Saturday, January 18, 2014

Experts Say That Implementation Is The Main Hurdle Before Indian Cyber Security

India has been trying to get its cyber security infrastructure proper and up to date. India has also formulated the cyber security policy, 2013 to assert its seriousness about cyber security. However, cyber security in India is still in a bad shape despite all these efforts of Indian government. So what is the problem that is plaguing Indian cyber security initiatives?

According to experts although the national cyber security policy of India has been declared yet it still to have to achieve a lot. The biggest hurdle before the Indian cyber security initiatives is the lack of implementation of various cyber security polices and strategies as formulated from time to time.

Take the example of the recent declaration of establishment of a cyber command force for armed forces of India. This is the second time such a declaration has been made by Indian government. Similarly, declaration about putting in place a cyber crisis management plan of India has been made from time to time. However, till now we have no implementable cyber attacks crisis management plan of India.

It seems the necessary will power to execute various cyber security initiatives of India is missing. Similarly, the offensive and defensive cyber security capabilities of India are also missing. Indian government must consider all these aspects and come up with implementable cyber security initiatives.

India Must Regulated The Unregulated E-Commerce Says Law Firm Perry4Law

Any business without regulation would create more troubles than solutions. The same is unfortunately happening in the case of e-commerce. Since e-commerce was a new filed in India, it was logical to give it some time to settle. However, the information technology act, 2000 was enacted more than a decade ago and this is sufficient time for allowing the e-commerce to function in India almost in an unregulated manner.

However, some heavy weight legal experts have thrown their weight against such unregulated e-commerce activities in India. According to Asia’s exclusive techno legal ICT law firm Perry4Law, India must suitably regulate e-commerce activities in India.

Fortunately, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), India released a Discussion Paper (Pdf) on e-commerce in India.  The paper has endorsed the views and suggestions provided by Perry4Law regarding regulation of e-commerce in India.

The paper has also endorsed the view of Perry4Law that legal requirements for undertaking e-commerce in India also involve compliance with other laws like Contract Law, Indian Penal Code, etc. Further, online shopping in India also involves compliance with the banking and financial norms applicable in India.

The paper also cautioned the online payment providers on the exact line as have been done by Perry4Law. It also gave the same example of Paypal as provided by Perry4Law and states that if PayPal has to allow online payments receipt and disbursements for its existing or proposed e-commerce activities, it has to take a license from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in this regard. Further, cyber law due diligence (Pdf) for Paypal and other online payment transferors in India is also required to be observed.

Foreign e-commerce companies have been lobbying in India to make Indian e-commerce business regulation free. However, Indian government should not succumb to the pressure tactics and lobbying by these foreign companies.

It is high time for Indian government to take a strong stand against the arbitrariness and lawlessness by which the Indian e-commerce industry is suffering. The sooner this is done the better it would be for the larger interest of Indian consumers.