AMIT MALHOTRA

(Cyber Crime Investigation Specialist)

Founder Akhil Bhartiya Cyber Suraksha Sangathan

18 yrs experience in crime prevention, detection and investigation. Certified Ethical Hacker from Ec-Council. Certified Cyber Crime Investigator from Asian School of Cyber Laws. Presently working in the area of cyber crime investigation.

IT Act 2000(With Amendments 2008)

The Information Technology Act, 2000

To cope up with the increasing numbers of crimes over the Internet, the Government of India has enforced The Information Technology Act, 2000 with an objective to make a secure space for commercial use of Information technology. The Information Technology Act, 2000 also specifies the acts and actions that are made punishable as per Indian law. Additionally, The Indian Panel Code has also been amended to ensure the compliance as per IT Act, 2000.

As a primary law specifically meant for Cyber Crimes and electronic commerce, The Information Technology Act 2000, notified on 17 October 2000, states as

"An Act to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication, commonly referred to as "electronic commerce", which involve the use of alternatives to paper-based methods of communication and storage of information, to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies and further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."

Following is the list of Internet-based acts that are considered as punishable under the IT Act and the IPC:

1. Cyber Crimes under the IT Act :

Sec.65: Tampering with Computer Source Documents
Sec.66: Data Alteration, Hacking with Computer Systems
Sec.67: Publishing Obscene Information
Sec.70: Unauthorized Access in Protected System
Sec.72: Violation of Privacy and Confidentiality
Sec.73: Publishing False Digital Signature Certificates

for more details on IT Act 2000, click here.

2. Cyber Crimes under IPC :

Sec 503 IPC: Sending Threatening Messages by email
Sec 499 IPC: Sending Defamatory Messages by email
Sec 463 IPC: Counterfeiting of electronic records
Sec 420 IPC: Bogus Websites, Cyber Frauds
Sec 463 IPC: Email spoofing
Sec. 383 IPC: Web-Jacking
Sec. 500 IPC: E-Mail Abuse

3. Cyber Crimes under the Special Acts:

Online sale of Drugs under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act

Online sale of Arms Act

To view the complete list of Cyber Laws under IT Act 2000, IPC and Special Acts, click here.

IT ACT, 2008 (AMENDMENT)

The Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (IT Act 2008) was brought up by the Indian Parliament under the administration of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).

The major changes in IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 includes redefining terms such as "communication device" as per the current usage; validating electronic signatures and contracts; making the IP address owner responsible for accessing or distributing the content through it; and enforcing corporations to implement effective data security practices & liable for security breaches.

For a complete copy of The Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008, click here.