Cyber Security in India: All You Need to Know About It

INTRODUCTION

Human behavior and human thoughts co-relate each with other and they consist of our cognitive instincts which include desire, consciousness, memory, perception etc. The imbalance of these instincts leads to the commission of a crime. Society is gradually and progressively developing and technology is playing a major role in that development. The way of working in our society is getting easier now because of technology. The invention of technology has always benefitted the society but it is always on the people to either use it effectively or to misuse it.

Generally, the people involved in cybercrimes are those people who are socially very inactive or introverts but they seem to be very interested in social media. They commit such crimes are if they are suffering from Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). It is mostly an emotional relation where they step into mischievous acts like Pornography. We might also take into account those people who wish to earn a large amount of money but by fraud. The concept of Cyber Security came into being to protect the people from such crimes.  

WHAT IS CYBER SECURITY?

Cyber Security is a tool which is used to protect users from cyber-attacks. It protects the network, programs data, and personal information in a computer from the attacks of Cyber Crimes. Areas covered by cyber security are:-

• To secure the application

The various measures are taken to protect the life cycle development of an application from the threats of outsiders.

• Information security

This is used to encounter unauthorized access from breaching the privacy of the user.

• Disaster recovery

It is used in the business cycle to recover its plan from a disaster so as to resume the normal business operation.

• Network security

It takes into account the usage, reliability, and safety of the network. The security is basically to focus on the threat to the network.

Cyber attackers in today’s world are frequently targeting the females through creating a fake id or by pornography etc. There are certain cases where females are trapped in the evil plan of the attackers. So it has become important to secure the networks, data, programs, personal information, etc. Attackers are also a threat to the banking system of the country where the individual receives the text messages about the crediting of the money from the bank which is basically a fake text from attackers and it looks so real that the account holder shares its account and card details which results in the withdrawal of the huge amount. Cyber Security is also used to protect national data from hackers and attackers.

HISTORY OF CYBER SECURITY

• Cyber Security techniques are not much old or sophisticated but now they are very difficult and complicated due to increasing rates of cyber-attacks.
• The evolution of the technique has different phases in the history of cyber security:-

1. The initial stage of cyber security was to throw light on individual computers to protect them from VITAL INFORMATION RESOURCES UNDER SEIZE (VIRUS) attacks.

2. The second stage of evolution draws the attention to IT and Network Security, so it was observed that in this stage the attack to the user of the individual computer affects the overall network the user is connected with.

3. The last stage explains the current status of cyber security where the scope of this technique is widened and made more comprehensive as the attacks have become more complexed.

NEED OF CYBER SECURITY

• In India, the business sector is owned by both private and public companies which have their own rules and regulations to protect their infrastructure, their confidential plans from cyber-attacks. The Indian armed forces also have their own officers and agencies to look after the threat of cyber-attack. With all such measures, there is still a lack of proper national security which would effectively work in accordance with the complexity of the attack.
• The youth of India has thorough knowledge about the IT field but when it comes to cyber security they lack in performance. It can be due to their vocational training or limited knowledge. So this again demands to fill the gap of how to protect ourselves from the cyber-attack. It indicates the need for cyber security in a coordinated fashion.
• Further, focusing on the security breaches at national level which causes a loss to the society in monetary basis, Armed forces, banking system, national plan secrecy are the important material of the country which are the victims of cyber-attacks from other countries. There is a need for an organization to provide effective measures and training to get rid of the threats of the attack.
• In India, there is no such regulatory body to rule or direct about the legal framework of cyber security.  
• In a developing country like India, there are groups varying in accordance with their income. So, it is again a demand for systematic and well-coordinated security for the users. As this gap between rich and poor depicts that there is a use of higher-cost cells as well as lower cost cells. That is what shows the impossibility to reach out and make people aware of a legal framework to the various sections of the society.

TYPES OF CYBER SECURITY

Cyber security protects the user from the unauthorized access of computer with the intention to misuse the data of it. There are five types of cyber security:-

• Critical infrastructure security;

Critical infrastructure security consists of the modernized physical system on which today’s generation relies on. Thus there is a need to protect the organization from the vulnerabilities of cyber-attacks.

• Application security

It is one of the most important systems to be protected against cyber attacks. They used both software and hardware facilities to overcome the threat and to tackle the problem of cyber-attack. There are three types of application security:-

• Anti-Virus
• Firewalls
• Encryption program.

These types of securities help to prevent unauthorized access of the computer.

• Network security

The focus of cyber security is on outside threats. It helps in preventing unauthorized access to the network. The network management has implemented a lot of rules and regulations with the procedure to guard against cyber attack. For example, extra logins, new passwords, etc.

• Cloud security

The development in the area of cyber security was when cloud security was introduced. It is software-based security that protects and monitors the data in the cloud security resource. It has been a myth among people that cloud security is not safe. People also believe that data is more secured if it is saved in a physical server which one can own and control.

• Internet of things security( IoT)

IoT contains critical and non-critical systems like applications, sensor, television, Wi-Fi, routers, and security cameras are very sensitive and important to secure.

CYBER SECURITY THREATS

The technologies are invented with the aim that it would make a person’s life easier and simple to work, but everything invented or created has its own flaws. Likewise, cyber security is becoming a threat in itself. Cyber attackers are very well versed with this technology and they are very capable to abuse the technique of security. India is on the path of digitalization but there are loose ends of it.

Challenges faced:-

• Digital data threat

With growing technologies and easier ways of it, people tend to use the technology for net banking transaction which is majorly targeted.

• Supply chain inter-connection

The supply chain of the network is interconnected. Nowadays companies tend to offer their networks to vendors and customers which increased the rate to abuse

• Hacking

Hacking is the intrusion with unauthorized access to destroy the data of the user.

It is also the new way out to take revenge.

• Phishing

It is a process when the hackers send fake emails, text messages or create a website with the malicious intention to commit a fraudulent act.

CYBER SECURITY IN INDIA

Cybercrime is an unlawful act wherein the computer is used as a target, as a weapon or for terrorism. The term is basically used to emphasize on legal issues related to the use of communication technologies in which major focus is on cyberspace i.e. the internet. It involves criminal activities such as threat, fraud, forgery, defamation, and mischief; all of these offenses are governed under IPC the threat of cyber-attack gave birth to the Information Technology Act, 2002. To protect cyber security, cyber laws have been made. These rules are important as they cover all the aspects of transaction and activities concerning the internet. When the internet was invented the fathers of the internet did not think of such cyber-attacks…

CYBER SECURITY MEASURES

According to current statistics, Cyber crime is increasing on a daily basis. The attackers are now capable of destroying cyber security. All these acts have compelled the government to make a number of legislative, technical, institutional measures to solve the issues of cyber security. It includes the National Cyber Security Policy 2013, IT Act 2000, Indian computer emergency response team (CERT-In).

• National Cyber Security Coordinator ( NCSC). Under National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) these agencies coordinate with each other to look into the issues of cyber security.
• IT Act, 2000 was also enacted with the vision to provide legal recognition to electronic communication, commerce, and cybercrimes. The Act is deterrent in nature to deal with the cyber threat and attacks.
• The alerts and advisories about the cyber threat are led by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team.
• To protect the critical information infrastructure in the country, the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre has been established.
• The Chief Information Security Officer issues guidelines regarding the roles and responsibilities of securing the application.
• To detect the malicious program and to remove the same Cyber Swachhta Kendra has been launched.

CONCLUSION

To summarize, information is an integral part of an organization and is a very important tool for a person’s private life also. Cyber crimes are a new trend to run away from laws but that’s not simple. Our cyber security laws play a protective tool to get rid of such offenses and also to punish those who commit these offenses. They act as a safeguard for the social and virtual life of an individual. Regardless of all these laws, our protection is still in our hands.

By
Pragya Srivastava
Banasthali Vidyapith