Cyber terrorism in India is no more a new concept. India has been facing constant cyber security attacks. Further, cyber terrorism attacks are also common in Indian cyberspace though their execution and detection is by and large unnoticeable and undetected in India.Cyber terrorism is becoming a big nuisance for India and India has to be technologically as well as legally sound to tackle the same. There is an emergent need to amend the cyber law of India, i.e. Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000) in this regard as a single provision is not sufficient as per the cyber law experts.
Even there is no national ICT crisis management plan of India that is addressing the menace of cyber terrorism in India. The critical infrastructure of India has become vulnerable due to inadequate cyber security. This vulnerability can not only be exploited by cyber criminals but also be the cyber terrorists.
Securing the critical national infrastructure of India from cyber attacks should be a priority area for India. This requires formulating a cyber security policy of India that is presently missing. Without a cyber security policy and strategy of India, the cyber security initiatives of India are directionless.
Even there is no legal framework for cyber security in India. By incorporating a few ineffective and irrelevant provisions in the IT Act 2000, Indian government thinks that it has the cyber security law in India.
In fact, cyber terrorism preparedness must be an essential part of the homeland security of India. Homeland security of India must be strengthened and in order to do so we must take care of issues like cyber law, cyber security, cyber espionage, cyber terrorism, cyber warfare, etc.
Homeland Security is in infancy stage in India, says Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. Further, India also needs a separate Framework for Cyber Security, Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), Cyber Terrorism, Cyber Warfare, Homeland Security issues, etc suggest Praveen Dalal.
Clearly, India has not yet taken enough initiatives to tackle the menace of cyber terrorism. Lack of legislative skills seems to be the main reason why India is running short of good and effective cyber legislations.
India must urgently enact a suitable cyber security policy and homeland security that clearly demarcates its preparedness to deal with growing menace of cyber attacks and cyber terrorism activities against India.
