Data Security, Cyber Security And Privacy In Indian Banking Industry

Banking industry of India is passing through a transformation age. From technological upgradations to enacting new regulatory norms, banking sector of India is all set for a big change. However, this change is also very demanding and challenging in terms of legal obligations and technological knowledge. Banks in India are finding it difficult to cope with both.

For instance, banks in India are required to not only ensure cyber due diligence in India but also cyber security due diligence in India. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has very categorically told Indian banks to ensure effective cyber security in their day to day affairs and banking transactions. However, banks in India are not complying with RBI’s cyber security due diligence requirements due to lack of awareness and technical expertise.

Further, on the compliances front as well, banks in India are not doing the needful. For instance, as per RBI’s recommendations, all banks should create a position of chief information officers (CIOs) as well as steering committees on information security at the board level at the earliest. Till now banks in India have not fulfilled these requirements.

Similarly on the front of cyber security Indian banks have not performed well. Cyber security for banking and financial sectors of India is not up to the mark. Internet banking risks in India are in abundance and we have no cyber security of Internet banking in India. Even cyber due diligence for banks in India is not taken seriously by Indian banks. Cyber security of online banking systems in India is by and large below average and many cases of banking financial frauds and cyber crimes have been reported in India.

Even the mobile banking in India is risky as the present banking and other technology related legal frameworks are not conducive for mobile banking in India. We have no dedicated Internet banking laws in India or mobile banking laws in India. Mobile banking transactions in India are risky and untrusting in the absence of mobile cyber security in India. We are still not ready for mobile governance in India as m-governance in India is not going to be successful in the absence of a sound mobile governance policy of India.

Data security and privacy in Indian banking industry is another area that requires special attention of Indian banks. Banks in India must ensure privacy protection and data protection of its customers.

The corporate and banking laws in India are in the process of being streamlined. An Integrated modern banking law in India is also in pipeline. RBI has also prescribed an enhanced due diligence measures by banks of India for higher risks customers. Overall, the emphasis is upon ensuring data security, cyber security and privacy protection by banks operating in India.

Cyber Law Lawyers And Law Firms in India

Cyber law is a technical subject that requires thorough understanding of both technical and legal aspects. This is the reason why most of the lawyers and law firms find it difficult to deal with the same.

There are very few cyber law firms in India and cyber law lawyers in India. Even lesser are cyber security law firms in India. Similarly, e-commerce lawyers and law firms in India also limited in number.

When it comes to cyber forensics law firms in India, we have a single firm in India that provides techno legal cyber forensics litigation, consultancy, corporate advisory and skills development services. Perry4Law is the sole techno legal ICT and IP law firm of India and world wide.

Further, Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) is the premier techno legal segment of Perry4Law that takes cares of various techno legal services of Perry4Law.

With the passage of information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000), the foundation for cyber law of India was laid down. However, even after more than 10 years of passing of the same, very few lawyers, judges, police officers, etc are aware of the same. This ha also led to a limited growth of cyber law jurisprudence in India.

There is an urgent need develop techno legal skills of lawyers, police officers, judges, etc in India. Suitable trainings and skills development exercises must be undertaken by Indian government in this regard.

Corporate And Banking Laws In India Rejuvenated

Of late, parliament of India is working really hard in the direction of rejuvenating corporate and banking laws of India. Many important bills are pending in the lok sabha that if passed would strengthen the corporate and banking laws of India.

Corporate laws in India are old and outdated. The Companies Bill 2011 has been tabled in the Lok Sabha. Similarly, banking laws in India are also outdated and does not accommodate the modern technology.

A significant development in this regard is happening in the banking sector of India. An integrated modern banking law for India is in pipeline. The parliamentary standing committee on finance has suggested for such integrated law for the banking sector of India.

However, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) need to implement the technological aspects more stringently and effectively. While RBI has acknowledged risks of e-banking in India still the proposed bill has not addressed the issues of online banking risks in India and their redressal. Although RBI has recently directed that all banks would have to create a position of chief information officers (CIOs) as well as steering committees on information security at the board level at the earliest yet these recommendations have not been implemented by the banks. Indian banks are poor at cyber security implementation.

Further, crucial issues like encryption standards for banks of India have also been ignored. Further ATM frauds in India and their techno legal prevention has also been missed by the committee. Cyber law due diligence for banks in India and Internet intermediary liability for banks of India have also skipped the attention of the committee. It would be better if the parliament of India also considers the techno legal issues and add them to the proposed Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 before passing the same.

Legal Education In India Rejuvenated

Legal education in India is passing through a transformation age. From mere academic nature of the education, Indian educational system is making a shift towards professionals, vocational and practical nature of education. This is a good sign as mere academic nature of education would not help us in the long run.

This is also evident from the fact that a majority of graduates are not fit for professional purposes. Naturally Indian companies are facing shortage of skilled workforce to manage skilled works. Thus, technical education and skill development in India need to be considered by Indian government on a top priority basis.

This is a mammoth task that Indian government cannot achieve on its own. Bar council of India has to play a pro active role in this regard. Similarly, a public private partnership between Indian government, BCI and private companies/individuals is also need of the hour.

However, there are very few private players who are good at providing qualitative legal education in India and abroad. Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) of Perry4Law is one such techno legal institution that is providing world class techno legal education, courses, trainings and skills development. Perry4Law Techno Legal ICT Training Centre (PTLITC) provides highly specialised and domain specific techno legal education in India.

PTLB is also managing the exclusive techno legal institute for lifelong learning in India (TLILLI). The TLILLI manages many crucial techno legal lifelong learning courses and continuing legal education in India.

All these courses, education, training and skills development are provided by the PTLB e-learning platform in an online environment. Interested professionals can enroll for these courses from any part of the world without leaving their offices or homes.

Clearly legal education in India has been rejuvenated by the collective efforts of stakeholders like BCI, PTLB and Indian government. However, more and more private participation is needed for reforming the legal education sector of India that is presently plagued by widespread corruption.

Corruption And Higher Education In India

Education in India is passing through a bad phase. Surprisingly, foreign educational institutions have started showing some interest in Indian educational system despite various shortcomings and corrupt practices marring the Indian education system.

Naturally the question arises is corruption and irregularities undermining the higher education in India? This is more so regarding the higher legal education in India that is in real mess. If we rely upon the sources that have themselves witnessed this arbitrariness, irregularities and corruption, then it is clear that PhDs in India are dying.

It is not the case that our ministers are not aware of this situation. Recently, e-mails to both Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid were sent to bring to their attention the deteriorating conditions of higher legal education in India. Now it is upto these ministers to see what they can do to weed out the corruption widely prevalent in our educational system.

If the governmental will to eliminate corruption and irregularities of educational systems of India is missing the only option seems to be to establish more and more virtual campuses that can loosen the monopoly of few and reduce corruption in educational system of India.

Foreign educational institutions are already well versed with the virtual campus system and they may play a crucial role in establishing the same in India. It is also not the case that India is not capable of establishing such virtual campuses.

In fact, Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) has already open the exclusive techno legal e-learning platform/virtual campus for courses like cyber law, cyber forensics, cyber security, etc for various stakeholders. Other similar initiatives may also be in pipeline.

However, there is an urgent need on the part of our ministers to analyse the current malpractices and vices that are plaguing Indian educational system and take corrective action so that India may be a hub for global education.

Privacy Laws Legal Firms In India

Privacy is a concept that is unknown to Indian culture. However, slowly and steadily it has started gaining importance. When i talk about privacy, it not only includes the traditional privacy requirements but the more demanding requirements of our present times as well.

In the age of Internet and social networking, privacy has assumed a totally different meaning. There are many privacy violations in cyberspace and the role of good techno legal lawyers and law firms is very apparent in punishing the offenders.

According to B.S.Dalal, partner at New Delhi based ICT and IP law firm Perry4Law and a techno legal expert, “Techno legal privacy protection, data protection and data security lawyers and law firms are limited in nature. As far as India is concerned, we have no dedicated privacy, data protection and data security law. This is a serious limitation that is resulting in poor privacy, data protection and data security legal practice in India”.

However, sooner or later regulatory framework for privacy and data protection in India would be required. Further, disputes regarding privacy and data protection would also increase in future. This would require techno legal expertise on the part of lawyers and law firms.

The outsourcing industry must pay a special attention to the techno legal requirements of privacy, data protection and data security issues. Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have strongly recommended formulating and adopting best practices by stakeholders in this regard.

Google Is Loosing The Search Engine Quality

Have you noticed that the search results in Google search engine do not reflect the correct and true picture? If you are a blogger and using the blogspot platform, you must have also realised that your posts are appearing only after a period of 2/3 days.

Further, in the past there are clear cut examples of Google censoring and filtering news and search results, at least in India. Further, Google has also been messing up with search placements whether by default or otherwise.

Now consider the search engines like Yahoo, Bing and DuckDuckGo. They have acquired a good reputation and goodwill among the users due to their consistency and lack of censorship activities.

I analysed the four search engines with a common search query and was surprised to find how Google simply does not index the blog posts that were immediately picked up by other search engines.

I also checked the webmaster tool of Google but there were no indexing errors or errors of other type that could have resulted in non indexing or poor indexing of blog posts. Naturally, either Google’s algorithm has been deteriorated to a level that would ultimately affect it reputation and usage or it is deliberately censoring and manipulating the results.

Either way this is too much for users like me who prefer to shift to other search engines for getting legitimate, genuine and good results. My personal ranking for search engines, for the time being, is Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Bing and Google.