What is cyber law

Cyber law in also known as the internet law. It means that cyber law protect us from cyber crimes like DDoS attacks.
Botnets, Identity Theft, Cyberstalking, Social Engineering, PUPs, Phishing, Prohibited/Illegal Content. Cyber law is a legal system designed to deal with the Internet, computing, Cyberspace, and related legal issues.

Note: The Cyber Law is ‘paper laws’ in the ‘paperless world’.

Intellectual property, contract, jurisdiction, data protection laws, privacy and freedom of expression are included in cyber law. Increasing of e-commerce means increasing of cyber crime. Every country has their own cyber laws. The punishments for the same also vary from fine to imprisonment based on the crime committed.

Cyber law offers legal protections for people who are using the Internet as well as running an online business. Every citizen should know about their state cyber law, by which they could know what activities are legal or not on the network.

The First Cyber Law Or The History Of Cyber Law

In 1986 the systems administrator at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Clifford Stoll, noted certain irregularities in accounting data. This worm damaged more than 6,000 computers and resulted in estimated damages of $98 million. More incidents began to follow in a continuous, steady stream. Congress responded by passing its first hacking-related legislation, the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, in 1986. The act made computer tampering a felony crime, punishable by significant jail time and monetary fines.

Importance Of Cyber Law

There are much importance of cyber law-

• It dictates all actions and reactions in Cyberspace.
• All online transactions are ensured to be safe and protected.
• All online activities are under watch by the Cyber law officials.
• Security for all data and property of individuals, organizations, and Government.
• Helps curb illegal cyber activities with due diligence.
• All actions and reactions implemented on any cyberspace has some legal angle associated with it.
• Keeps track of all electronic records.
• Helps to establish electronic governance.

How To Protect Yourself On The Internet

Internet is the very important thing in the digital life. There are different types of content on internet. There are many hackers or unauthorized users on internet that may be harmful to you in order to thief your personal information.

1. Use Strong Passwords

The easier way to protect yourself online is to focus on creating strong passwords. We should mix up the letters and numbers used in our password and use symbols and a combination of upper and lowercase numbers that will not be easily cracked or decoded. Never use a password like first, middle, or last name, child’s name, address, phone numbers or other identifying letters or numbers.

2. Verify Data Is Encrypted

 

Before making any sort of financial transaction sending debit card numbers, credit card numbers, usernames, or passwords, look for signs that show whether the website is encrypted or not. You should check security lock symbols and the extra “s” at the end of HTTP in the URL or web address bar.

If you do any work on that type of website who is asking you for your credit card information, the “HTTP” changes to “HTTPS” when it is a secure site. At the same time, a lock symbol will also appear on the right side of the address bar or at the bottom left of your browser window.

3. Always Enable Two-Factor Authentication

If you want to become more securable in online world, than you can use the two-factor authentication feature to make more secure your accounts, like Gmail or others that require a login and contain your private data. It offers advanced protection by adding a step in verifying you at the time of login.

If someone knows your password of any account and tries to access your account, then it sends a text message with a verification code on your cell phone. It includes more powerful security.

4. Turn On Web Browser Blacklisting

The lack of internet security is partially due to the internet browser being used. Many web browsers have additional security options like blacklisting. This allows you to see only secure, trusted sites will be available to visit.

5. Be Aware From Phishing Scams

There are many malicious activities like phishing scams that operate by the cyber criminals. They mostly target websites that need a login, such as PayPal, eBay, Amazon, online banking sites, and other popular sites for phishing. They make a clone of that websites any get access of the many online transitions. It uses a variety of methods to obtain your personal information and steal your identity.

6. Protect Your Wireless Router By Password

A wireless router that accesses the internet at your home or business should always be password-protected. When you do not have a password on your wireless network, anyone in your range can use and access your internet, even a hacker. A hacker with experience committing cyber crimes will use this to their advantage and steal information from your computer while accessing your router. You should also enable the encryption feature on the wireless router, which scrambles any data you send online to further protect your sensitive data.

7. E-mail Is Not Secure

Email is not encrypted and it can be read or understood by unauthorized users If you send any confidential information like debit card information, credit card information, password and more than you should not use the e-mail.

8. Be Careful When Accepting Or Agreeing To Prompts

When you are indicated to install an add-on or any program, before clicking on the Ok button, you need to read and understand the agreement carefully. Sometimes it is harmful for your system because of the third party application.

9. Do Not Always trust What You Read Online

You should be aware about that it is possible for anyone to publish a website on the Internet. There are various creators who may have intention for creating a site only for malicious purposes. For instance, a website can be created to gain unauthorized access and spread fear, lies, or malware.

All About Cyber Law Degree

Candidates can specialize in cyber law at postgraduate level. Minimum Education needed for admission to the postgraduate courses in law is LLB degree. After the completion of higher secondary education, you can take admission in bachelor’s programming of law.

Once you have completed your graduation with LLB, you are eligible to pursue LLM course in cyber law.

Courses For Cyber Law

• Post Graduate Certificate in Cyber Law (Min Duration: 6 Months, Max Duration: 2 years)
• B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering + LLB (Hons.) with specialization in Cyber Laws  (6 years)
• LLM in Cyber Law (2 years)
• Diploma in Cyber Law

Eligibility For Cyber Law

Students who have qualified 10+2 examination from a recognized board can opt for bachelor degree in law & then after, they can join the master degree programming in Cyber law in any Indian & Foreign Universities.

Top Colleges/ Universities For Cyber law Courses

1. Conestoga College (Kitchener, Canada)
2. New York Tech – Vancouver (Columbia, Canada)
3. Sciences Po (Saint-Guillaume, France)
4. All National Law Universities (India)
5. National Law School of India University (Bangalore)
6. NALSAR University of Law (Hyderabad)
7. ILS Law College (Pune)
8. Indian Institute of Information and Technology (Allahabad)
9. University of Maryland
10. Northumbria University
11. University of Tartu
12. Drexel University
13. Georgia Institute of Technology
14. Michigan State University

Best Books For Cyber Law

• Cyber Law of Information Technology & Internet by Anirudh Rastogi.
• Computers, Internet and New Technology Laws- A Comprehensive Reference Work with Special Focus on Developments in India by Karnika Seth.
• Understanding Laws – Cyber Laws & Cyber Crimes by Garima Tiwari.
• Guide to CYBER LAWS by Rodney D.Ryder.
• Legal Framework on CYBER CRIMES by Mani.

Jobs & Career Option After Cyber Law

Nowadays, cyber law is one of the newest & most successful career in law. There are many career opportunities in the field of Cyber Law. Many companies hire a cyber lawyer for their expert legal services & advice. Cyber Lawyer can either be working with a law agency or they can be self-employed. Some career options are-

• Become a lawyer working in IT companies
• Specialist in Cyber/IT Based  Arbitration
• Security Computer Auditors
• Techno-legal Professional in Computer Security

A Cyber Lawyer or Cyber law Expert has also opportunity for legal firms & courtrooms like-

• Cyber Lawyer
• Legal Advisor
• Cyber Assistant

With degree in cyber law, one can choose his/her profession apart from lawyer in the following areas:

• Become a cyber consultant in IT firms or police department.
• Research assistant in law firm
• Research assistant in technology firm
• Security Auditors and Network Administrators in Technology firms.

Salary After Cyber law

The salary of a cyber lawyer is depending on degree of the students, experience of work, their licensure, whether they work in government & private sector, the agency which recruits them, whether they work with a law firm or self-employed, etc.

The average salary of a cyber lawyer experts-

INDIA  –   ₹8,00,000

USA     –   $105,298

UK       –   £70,000

Cyber Law Cases

1. Pune Citibank MphasiS Call Center Fraud

It is a case where in 2005, US $3,50,000 was transferred from the Citibank accounts of four customers residing in the US. The accused in the present case are Ivan Thomas, Siddhartha Mehta, and Stephen Daniel and other individuals who were not the employees of MphasiS. The Court held that Section 43(a) of IT Act, 2000 is applicable in the present case because of the presence of the nature of unauthorized access that is involved to commit transactions. The accused is also charged under Section 66 of the same Act and Sections 420 i.e., cheating, 465, 467, and 471 i.e., forgery.

Source: Pune Citibank MphasiS Call Center Fraud

2. SONY.SAMBANDH.COM CASE

India saw its first cybercrime conviction in 2013. It all began after a complaint was filed by Sony India Private Ltd, which runs a website called www.sony-sambandh.com, targeting Non-Resident Indians. The website enables NRIs to send Sony products to their friends and relatives in India after they pay for it online.

Arif Azim use a credit card details of a US person for purchasing things. In this matter, the CBI had evidence to prove their case, and so the accused admitted his guilt. The court convicted Arif Azim under Section 418, 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code – this being the first time that cybercrime has been convicted.

The court, however, felt that as the accused was a young boy of 24 years and a first-time convict, a lenient view needed to be taken. The court, therefore, released the accused on probation for one year. The judgment is of immense significance for the entire nation. Besides being the first conviction in a cybercrime matter, it has shown that the Indian Penal Code can be effectively applied to certain categories of cyber crimes which are not covered under the Information Technology Act 2000. Secondly, a judgment of this sort sends out a clear message to all that the law cannot be taken for a ride.

Source: SONY.SAMBANDH.COM CASE

3. The Bank NSP Case

One of the leading cybercrime cases is the Bank NSP case is the one where a management trainee of the bank was engaged to be married. The couple exchanged many emails using the company computers. After some time the two broke up and the girl created fraudulent email ids such as “indianbarassociations” and sent emails to the boy’s foreign clients. She used the bank’s computer to do this. The boy’s company lost a large number of clients and took the bank to court. The bank was held liable for the emails sent using the bank’s system.

Source: The Bank NSP Case

4. Suhas Katti v. State of Tamil Nadu Case

The case was filed by the woman on basis of sending obscene messages. The case has set a standard for convicting the offenders who send offending messages which defames, annoys a person because of its obscene and vulgar nature. The case is of prime importance also in the field of providing online evidence under section 65B of the Indian evidence act in the court for the first time.

Source: State of Tamil Nadu Vs Suhas Katti

5. Andhra Pradesh Tax Case

Dubious tactics of a prominent businessman, from Andhra Pradesh, were exposed after officials of the department got hold of computers, used by the accused in one of the many cyber fraud cases in India. The owner of a plastics firm was arrested and Rs 22 crore cash, was recovered from his house by sleuths of the Vigilance Department. They sought an explanation from him regarding the unaccounted cash within 10 days.

Source: Andhra Pradesh Tax Case

6. SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. vs. Jogesh Kwatra Case

Amongst the many cyber cases in India, in this case, the defendant Jogesh Kwatra being an employee of the plaintiff company started sending derogatory, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, filthy and abusive emails to his employers as also to different subsidiaries of the said company all over the world with the aim to defame the company and its Managing Director Mr. R K Malhotra. The plaintiff filed a suit for permanent injunction restraining the defendant from doing his illegal acts of sending derogatory emails to the plaintiff.

Source: SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. vs. Jogesh Kwatra

7. Cyber Attack on Cosmos Bank

A total of Rs 94 crore was siphoned off in this case, which was registered at the Chaturshringi police station under sections 120B, 420, 467, 468, 469, 471, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

Police have arrested 18 people in connection with this case so far. In December 2018, an special investigation team (SIT) probing the case filed a 1,700-page chargesheet against nine accused. Later, two supplementary chargesheets were filed against nine other accused.

Source: Cyber Attack on Cosmos Bank

 

Also read:- What is Cyberbullying Insurance : How to stop Cyberbullying Everything you should know about cyberbullying.

Also read:- How Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Changed in last DECADE.