encryption Policy Of India

Any field that is not supported by any policy or strategy is bound to fail and encryption is one such area. We have no encryption policy of India and neither do we have encryption laws in India. It seems encryption is a concept that is beyond contemplation and understanding of Indian government.

In the name of encryption laws, we have a single and redundant provision in the cyber law of India, i.e. information technology act 2000. Further, some guidelines have been issued by the department of telecommunication (DoT) that are of ancient nature and not meeting the requirements of contemporary times.

India must deal with encryption issues as soon as possible. To start with, we must formulate good encryption policy of India. Once this is achieved, we must ensure effective encryption laws and regulations in India. Further, according to techno legal experts telecom security of India and encryption issues is also correlated.

India is compromising the Mobile Security of India and Mobile Governance in India by insisting upon a Weak Encryption Infrastructure, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. Mobile Cyber Security in India is not upto the mark and unencrypted communication would further increase the risks, claims Dalal. New Telecom Policy of India 2011 is in pipeline and it would be a good idea if Mobile Security Policy of India is also made a part of the same, suggests Dalal. The proposed Telecom Security Council of India can take this issue when constituted, suggests Dalal.

One of the reasons for weak encryption usage in India is due to fear among the intelligence agencies of India. Intelligence agencies of India are not technologically sound to crack strong encryption hence they are insisting upon weak encryption usage in India. However, India must realise that e-surveillance is not a substitute for cyber security expertise and cyber forensics capabilities.

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies of India need modernisation initiatives. Further, they must also get good quality techno legal trainings in fields like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, etc. Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) is providing world class techno legal trainings to law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

If encryption related knowledge and training is provided to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of India, they would be less skeptical to the use of encryption in India. While formulating the encryption strategy of India, these factors must also be kept in mind.

Mobile Security Policy Of India

Mobile security in India has assumed a centre stage these days as more and more online services are attached to mobile phone. Whether it is micro payments through mobile or m-governance, mobile has changed the entire game of public delivery of services in India. The draft electronic delivery of services bill 2011 would further augment use of mobile phone for delivery of services in India.

These days’ malware writers have written specific malware for smart phones. Newer form of viruses and worms are regularly released that specifically target mobile phone. Mobile cyber security in India is need of the hour in these circumstances.

However, mobile security cannot be implemented in India till it is made part and parcel of the larger mobile security policy of India. New telecom policy of India 2011 is in the pipeline and it must include the aspects of mobile security as well.

Further, proposals are also there to constitute telecom security council of India. The council would consider the security aspects of mobile phone hardware and software. The council must play a pro active role for formulating national mobile security policy of India.

However, certain Security Related Issues must be resolved by India urgently, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of Perry4Law and leading techno legal specialist of India. For instance, Encryption issues must be resolved by India as soon as possible, suggests Dalal. A Sense of Uncertainty among Mobile Service Providers is the last thing that India needs at this point, suggests Dalal.

India should start the ball rolling and formulate a national mobile policy of India that should include all aspects regarding mobile use in India. Mobile security policy must be an essential part of the same.