Cyber crimes in India are increasing at an alarming rate and Indian government and department of information technology (DIT), India are doing nothing in this regard. In fact, the DIT proposed very weak, ineffective and counter productive amendments to the already weak cyber law of India in the past.The information technology amendment act 2008 (IT Act 2008) amended the information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) and made it a base for committing various cyber crimes openly.
According to Praveen Dalal, the leading techno legal experts of India, India has been experiencing an increase in cyber crimes like hacking, spamming, phishing, etc due to many factors. The first and foremost factor among them is the lack of an effective and stringent cyber crime law in India.
The cyber law in India is not effective instead it is counterproductive. India is the only country in the world that has the provision of bail in cyber crime cases. It means even if a person commits cyber crimes like phishing, hacking or any similar cyber crime or contravention and is somehow caught by the Police force, he would be released on bail as a matter of right. This provision of cyber crime has made India a safe place for cyber criminals, warn Dalal.
Besides, there is a lack of adequate cyber forensics and cyber security capabilities in India that helps in the growth of cyber crimes. Irrespective what the government of India and DIT say, the position is really worrisome.
Time has come for the Indian government to amend the IT Act 2000 so that cyber criminals can not only be caught by the police but also get severe punishment.
