HACKING LAWS

  Computer Hacking Laws

As the country progresses towards a digital age where everything would be available with the click of a button, the threat of data and private information being stolen has constantly been disturbing. It is ironical to see that the most trusted source of information and a store for data can turn out to be a wide platform for some to steal information. The Information and Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) covers all types of cyber crime committed in the country including hacking

Hacking earlier used to refer to a crime under section 43 of the IT Act but at the same time, ethical hacking or better known as white collar hacking was considered legal. Ethical hacking is also being taught by various professionals at schools and colleges. So a need was felt to differentiate between good and bad hacking. Under the amendment IT Act in 2008, the word ‘hacker was removed from the act. The reason for the same was that ethical hacking is taught by a lot of professionals at various schools and colleges, and colleges cannot teach anything illegal. So the same word should not be used. The amendment rephrased section 66 and section 43 by removing the word hacking from the Act.

   Hacking in India

There have been numerous hacking attacks on Indian government websites where state government websites or defense websites have been hacked. Some time back, the Principal Comptroller of defense accounts website was hacked due to which defense officials could not access their salary information. The government, to reduce hacking of precise work, has agreed to the proposal of DEITY, which is the department of information and technology to stop using popular email ids for official purpose and has sanctioned a budget of Rs. 100 cores to safeguard the data. The websites of state governments have also been hacked in the past. The official website of Maharashtra government was hacked, and the hackers were not traceable.There have been some professional hackers in India who have taken huge amounts to hack data from websites. In the infamous case of Amit Tiwari, who was a global hacker, he has hacked more than 950 accounts since 2003 and was caught by the police only in 2014. This shows the lack of evidence and the difficulty in arresting a hacker.

The effectiveness of Computer Hacking Laws

Like any other law, the effectiveness must be determined by its deterrence. While there will always be those that want to see if they can do it, and get away with it (any crime), there are always the many more who may not do something if they are aware of its unlawfulness - and possible imprisonment. 

In the early 1990's, when hacker efforts stopped AT&T communications altogether, the U.S. Government launched its program to go after the hackers. This was further stepped up when government reports (by the GAO) indicate that there have been more than 250,000 attempts to hack into the Defense Department computers. First there were the laws - now came the bite behind it. One of the effects of computer hacking brought about focused efforts to catch them and punish them by law. 

Then, more recently, the U.S. Justice Department reveals that the National Infrastructure Protection Center has been created in order to protect our major communications, transportation, and technology from the attack of hackers. Controlling teens and hackers have become the focus of many governmental groups to stop this maliciousness against individuals, organizations, and nations.