Indian Cyber Security Trends 2014 By Perry4Law Organisation

Cyber security has become a top priority in the present world where technology is used for numerous purposes. From business to government services, everything now depends upon technology. This has raised serious cyber security issues around the world.

India is a late entrant in the cyber security field. As a result Indian cyber security is still at the infancy stage. There is no clear cut picture of cyber security in India. However, the Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security Research and Development in India (CECSRDI) of Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) has been providing the cyber security trends of India.

For the year 2013, P4LO provided the cyber security trends and developments of India 2013 (PDF). For the year 2014 as well P4LO has released the cyber security trends and developments in India 2014.

The trends document has covered vast areas pertaining to cyber security of India. These include areas like policy and legal framework, national cyber coordination centre, bitcoins, e-commerce websites, cyber security obligations of directors, etc.

For those interested in Indian cyber security, the CECSRDI Twitter account can be a good place to hang out. The account is a good platform to keep oneself updated about Indian and global cyber security related issues.

The cyber security challenges before the Indian government would be tremendous in the year 2015. The international nature of cyber attacks would require a totally different approach towards cyber crimes and cyber security in India. Keeping this in mind, even the cyber law of India would be required to be suitably amended or repealed.

E-Judiciary In India Is Needed

India has been experimenting with technology for long. Even a basic level legal framework has been introduced in India in the form of Information Technology Act, 2000 though it requires immediate repeal or amendment. There are many shortcomings of the IT Act 2000 and one of them is non binding nature of e-governance obligations of Indian government. The National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) of India has also failed to meet its objectives and marks. As a result India has failed on the fronts of both e-government and e-governance.

While India is still struggling to deal with basic level technology adoption, the BJP government has announced projects like Digital India and Internet of things (IoT) that rely prominently upon technology. These projects intend to extend the services to general public in the filed like healthcare, education, judicial services etc.

As far as judiciary is concerned, we are still struggling to establish the first e-court of India till October 2014. In these circumstances, achieving the objective of establishing e-judiciary in India is still a distant dream. E-judiciary project of India is also suffering from lack of techno legal expertise to manage the same. For instance, we have a single techno legal e-courts training centre in India. There is urgent need to develop e-courts skills in India so that e-judiciary project can become a reality.

However, it is not the case that no progress has been made in this regard. India judiciary has taken a pro active role to introduce technology for legal and judicial purposes. For instance legal notices can be served through e-mails, e-filing directions has been prescribed by Delhi High Court, marriage registration certificates can be obtained through video conferencing, etc.

If India wishes to achieve her noble objective of providing access to justice to marginalised segment of India, courts automation and digital preservation, much more is required to be done. Mere policy formulation is not going to be helpful and it is the actual implementation that is important. The BJP government must stress upon actual implementation than formulating policies and strategies that remain on paper alone.

Making Aadhaar Compulsory Is Unconstitutional And Contempt Of Court

Aadhaar initiative was introduced as an optional and enabling technology. With the passage of time, Indian government has made Aadhaar not only compulsory but also an intrusive, privacy violating and mass surveillance instrument. Surprisingly, none of the e-surveillance projects of India have any sort of parliamentary oversight. Aadhaar is also suffering from various vices and constitutional infirmities. This was the reason that the Supreme Court of India declared that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory (Pdf) for availing services in India.

Aadhaar is also suffering from many other infirmities. For instance, there is no privacy law in India and data protection law in India (pdf) as on date. Aadhaar has also failed to address the concerns of data security, cyber security (PDF) and civil liberties in India. The intelligence agencies of India are operating without any parliamentary oversight and they need urgent reforms in these circumstances.

It is not the case that Indian government is not aware of these issues and circumstances. However, Indian government prefers to keep the things in a state of anarchy and chaos by citing national security and welfare schemes. The truth is that both the concepts of national security and welfare schemes are baseless in India when it comes to blatant violation of civil liberties of Indians.

The only solace is the fact that these issues are presently pending before the Indian Supreme Court to be adjudicated upon. The Supreme Court has already issues interim orders prohibiting the state governments and central government from discriminating on the ground of non availability of Aadhaar number. However, till now these directions have been openly violated by Indian government and various state governments.

This is also a hint of confrontation between the executive and judiciary that is solely provoked by the executive in an illegal and unconstitutional manner. There is little hope that the proposed law in this regard may be enacted very soon, if at all. The only option left in these circumstances is that the Supreme Court of India must declare Aadhaar project illegal and unconstitutional and scrap the same in the larger interest of India.

Online Poker And Rummy Websites Are Flouting Laws Of India Says Perry4Law

Gambling in India is a complicated legal field as Indian Constitution has conferred the power to make laws regarding gambling to various states of India. While these states are free to make gambling and gaming laws within the parameters of their respective jurisdictions, they cannot encroach upon the territories of other states in this regard.

When Internet and other technologies are used, gambling and gamming assumes the character of online gambling and gaming. This is clearly not allowed as per the constitutional scheme. This is the reason that online gambling in India is a subject for the central government to manage. However, online gambling legal issues in India are not easy to manage.

The issue of legality of online gaming in India is pending before the Supreme Court of India says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based technology law firm Perry4Law. However, the decision of Supreme Court in this regard may not bring a relief to online gaming stakeholders at large. The Supreme Court sought the opinion of Central Government in this regard but the same was not formally provided by the Central Government till now.

The problem with online poker and online rummy websites of India is that a dominant majority of them are not at all following the laws of India and are actually violating the same, informs Dalal. They may be prosecuted very soon as allowing them to operate in an illegal manner would be counterproductive in the long run, opines Dalal.

There has been an increased numbers of arrests and prosecutions of various individuals and companies in India in this regard. For instance, recently the owner of an online betting website for IPL 7 was arrested in Mumbai for allowing betting on his website. Similar arrests have been made by police of Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, etc. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also established a Sports Integrity Unit to investigate illegal sports betting in India.

According to Perry4Law, till the time Indian Supreme Court or central government clarifies the legal position regarding online gaming and gambling in India, the online gaming/gambling stakeholders must comply with existing and applicable techno legal requirements of Indian laws.

Online Rummy And Poker Still Legally Risky In India

Rummy and poker are two of the most favourite games played in India. As the economy progressed, technology added its own charm and convenient to the games of rummy and poker. Concepts like online rummy and online poker have emerged in India just like other jurisdictions.

However, India is still following colonial laws regarding gaming and gambling and they are clearly ill suited for the contemporary times. It has become a common practice that Indian laws are improved and modified by Supreme Court of India instead of our Parliament.

Once again the legality of conducting rummy competitions and plays with involvement of cash has reached the Indian Supreme Court. Rummy and poker enthusiastics are happy with this development as they see a ray of hope in this legal development. They believe that this case may finally help in legalising online rummy and online poker in India.

However, legal experts having extensive knowledge about online gaming and gambling are skeptical about such hope and interpretation. According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of techno legal ICT law firm Perry4Law, online rummy and online poker would still be illegal in India despite Supreme Court’s favourable decision unless those managing these games comply with various techno legal requirements prescribed by Indian laws.

This seems to be logical as well as the Supreme Court of India is presently not hearing about the legality of online rummy or online poker. In fact, online poker is not even in question as the Supreme Court is analysing the issue from the limited perspective of use of cash for playing rummy in India.

Rummy is a game of skill and everybody is aware of this fact in India. However, there is no judicial precedent in favour of online poker as on date that can be applied at the national level and even the Supreme Court is not going to touch the same.

It seems the best option for online rummy and online poker websites of India is to comply with techno legal laws of India rather than blindly relying upon the skills argument that has limited relevance for deciding the legality of online games like rummy and poker.

E-Commerce Websites Of India Now Under Enforcement Directorate Scanner

E-commerce has attracted great interest of various stakeholders in India. We see lots of innovation and entrepreneurship efforts in the field of e-commerce in India on regular basis. Some of these e-commerce ventures are truly innovative and promising. However, a dominant majority of these e-commerce ventures and websites are flouting the laws of India while conducting their businesses in India.

There is a general misconception that e-commerce in India can be operated without any legal compliances. This is not true as there are various legal requirements that must be complied with in order to run an e-commerce business in a legal manner. According to Perry4Law, a New Delhi based techno legal corporate and ICT law firm, “E-Commerce in India requires compliance with various Statutory Laws of India. The chief among them are the Cyber Law of India, Indian Contract Act, Privacy and Data Protection Regulations, Cyber Security Regulations, Foreign Investments Regulations, etc.”

However, Indian e-commerce websites are not complying with Indian laws and there is an urgent need to suitably regulate Indian e-commerce. Indian government has already started working in this direction and e-commerce business structuring in India may be regulated accordingly. India has also declared that foreign companies and e-commerce portals would be required to register in India and would be required to comply with Indian laws.

There are some areas where e-commerce websites of India are in direct conflict with Indian laws. These include non observation of cyber law due diligence (PDF), e-commerce due diligence and foreign exchange management act (FEMA) compliances. Even Indian government is well aware of these irregularities and illegalities and it waited for long to initiate any action against the guilty e-commerce websites. Now enforcement directorate has started investigation against many e-commerce websites and their owners for possible violation of provisions of FEMA.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of Perry4Law, the legal position is that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is not allowed in India for Business to Consumer (B2C) Multi Retail E-Commerce Activities. However, almost all E-Commerce Websites of India have accepted Foreign Funding and utilised them for their E-Commerce Businesses in direct violation of Indian Laws. They have tried to circumvent Indian Laws by showing it as a funding for advertisement and other expenses but this labelling would not change the “True Nature” of the transaction, opines Dalal. Besides, there are other Techno Legal Compliances that these E-Commerce Websites have failed to comply with and these Irregularities and Illegalities would be investigated by Indian Government very soon, informs Dalal.

Now it is for the e-commerce website owners to show that they did not violate any law of India. However, this would be a tall claim as clearly they are on the wrong side of Indian laws.

India Is A Sitting Duck In Cyber Security Field Says Praveen Dalal

Cyber security has become a nightmare for India. For considerable period of time India ignored cyber security to its own detriment. Now past mistakes are haunting Indian government and India cannot do anything except issuing statements and warnings. However, these statements and warning have no value and impact at all to cyber adversaries across the world.

Cyber security in India is simply beyond the contemplation of our politicians and government. The cyber security challenges in India are tremendous and our government is sleeping over the matter. Other countries are invading Indian cyberspace with no difficulty or challenge at all.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law and CEO of Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB), India is a Sitting Duck in the Cyberspace and Civil Liberties Protection Regime. Malware like Stuxnet, Duqu, Flame, Uroburos/Snake, Blackshades, FinFisher, Gameover Zeus (GOZ), etc cannot be tackled by India due to lack of Offensive and Defensive Cyber Security Capabilities. Cyber Security Breaches are increasing World over and India must be “Cyber Prepared” to deal with the same. The Cyber Security Challenges before the Narendra Modi Government are not easy to manage and Indian Cyberspace must be protected on a “Priority Basis”.

Governments ranging from Congress to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have done nothing to improve the privacy laws in India and cyber security of India. Even the Narendra Modi lead government has done nothing except summoning of few officials of United States for blatant violation of privacy rights of Indians and invading Indian cyberspace.

In these circumstances it would not be wrong to declare that India is a sitting duck in the field of cyber security. These days cyber security is an integral part of national security as well. The national security policy of India must also incorporate cyber security as an essential component. Only time would tell whether Modi government would be successful in bringing privacy rights to Indians and meeting the cyber security challenges of India.