Cyber Security Issues And Problems In India

Cyber security is a complicated and time consuming task. It is very difficult to manage various cyber security issues of India and a single organisation or entity cannot achieve this task. Indian government has also realised this truth and it is exploring the public private partnership (PPP) model for managing cyber security of India.

There are many cyber security issues in India and cyber security issues and challenges in India that require urgent attention of Indian government. For instance, issues like cyber terrorism, cyber warfare, cyber espionage, etc are some of the burning cyber security issues that deserve attention of our policy makers. This also means that we must develop both offensive and defensive cyber security capabilities in India.

For the past few years, serious cyber threats have been endangering the critical infrastructures of India and there is an urgent need to strengthen critical infrastructure protection in India. To achieve this objection, cyber security skills development in India must be immediately ensured.

While Indian government has been indifferent to cyber security of India for long yet a few committed and dedicated private players have been playing a pro active role in this regard. For instance, Perry4Law, Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) and Perry4Law Techno Legal ICT Training Centre (PTLITC) have launched exclusive techno legal cyber forensics research centre of India, cyber security research centre of India and cyber crimes investigation centre of India for long.

There is no doubt that cyber security of India is under transformation but we are too lax in this regard. The cyber security initiatives of India must be expedited as we do not have any more time to waste. Similarly, while cyber security initiatives have been strengthened by private players like PTLB yet Indian government must also play a pro active role in this regard.

It would be a good idea to seek the services of those who can make a difference in this regard. The same can be effectively achieved by formulating the cyber security policy of India and acting accordingly.

Google Censorship At Its Worst

Google is engaging in illegal blogs and news censorship in India. This is no more a secret as news about this censorship exercise of Google is making rounds in the blog sphere. Even there is a dedicated blog managed by Perry4Law and PTLB in this regard.

As per the latest news Google has once again censored and demoted more blogs in India. Not only blogs but even news articles have been frequently censored by Google in India. This unilateral exercise of Google of censoring and manipulating with blogs and search results is an unwarranted and undesirable exercise on the part of Google.

According to the blog post, the following websites have been demoted and subjected to manual action penalty by Google without any reason and justification:

(1) Cyber Forensics In India

(2) Cyber Security In India

(3) E-Discovery Services In India

(4) E-Commerce Laws And Regulations In India

(5) Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB)

(6) Corporate Laws In India

(7) Techno Legal Online Dispute Resolution Services

Even the resource titled International ICT Policies and Strategies seems to have been censored by Google.

All of these blogs are world renowned and none of them is violating any terms and conditions of Google. On the contrary they are part of the best techno legal websites of the world. It is strange that blogs have been censored for their qualitative and unique contents.

We are waiting for more details in this regard and would report the same as soon as they are available.

Best Techno Legal Websites Of India

In this post we would be covering some of the exclusive techno legal websites of India. These websites are not only exclusive techno legal websites of India but they are also the best in the world.

If you are interested in fields like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, e-courts, e-discovery, e-commerce, etc these are the websites that you must be looking forward.

These websites are:

(1) Cyber Laws In India

(2) Cyber Forensics In India

(3) Cyber Security In India

(4) E-Discovery Services In India

(5) E-Commerce Laws And Regulations In India

(6) Electronic Courts In India

(7) Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB)

(8) Corporate Laws In India

(9) International ICT Policies And Strategies

Collectively these websites are covering the entire gamut of techno legal issues that India is facing or may face in the future.

We hope you would find the collection of these websites useful.

Radia Tapes News Censorship Updates-06-09-2012

The news article titled Radia Tapes, Ratan Tata’s Privacy, Fundamental Rights and Public Interest was censored by Google on 05-09-2012 and till 06-09-2012 it is still censored.

There was nothing wrong with the article and this censorship is a direct attack upon our freedom of speech and expression and right to known and share.

In this post we have consolidated all the posts covering this issue at a single place so that this article can be circulated to maximum number of civil liberty protection groups. This act of censorship by Google is a gross civil liberty violation and we must enforce our civil liberties protection in cyberspace.

The relevant posts in this regard are:

(1) Google is censoring news in India.

(2) Censorship initiatives of Google and Indian government,

(3) Google continues to censor news in India

(4) Google and Indian Government Censoring Radia Tapes News

Indian government is actively denying human rights protection in India. Right to share information upon Internet in a free and fair manner is our human right and we wish to exercise it to the fullest possible extent.

Google Is Censoring News In India

Censorship of news and manipulation of search results by Google is no new news. Google has been censoring and filtering news, blog posts, search results, etc for long. Most of these news and posts are those pertaining to controversies that Indian government has created itself.

According to the latest alert by the exclusive blog on censorship initiatives of Google and Indian government, Google has once again obliged Indian government by becoming its censorship buddy. Thus, Google continues to censor news in India on behalf of Indian government.

Google has censored the news item titled “Radia Tapes, Ratan Tata’s Privacy, Fundamental Rights and Public Interest” on 05-09-2012. At the time of writing of this article on 06-09-2012, the news item is still censored. Even the post pertaining to this disclosure at censorship blog has been manipulated and censored by Google.

By censoring this news Indian government has proved that it is not interested in public interest and protection of right to speech and expression and right to information of its citizens.

As a matter of fact, when there is a conflict between two fundamental rights, the public interest test becomes important. According to Praveen Dalal, leading techno legal expert of Asia and managing partner of ICT law firm Perry4Law, “The Indian Constitutional Scheme is based upon “Balance of Rights” and no right is absolute in nature. In case of conflict between two Fundamental Rights, the Fundamental Right that strengthens and substantiate the Public Interest should prevail”. Hence if there is a conflict between Right to Privacy and Right to Information/know, information can be disclosed in certain circumstances to substantiate and strengthen Public Interest, opines Dalal. 

Thus, instead of telling the Supreme Court of India about the source of leakage and making aware of the citizens of India of the contents of Nira Radia tapes, all the Google and Indian government has done is censorship of such news item.

While the traditional media is silent on these crucial news, it is our duty to spread the word by using social media platforms and online news mechanisms. We would update on this issue very soon.

Chandigarh Considering Cyber Security Model Of UK

Chandigarh has been exploring the cyber security aspects for long. Not very late, Chandigarh proposed power reform programme to be implemented soon. It was proposed to use automated systems through IT intervention for sustained collection of accurate baseline data and automation of some electricity functions. However, the proposal failed to consider the aspects pertaining to cyber security of automated power grids of India.  

For some strange reasons Indian government has been ignoring the cyber security implementations in India. These include cyber security of power sector of India and cyber protection of SCADA systems in India. In these circumstances, the ambitious restructured accelerated power development and reform programme (R-APDRP) of UT electricity department of Chandigarh was too ambitious to be successfully implemented.

Recently, the websites of Chandigarh housing board and estate office were defaced despite UT having a full-fledged IT department. Reacting to these defacements, it has been decided to replicate the cyber security model of UK. It has also been declared that Chandigarh will have its own information security state policy to tackle cyber crimes and it will be drafted by October.

According to Praveen Dalal, leading techno legal expert of Asia and managing partner of ICT law firm Perry4Law, replication and super imposing of foreign cyber security models in India would be counter productive in the long run and they should be avoided.

It is good that Chandigarh has shown interest in cyber security but its efforts should not be misguided and based upon wrong principles, models and premises. Let us hope Chandigarh in general and Indian government in particular would consult Indian techno legal experts while drafting such cyber security model.

Cyber War Against India: Is It Real?

The recent rumours spread through SMS and social media websites has woken up Indian government once more. However, just like in the past, Indian government is once again barking the wrong tree. Instead of improving the law and order situation in India, Indian government has decided to punish social media websites and intermediaries in India.

A large segment of Indian media community has labeled this unfortunate episode as an act of cyber warfare against India. However, this is not even near to cyber warfare as cyber warfare is a much more dangerous and nefarious activity as compared to spreading of rumours and false information through Internet.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of Asia, Cyber War against India and its Defenses must be ensured by India on a priority basis. In fact, India must develop both offensive and defensive Cyber Warfare Capabilities to tackle future Cyber Warfare attempts, opines Dalal.

Another area of concern pertains to cyber security of India. There are numerous cyber security challenges in India and management of the same must not be ignored any more. India's cyber security challenges are too numerous and we have not even made a start in this direction.

If false and misleading information has caused the trouble and havoc that we are witnessing one can assume what a full fledged cyber warfare attack can do to Indian economy and property.

It is high time for Indian government to consider and analyse cyber warfare threats against India in truest and widest possible manner other wise it may find itself in a much more sinister and  troublesome situation.