Electronic Voting Machines Can Be Manipulated In India: Says Experts

Recently there has been lot of controversies regarding electronic voting machines (EVMs) in India. In this “guest column”, Mr. Praveen Dalal is providing his views and opinion in this regard.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have revolutionised the Indian election process. EVMs have many advantages over the traditional paper based voting system. However, all the advantages are futile if they can be abused and the election results can be manipulated.

The ECI-EVMs in India are claimed to carry many security safeguards. The machine code of the source programme code known as hex-code (not the source code itself) is given to the micro controller manufacturer for fusing in the micro controllers. From this machine code, the source code cannot be read. Source code is never handed over to anyone outside the software group.

This makes the comparisons between ECI-EVM and EVMs used by foreign countries irrelevant. Most of the systems used in other countries are PC based and running on operating Systems. Hence, these could be vulnerable to hacking. The EVM in India on the other hand is a fully standalone machine without being part of any network and with no provision for any input. The software in the EVM chip is one time programmable and is burnt into the chip at the time of manufacture. Nothing can be written on the chip after manufacture. Thus the ECI-EVMs are fundamentally different from the voting machines and processes adopted in various foreign countries.

The source code is so designed that it allows a voter to cast the vote only once. The next vote can be recorded only after the Presiding Officer enables the ballot on the Control Unit. In between the machine becomes dead to any signal from outside (except from the Control Unit). The control units do not electronically transmit their results back the Election Commission, even though a simple and unconditionally secure protocol for doing this exist. The EVMs are purposely designed in this manner to prevent any intrusion during electronic transmission of results. Instead, the EVMs are collected in counting booths and tallied on the assigned counting days.

Despite all these safeguards, the chances of abuses and manipulations cannot be ruled out. These abuses may be man made and effectuated or technological glitches and manipulations.

Some of the objections in this regard point that the machines only display an electronic number but there is no paper trail to cross check against as physical proof of who people actually voted for. Similarly, concerns have been raised that no EVM is safe from hacking or rigging. The EVMs are manufactured by a state owned organisation, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). BEL and ECI consider obscurity and obfuscation as security, however this is really not security. The human element is weakest in the security chain and in the absence of an external authentication and corroboration, the results may be manipulated.

If we go through a good cyber forensics phase, these manipulations can be traced and taken care of. For instance, all the data is recorded on non-volatile dual redundant memory chips and can be retained for over 6 months even when the power pack is removed. Even when the battery is removed the memory in the microchip remains intact. If the Court orders a recount, the Control Unit can be reactivated by fixing the battery and it will display the result stored in the memory. Now if any political party, person or institution is not satisfied with the election results and smells some foul play, he/she/it must act within these 6 months otherwise the data may be lost forever. Of course, if there is a backup of the data the same may be kept for a longer period.

Now the crucial question arises is what if voting is proved to be tainted subsequently after cyber forensics appraisal and a Government has been formed on the basis of that voting? Will the Election Commission declare such elections null and void? Will the President of India declare a re-election? Will the Supreme Court of India take cognisance of this fact?

There is no sense if this crucial matter is taken lightly by the Election Commission, President of India, Supreme Court of India, etc. The ghost of EVM is still haunting these authorities and it would be better if the matter is resolved once for all as soon as possible.

Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law, is the Leading Techno-Legal Specialist of India and is an Internationally renowned Expert in the fields of Cyber Forensics, Cyber Security, Cyber Law, etc. These are his personal views and opinion.

LPO Industry In India Is Calling

In an informative piece of work, Dhiraj Phukan, Associate Leader-Consulting with KPO Consultants, has elaborated on this aspect. According to him these turbulent times have opened doors of opportunities for prospective entrepreneurs, lawyers, and present companies to enter, consolidate, and grow their business in the LPO sector.

Well renowned company expert, Mr. Praveen Dalal of Perry4Law said that his company has seen an increase in requests on LPO assignments at the moment as compared time before recession.

It seems the LPO opportunities are increasing in India and India being the hub of LPO assignments has lot to offer.

WI-FI Banned In Many Indian Offices

The Home Ministry has banned the use of wireless fidelity (WiFi) internet or WiFi-enabled computers in sensitive ministries and has issued dos and don’ts for departments and Indian missions abroad which use such service.

“In view of the vulnerabilities associated with the usage of WiFi and their exploitation by terrorists/criminals and unscrupulous hackers, sensitive ministries and departments are advised not to install or use any WiFi network in the offices,” says a July Ministry of Home Affairs circular.

The ministries will have to install “best available” WiFi intrusion detection systems and carry out regular audit of their airspace to detect hot spots, rogue access points etc. The move follows terror emails sent by militants of the Indian Mujahideen by hacking open WiFi services to send emails around the time of blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi.

The MHA said that a survey of WiFi networks in the National Capital Region had shown that over 73% of the detected networks, including those in key central and Delhi government offices and prominent financial institutions, had “either no or very weak security.”

Ministries and Indian missions which install WiFi networks will have to ensure that these are robust enough to “protect confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information data” as well as implement secured authentication, authorization and encryption.

Officials traveling abroad have been told to desist using open-access points available free at international airports. And, in case they do, they should enable the firewall in their computer, run random checks to see if anyone else was using their computer, encrypt wireless traffic using virtual private network (VPN) etc, the guidelines say.

SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS

Google Personnel Booked Under Indian Cyber Law

According to the Hindu Temple of Georgia, thirteen of Google, Inc. and Google India Pvt. Ltd. owners, board members, and top executives are being prosecuted in Criminal Court in India for violations of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act of 2000. The potential criminal penalties faced range from two to five years imprisonment with fines as high as one Lakh Rupees (approximately US $2,250.00).

Earlier this year, a similar civil suit has been filed against the same individuals by the Hindu Temple of Georgia. The civil suit is asking the highest dollar amount in damages ever from Google in India - "50 Crores of Indian Rupees," (approximately US $10 Million!).

According to a July 16th 2009, letter from A.P. Jayachandran, the temple's legal advocate in India, "if the accused do not appear in the Judicial Magistrate No. III of Coimbatore, (Tamil Nadu, India on August 28th, 2009) arrest warrants will be issued."

The US temple's Chief Pundit, Viswanathan Lakshmanan, explained that the case stems from Google's alleged refusal to edit, or delete, content on Blogspot.com and Youtube.com, two websites owned by Google. The content is considered to be offensive and defamatory to the Atharva Vedic religion practiced by the Hindu Temple of Georgia located near Atlanta, which has temple operations in India.

The Criminal Case No. 36 of 2009 on file at the Judicial Magistrate No. III of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, contends that Google profits monetarily from the irresponsible and hasty electronic publishing of unverified facts and figures, and defamatory slanders, that are part of a criminal conspiracy against the temple, and as such it "amounts to Cyber Terrorism." The case asserts that due to the International Law on Cyber Space and Google maintaining a legal business entity in India, the American Google owners also fall under Indian jurisdiction.

The leader of the Hindu Temple, Dr. Commander Selvam Siddhar, said in an interview today in his temple that there had been an ongoing concerted effort to defame him and his temple by two Tamil speaking Indian-American co-conspirators residing in Georgia, Valmiki Raghunathan and Chandramohan Loganathan. In a 2006 Gwinnett County Police Incident Report Supplemental Investigation, Mr. Raghunathan admitted, "...that he was very upset...with Selvam." He also told an Atlanta Fox 5 television reporter that Dr. Commander "had just picked on the wrong person."

The Hindu Temple suspects that the two have spent countless hours creating a fictitious website for sending inflammatory emails, impersonating temple employees on blogsites, and posting thousands of scandalous, defamatory, and sometimes filthy, blogs which were hurtful and denigrating to the Temple and its founder.

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED CONTENTS

Mass Surveillance Under The IT Act 2008: Some Curious Development

Hi all,This post would be about the recent amendments done in Information Technology Act (Amendment) 2008, India and some other curious stuff I have seen on the wikipedia entry of the same the last few days.

There was an Information Technology Amendment Bill 2008 which was passed by Govt. of India on 22nd of December 2008 . There was virtually no debate on the matter as it was passed within a group of 8 bills which were passed in a record 17 minutes. Now that the law has been passed it would take years or even decades to get it overturned. The mainstream press turned a blind eye to all the things. Not a single newspaper talked of this either before or after the event.

What also has been curiouser though is something I saw on Wikipedia. I have to confess that in my free time I edit or go through the articles of Wikipedia to enrich myself. The IT Act 2008 has been covered adequately in wikipedia with the Amendment as well. While going through the links, a specific link made by Praveen Dalal stood out as it was the sole voice at the time I was going through. Curiously though, the links have been removed. The only single post is by somebody named Shristi Sharma and the comment says it belongs to somebody else. The whole thing stinks. Whatever perspective that person had bought is now dead to us as the link no longer exists. Even google cache throws up empty.

If somebody has some more info. on the blog site, what happened at the blogspot site would be interested to know. For the other thing, just have to hang my head my shame. In hope of better times

SOURCE: ISSUES AROUND ME

WHAT HAPPENED BEHIND THE SCENE

Simple. Google platforms have been abused by the competitors of Praveen Dalal and Perry4Law. Since Google failed to remedy the abuses, as a protest all the blogs have been taken away from public domain. No further updates would be available. The entire history is available at http://www.inforum.in/legal-issues-dispute/3178-delhi-cyber-law-advocate.html#post12191

See the following also:

(1) http://lnav.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/abuses-of-google-are-jeopardising-its-reputation-and-trust/

(2) http://cyberlawsinindia.blogspot.com/2009/05/public-notice-for-users-of-lnav-blog.html

(3) http://cyberlawsinindia.blogspot.com/2009/05/abuses-of-google-are-jeopardising-its.html

Even cyber squatters are enjoying the hard earned fruits of others (Reclaiming India Blog) due to Google’s indifference.

Fake Website Creator Arrested

For MCA student Shubh Prakash Singh, it was a scheme that would rake in the moolah with every click of the mouse. The 25-year-old Delhi resident simply replicated the website of the Kolkata office of the Railway Recruitment Board and promised jobs to candidates. It was computer applications' at its most cunning, but the youth was found out. He was arrested and brought to Kolkata on Thursday.

Singh had launched the website www.railwayrecruitmentboardkolkata.com some months back and used an alias to cover his tracks. When the chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) in Kolkata, D K Srivastava, spotted it, he immediately smelt something fishy, as the original website of the board is www.rrbkol.org. On February 20, he lodged a complaint with Ultadanga police.

SOURCE: TOI

Royal Australian Air Force Website Defaced

An (alleged) Indian hacker broke into the Royal Australian Air Force website and defaced it with a threatening message aimed at the Australian Government. A spate of recent attacks on Indian students has attracted widespread news coverage and public condemnation in India. Many blame the Australian Government, despite Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's assurances that the incidents were being thoroughly investigated.

The Department of Defence confirmed that the hack took place between Monday and Tuesday, forcing it to pull the entire RAAF website offline and replace it with a page explaining that there had been "technical difficulties". The site has now been restored.

Defence would not say who it believed perpetrated the attack, how the hack took place or what the message said, but national Indian news service Timesnow.tv reported the message warned the Government to stop attacks on Indian students or else face further cyber attacks.

The message read: "This site has been hacked by Atul Dwivedi. This is a warning message to the Australian government. Immediately take all measures to stop racist attacks against Indian students in Australia or else I will pawn all your cyber properties like this one."

SOURCE: SMH.COM.AU

RFID Enabled Identity Cards Are Not Safe

I don’t buy into a lot of cyber-scares, but having my vital statistics accessible to anybody who feels like snatching it out of the air is definitely something I’d like to avoid. It’s not a new threat, but it seems that RFID-enhanced IDs are fast becoming the standard instead of a high-tech option. And since the security surrounding them is laughable to any serious hacker, it’s dangerous proposition to mandate them.

This AP story is a good summary of what’s been going on in the chipped ID world over the last couple years. If you’ve gotten a passport recently, or a driver’s license in certain states, chances are you’ve got RFID in there just waiting to beam its information to anyone who’s got $100 in easily-obtainable electronics.

Oh God, what can we do?! Well, it’s against the law to disable the RFID in any government-issued ID, so don’t you go off and put it in a microwave or something. But passports get a lot of use and sometimes accidents happen, like maybe you dropped your luggage on it? Or maybe you dropped a hammer on it, over and over?

SOURCE: CRUNCHGEAR

Who Is behind The DDOS Attack?

The cyber-attacks that took down prominent US and South Korean Web sites in the last week have apparently ended, but the search for those responsible is only just beginning. North Korea has emerged as a likely culprit, especially among politicians, but was it really behind the attacks?

The country makes a convenient target for blame. After the six-nation talks broke down, the country reneged on its pledge to halt nuclear development and has been rattling the cages of the US and South Korea with a nuclear test and several short and medium-range missile launches. The latest launches, of seven missiles, were taking place as the cyber-attacks began on prominent US Web sites on July 4 - the country’s Independence Day holiday.

SOURCE: COMPUTINGSA

The Civil Services Bill, 2009 And Discriminatory Protection

TO beat the Prime Minister’s 100-day governance agenda, the mandarins in his office are working overtime to evolve an efficient and effective public service to serve the UPA mascot ~ aam aadmi. As part of this new initiative, these reformers have placed on the fast track the enactment of a public service code that will lay down a strict performance evaluation regime for promotions and postings of senior civil servants. But even before the process has been initiated, one breed of civil servants ~ those who hail from ‘God’s Own Country’ ~ seem to be exempt from this code. The Civil Services Bill, 2009, a draft of which is being fine-tuned, will enunciate this code. It will provide for parliamentary scrutiny on all bureaucratic appointments, transfers and postings. It is believed to be an improved version of the Public Service Bill, 2007 which did not materialise during the UPA’s previous dispensation. These provisions will first be applicable to IAS and IPS officers and may later be extended to all services that come under the all-India service category, including the Indian Forest Service.

The Bill, which incorporates various suggestions of the second Administrative Reforms Commission, envisages the setting up of a new Central Public Service Authority (CPSA). It will not only manage the civil services in a professional manner, but also serve the interests of civil servants and citizens through checks and balances.

Fixed tenure

IF the Civil Services Bill becomes an Act in its present form, all bureaucrats will get a minimum fixed tenure of three years. If any bureaucrat is transferred before three years, he or she will have to be compensated for the inconvenience and harassment caused due to such a move. This is a vague provision. What sort of ‘inconvenience and harassment’ can an official claim if he is transferred ten times in three years within the same building and retains the same residence?

As regards the top-level appointments in states, the Chief Secretary and Director-General of Police will be selected out of a panel of suitable candidates by a committee comprising the Chief Minister, the leader of the Opposition and the home minister. Currently, the Chief Minister alone decides on such appointments.

Similarly, the leader of the Opposition will also have a say in the appointment of the Cabinet Secretary who will be selected from a panel by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition and the home minister. If the government deviates from these norms while appointing bureaucrats, it will have to inform Parliament about the reasons for doing so.

The new Bill will put in place a different kind of performance evaluation system. Unlike the current practice of Annual Confidential Reports which take a panoramic and often prejudiced view of a civil servant’s work, the new performance management system will evaluate officials on their job-specific achievements and the number of tasks that they perform as a team leader in a particular department.

The system will be managed by the CPSA which will work under a chairman whose rank will be equivalent to that of the Chief Election Commissioner. The CPSA, comprising three to five members, will have the power to recommend action against the public servants who do not adhere to the codes and values of public service. The Authority will assist and advise the Centre in all matters concerning the organisation, control, operation and management of public services and public servants.

The CPSA will also be the custodian of the public service code for civil servants. It will be framed to facilitate civil servants ‘in discharging official duties with competence and accountability; care and diligence; responsibility, honesty, objectivity and impartiality; without discrimination and in accordance with the law’. The incubating Public Service Bill, 2007 contained certain Values of Public Services: (a) patriotism and upholding national pride; (b) allegiance to the Constitution and the law of the nation; (c) objectivity, impartiality, honesty, diligence, courtesy and transparency; (d) absolute integrity. It is a travesty that after six decades, a law has to be enacted to inculcate values in our elite civil servants, indeed values that are expected of any ordinary citizen.

The reforms to develop the public services as ‘a professional, neutral, merit based and accountable instrument for promoting good governance and better delivery of services to the citizens’ is a bold and assertive step by the Prime Minister and his team and, therefore, deserves to be welcomed.

Quite the contrary

BUT what is actually happening, presumably with the knowledge of the Prime Minister, is quite the contrary. Of late, a mini-replica of ‘God’s Own Country’ has been created in New Delhi’s corridors of power, originating from the Prime Minister’s Office itself. Almost every conceivable top civil service post has been captured either by those who belong to ‘God’s Own Country’ or speak the language of that ‘land of lagoons’. The list looks endless and impressive ~ National Security Advisor; Secretary to the President of India; Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister; Cabinet Secretary; Home Secretary; Foreign Secretary and the Secretaries to the Government of India in the Departments of Civil Aviation, Coal, Mines, Labour and Employment, Legal Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs, Urban Development, Space, Textiles and Heavy Industries. It looks as if those who were involved in this process of selection and placement ran out of candidates. Otherwise, the list would have been much longer. These ‘selectors’ are forever alert. In anticipation of the retirement of the incumbent Foreign Secretary at the end of July they have already announced his replacement ~ another lady from ‘God’s Own Country’!

No public service code or reform initiative will have any meaning or credibility if this debilitating parochial inbreeding doesn’t stop. The least that the Prime Minister can do is to submit this ‘parochial’ agenda to parliamentary scrutiny as envisaged in the proposed Civil Services Bill. The question is: will he or can he?


AUTHOR: MG DEVASAHAYAM

SOURCE: STATESMAN

Indian National ICT Crisis Management Plan

The government of India (GOI) has accepted one more suggestion of Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and the Leading Techno-Legal Expert of India. It has recently finalised a “National Crisis Management Plan”, in a bid to protect IT infrastructure in critical sectors such as petroleum, aviation, banking, power and telecom.

This plan is in conformity with the suggestions of Praveen Dalal regarding protecting critical ICT infrastructure of India as well as formulating good crisis management plan for India. The details of the plan are still awaited but it would require tremendous expertise to meet the challenging requirements of an ambitious plan like this.

However, issues of human rights in cyberspace, strong cyber law, secure e-governance base, adequate cyber security, effective cyber forensics capabilities, etc have still not been resolved by GOI. In the absence of strong cyber law and cyber security as well as inadequate e-governance infrastructure, the crisis management plan of GOI is bound to fail. Further, this ambitious plan requires domain specific techno-legal expertise that is presently missing in India.

However, at least a beginning has been made in the right direction. But only time will tell whether this would be useful initiative of just another wishful claim by the GOI.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

E-Governance In India: Interview Of Praveen Dalal

E-Governance in India has failed by and large. Despite spending many thousand crores of money, the e-governance projects of India failed to make any significant impact. Of course, in exceptional cases, very few e-governance projects were successful in India. What failed the e-governance projects of India? Why these projects are not taking a concrete shape? What steps must be taken by Indian government to implement successful e-governance projects in India?

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Failure Of 100 Days Workplan Of Indian Government: What Would Be The Next Carrot?

President of India has recently revealed the “Priorities” of Indian Government in the next five years/100 days. However as per experts within a week of time span (100 days starting from 5th June, 2009 and ending on 12th September, 2009) some of the “Promises” of the Indian government seems to be just “political jargon” alone.

Now even a larger community has shown its concerns regarding the feasibility and possible failure of the 100 days plan of Indian government. Even oppositions are coming from the government’s partners and ruling States themselves. For instance, human resource development minister Kapil Sibal had to clarify his stand on his reformative ideas when many States showed their concerns about the proposed reforms.

With the end result of 100 days agenda very apparent, various ministries are now trying to fool Indians by prolonging the “starting point” of the 100 days plan. The government is in no serious mood to actually implement the promises made by it on 4th June 2009. The actual period of 100 days started from 5th June 2009 and the government is just fooling Indians by now claiming that its ministries would release its 100 days plan very soon.

The 100 days period must expire on 12th September 2009. However, the ministries of UPA government have still not wakened to this reality. Rather they are in a mood to give another carrot to Indian citizens to chew by claiming that 100 days plan would be revealed very soon.

With the Parliament session in the corner, the true faces of many ministries would be revealed. The embarrassing moments for the Congress led government are definitely going to haunt the government till the next session of the Parliament. Further if the government is still not serious and honest than perhaps for the rest of its 5 years tenure. As far as carrots are concerned, the government must stop giving them to Indian citizens lest they complaint of perpetual indigestion.

AUTHOR: GUNJAN SINGH

SOURCE: MYNEWS

US Grappling With Privacy And Cyber Security Balancing Act

The Obama administration is moving cautiously on a new pilot program that would both detect and stop cyber attacks against government computers, while trying to ensure citizen privacy protections.

The pilot program, known as Einstein 3, was supposed to launch in February. But the Department of Homeland Security is still pulling the plan together, according to senior administration officials.

Einstein 3 has triggered debate and privacy concerns because the program will use National Security Agency technology, which is already being employed on military networks.

Any involvement of the NSA — the agency oversees electronic intelligence-gathering — in protecting domestic computer networks worries privacy and civil liberties groups who oppose giving such control to U.S. spy agencies.

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

E-Commerce Law Of India Needs Urgent Amendment

E-commerce law in India is primitive says Praveen Dalal, India’s leading techno-legal expert. He has also suggested for enacting suitable cyber law, e-commerce law, e-governance law, etc to Union Minister for Law M Veerappa Moily.

E-commerce is in its preliminary stage in India. It has lots of potential but a weak and inadequate technology law regime is not allowing it to reap maximum benefits. If the government of India makes suitable laws, e-commerce can mature into a profitable industry in India.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Information Technology Amendment Act 2009 Of India

Cyber law of India requires rejuvenation. In this interview with Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and the Leading Techno-Legal Expert of India he suggested that the Government of India (GOI) must come up with the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2009. In fact he has been suggesting that there is a need to “reformulate” the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (IT Act, 2008) as it is going to create lot of problems for India in future. Already “wrong prosecutions” have brought bad name for India in general and Indian law enforcement in particular.

Human Rights violations in cyberspace are bound to happen in India in the absence of good . It seems the GOI has finally woken up from its sleep and is plannlegal enablement of ICT systems in Indiaing to bring further amendments in the existing Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000). Union Minister for Law M Veerappa Moily said the Government will amend the existing laws, including the IT Act, 2000 to combat cyber crimes in the country. There was a misconception that the IT Act, 2008 which was passed last year, was for dealing with cyber crimes. It was mainly for legalising e-commerce, he added.

It is clear that GOI would come up with Information Technology Amendment Act, 2009 (IT Act, 2009) very soon. It has finally accepted the suggestions and recommendations of Praveen Dalal in the larger interest of India. It has accepted that India needs a strong and stringent legal regime to fight growing menace of cyber crimes in India. Perry4Law has welcomed this step of GOI and assured that it would provide all necessary expertise and assistance for the enactment of IT Act, 2009 so that the same may be introduced in the Parliament this year.

Effectiveness Of Indian Cyber Law Questioned

A million dollar question that may legitimately be raised is whether the technology law of India or cyber law in India is sufficient to protect information and communication technology (ICT) assets in India? In other words do we have good legal enablement of ICT systems in India? Does the cyber law of India protect valuable “civil liberties” effectively?

In this interview with Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and the Leading Techno-Legal Expert of India we are exploring these issues. This interview is a part of the “series” of techno-legal interviews of Perry4Law. For a complete series of these interviews and other techno-legal news, views, opinions, articles etc. kindly see “Techno-Legal News and Views” and “Cyber Laws in India”.

This interview shows the weaknesses and lacunas of Indian cyber law. The cyber law of India falls under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000). The IT Act, 2000 was long due for suitable amendments but the proposed Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (IT Act, 2008) further weakened and destablised the IT Act, 2000. As Praveen Dalal has intimated, the IT Act, 2008 has not been “notified” by the Government of India (GOI) due to large scale protests and inherent fallacies inbuilt in it. He also suggested a new Information Technology Amendment Act, 2009. Let us hope that this wake up call would finally awaken the GOI from the deep sleep it is indulging in.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Judges, Prosecutors And Police Officials Must Be Cyber Law Aware

Judges, prosecutors and police officials have to keep themselves constantly updated on developments in widening application of science and technology to check criminal minds using the ever expanding sphere of cyber space, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said. Inaugurating a southern regional workshop on `Cyber law: Issues and Challenges in Enforcement' here on Saturday, the Chief Minister said `intelligent criminals' would think and act ahead of others to stay in business. "The ever expanding sphere of cyber space has thrown up challenges and opportunities to the criminal minds. They outpace the barriers raised by technology and laws," he said. The Chief Minister thanked the Judges taking part in the workshop and hoped they would come up with suggestions for the government and the judiciary to put in place mechanisms to ensure that the justice delivery system could effectively cope with the new challenges before it. The workshop was organised by the State-run Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT).

SOURCE: HINDU

TECHNO-LEGAL SERIES OF INTERVIEW OF PERRY4LAW

It is our pleasure to announce that we would be covering a “series of interviews” of Perry4Law, the Exclusive Techno-Legal ICT Firm of India. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and the Leading Techno-Legal Expert of India has accepted our request in this regard after we successfully complied with the “requirements” of Perry4Law.

The interview series would cover crucial issues like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, hacking, ethical hacking, information technology act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000), proposed information technology amendment act, 2008 (IT Act 2008), wireless hacking, wireless security, defence forces and cyber security, e-governance, e-commerce, e-courts, etc.

As one may deduce from the width of areas involved, this series may span over for many months. All interested persons must keep a close watch upon these “exclusive and informative interviews”.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Cyber Law Enforcement Facing Legal And Diplomatic Hurdles

The UK government's announcement last week that it will set up hacker teams to fight cyber attackers is the first public acknowledgment that crime on the internet is running out of control.

Robert Hannigan, the prime minister's security adviser, says the government can no longer rely on defensive measures alone to protect itself against cyber attacks, especially when it suspects that some attacks are sponsored by other governments.

The move coincides with a similar project in the US, where the US military plans a special unit to develop cyber-weapons to defend military networks and help safeguard civilian systems.

But the idea of launching counter attacks breaks new legal ground. In the past, UK law enforcement agencies have worked with the FBI on sting operations, such as Dark Market, which trapped hundreds of would-be hackers. Hannigan declined to speculate on other tactics that might be used.

SOURCE: COMPUTERWEEKLY

Europe Is Vulnerable To Cyber Crimes

Europe is particularly exposed to cybercrime because of its very success in connecting its citizens to the internet. It is now a top EU priority to roll out high-speed broadband to all 500m citizens wherever they are. An equally compelling priority must be to hand pan-European agencies the powers and means to combat growing criminal abuse of networks.

SOURCE: FT

Cyber Command Set Up By US Military

A Cyber Command is being set up by the US Military to oversee efforts to protect its computer networks. A new headquarters for the unit is to be established with the responsibility of defending US military systems. The command will be capable of launching offensive operations against attacks from hackers. Pentagon officials have recently become more concerned about military vulnerability to computer encroachments. The US Department of Defence runs over 15,000 electronic networks and 7 million computers and technology devices. US defence networks are constantly probed by outsiders, with millions of scans every day from from terrorist groups, organised crime and hacker activists. The White House last month said another office would be set up to protect government and essential private networks.

SOURCE: BRITAIN NEWS

Alan M. Ralsky Pleads Guilty To Fraud

The accused mastermind of a scheme that pumped up the value of "pink sheet" Chinese penny stocks through tens of millions of unsolicited e-mails pleaded guilty today to federal fraud charges.

Alan M. Ralsky, 64, of West Bloomfield Township, known as the "Spam King" for his years as a prolific e-mailer for hire, entered pleas to fraud and money laundering charges late today before U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani.

Also pleading guilty were Ralsky's son-in-law, Scott K. Bradley, 38, also of West Bloomfield Township, and co-conspirators James E. Fite, 36, of Culver City, Calif., John S. Bown, 45, of Fresno, Calif., and William C. Neil, 46, of Fresno, Calif., according to federal authorities.

SOURCE: DETNEWS

SEBI To Get More Powers

Capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), will soon be able to attach the properties of fraudsters, file application for winding up of market intermediaries under the Companies Act to recover money that investors have lost and will get powers similar to that of a civil court.

With these significant powers, which Sebi's board approved by recommending amendments to the Sebi Act and the Securities and Contract Regulation Act (SCRA), the market regulator will become stronger and more autonomous. There is also talk of doubling the amount of maximum penalty which Sebi can levy on wrong doers from the current Rs 50 crore.

SOURCE: BUSINESS STANDARD

Human Rights Framework For Cyberspace

Cyber law, cyber security, etc have acquired a different meaning in the contemporary society. They have also provided both the means as well as defense to fight State led censorship and e-surveillance.

Human Rights have also taken a newer shape due to cyberspace. New form of Human Rights violations are taking place these days. The State is turning into a “police state” and increasingly using censorship and e-surveillance.

Praveen Dalal, the leading Techno-Legal Expert of India and Managing Partner of Perry4Law, has started a very good initiative titled “Human Rights Protection In Cyberspace” (http://hrpic.blogspot.com/). This is a good place to keep a tack of those laws that violated the valuable “Civil Liberties” of Netizens.

All cyber law observers and Human Rights activists must consult it and strengthen this unique and exclusive initiative in India.

SOURCE: WEBNEWSWIRE