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Online CAT Fails

Nov 28: In a tragic reflection on the lack of IT expertise at IIMs, the much hyped Online CAT has failed on the first day itself plunging the lacks of students into a state of despair Tests have been cancelled in some centers and some students have stated in NDTV that there was no supervision at their center and students were freely discussing the answers. No doubt IIMs will blame the outsourcing company which perhaps handled the exams but the failure of planning on the part of IIMs cannot be discounted. On 2nd April 2008, Naavi.org had highlighted the risk in the online version of CAT but expressing the hope that the security issues will be taken care of. Unfortunately the apex management institutions have collectively failed. This will be a blow to the reputation of both IIMs and the IT industry in the country.  Earlier Article in April 2008

Centralized Monitoring of Internet in India

Nov 27: According to the Minister of State for communications and information technology, a centralized Internet monitoring system is being set up to monitor all communications on Internet, Telephone and Mobile networks. There is  at present no information on the safeguards to be set up to ensure misuse of the proposed surveillance. Article in networkworld.com

Copyright Act amendments in India.. Watch Out for surprises

Nov 26: Copyright Office in India had proposed several amendments to the current act some time in 2006. Subsequently, the document which indicated the proposed amendments which was available on the website of the Copyright Office has been removed. (Copy available here) . Now the report in Times of India today (26th Nov 2009) indicates that the amendments are being re-worked by the HRD Ministry in a “hush hush” manner. The speculation is that the amendments are being driven by the Music Industry which is trying to use the Copyright Act to consolidate its financial position...

I request the Government of India not to rush with the amendments in a hush-hush manner and  start a consultation process with the consumer’s representatives so that the amendments create a law which is fair to the society in general....More

UIDAI Holds cosultations at Bangalore

Nov 23: The UIDAI held consultations at National Law School, Bangalore with representatives from the legal and civil liberties group in its process of developing establishing a framework of operation that is acceptable to the society. As expected, the Civil Liberties groups strongly opposed the very idea of the "Identification" being given to individuals which may eventually be used to track individuals against their Privacy Rights. The group on the whole however felt that UID is only an infrastructure and it has overweighing beneficial aspects that make it a good scheme to be persisted with. Discussions were also held on Data Security and Privacy aspects related to the UIDAI s activities. Naavi participating in the discussions suggested that the framework for setting up of the UIDAI should be strengthened so that the functioning of the authority may be secured against unnecessary political intereference.

Arrest of Two Persons in Kerala under Sec 66A

Nov 23: Police in Kerala have arrested two persons who forwarded a mail which was considered defamatory to one of the State's Political leaders. Without the knowledge of the contents it is difficult to comment on whether the act was correctly applied. But it appears that the political considerations appears to have weighed heavily in the case. Hopefully the arrested persons have been granted bail. The news report is silent on the bail. Report in IE Report in TOI

Infosys Executive Calls for Revision of ITA 2000

Nov 22: ITA 2000 was amended after several years of hibernation and the new ITA 2008 has emerged. While we are yet to digest the changes, there are some persons who are calling for changes in ITA 2000. It is not clear what changes they would like to make from the ITA 2008. .... More... Related article:  Also see here

Cyber Laws Around the World

Nov 18: Here is an interesting compendium of Cyber Laws around the world with a focus on the controversial features there in. Related Article

Cyber Warriors on Hire!

Nov 18: According to a recent Mcafee report, it is stated that Cyber Crime gangs are now offering their services to carryout denial of service attacks on critical virtual resources of specific countries for a price. This "Cyber War for a Fee" is a matter of concern for India since we already have US funded Pakistan and a Cyber War expert like China as our disgruntled neighbors looking for opportunities to hurt India whenever possible. Related Article

The Data Breach Incident in MT Companies

Nov 15: Here is a detailed article on the recent Data Breach allegation in Medical transcription companies in India. .. Article

ITA 2008 Compliance Blanket for Cyber Cafes

Nov 15: The terror mail threat received by the Sri Lankan Cricket team before the Ahmedabad Test has once again brought focus on the Cyber Cafes. The mail was sent from a Cyber Café in Chattisgarh and promptly the Police have arrested the Cyber Café owner. For records, Police are happy that an arrest has been made but it is unlikely to lead to the finding of the real culprit since the Cyber Café may not be maintaining proper records.

The undersigned has developed such an “ITA 2008 Compliance Blanket for Cyber Cafes”  which satisfies the needs of the Police and frees the Cyber Café owners from harassment. The details of the security blanket cannot be discussed over a public forum but if the Police in Chattisgarh and the Cyber Café owners are both interested in a cooperative format for developing the security, Naavi.org would be happy to assist them. More  .. Related Article

HIPAA Breach Notification

The HITECH Act in USA introduced a new concept of "Breach Notification". In Pursuance of  the provisions of the Act, Guam Memorial Hospital Authority has issued a notice of breach of unsecured health information after a laptop computer used by the GMHA Employee Health Office was stolen from the Guam Memorial Hospital. A file on the computer contained limited health information on approximately 2,000 employees, volunteers, contractors and physicians. This may perhaps be considered the first compliance of such a breach notification. The actual breach notification as found on the GMH website is also available here:  Report

Three Dimensional IT Security Model

IT Security originated as a technology solution to the problem of unauthorized access to information systems. It graduated to Techno Legal dimensions with the regulatory prescriptions. Now it has further expanded into the third dimension where the "Behavioural Science aspects" influence the planning, implementation and adoption of information security. This Techno-Legal-Behavioural Science approach to Information Security (Shall we call it TLBS approach) will be the focus of the IS community in the coming days. More

IT Security Market Set to Boom

November 13: According to the "Global IT Security Market Forecast to 2013" by Reporterlinker.com, IT security market grew in 2008 despite recession and is set to grow further on a global scale at a CAGR of 11% between 2009 and 2013. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at more than the average rate. Details

Compulsive Cyber Offence Syndrome

.. we need to recognize that amidst us are some people who have the "Compulsive Cyber Offence Syndrome". These are people who use Cyber devices to commit an offence knowing well that it is an offence and if caught, they will be punished and if punished, their future is sealed in darkness. The syndrome is very much like "Kleptomania", a desire to steal...Details

Allahabad University Fights Fake Website Problem

Nov 12: Police are wondering under what section should one file a case on the fake website created in the name of Allahabad University. See Report

Creating a pseudo website diminishes the value of the genuine website and hence the offence comes under Section 66 of ITA 2008. The offence may also be considered as a Section 66D offence (Impersonation).

Nasscom Turns Complainant in Data Theft Case

Nov 10: In an interesting development in Pune, Nasscom became a complainant in case of a data theft allegation resulting in the arrest of a head of a BPO. The case pertained to an allegation that the medical history data of a US based company was being stolen and sold to another company. What is noticeable is the fact that the Zonal officer of Nasscom was the complainant on behalf of the UK firm. Three persons are reportedly arrested and booked under ITA. The arrested have not been granted bail and remanded to Police custody. The report is ambiguous and quotes that a request for investigation was faxed by the UK firm to the Police also.

The incident raises certain issues including what is the role of Nasscom in this episode. What is the locus standi of Nasscom? In what capacity they have made the complaint? Why did the Police not grant Bail to the accused as per ITA 2008? What compelling evidence could they clinch?

Knowing that Pune Police were involved in the famous wrong arrest of a Bangalore Techie and keeping him in jail for 50 days, one needs to check if there is proper process followed in this data theft case. The report in TOI does not provide confidence that it is one of the normal things.

Section 67 B needs to be chained

Nov:09: During the Cyber Security Summit 2009 at Bangalore, last month, the think tank recommended to GOI that the notification of Section 67B of the new ITA 2008 be better kept in abeyance since it poses a threat to innocent persons being made victims of law. This section includes "Browsing" and "Seeking" of  information containing sexually explicit conduct involving children (Child Pornography) as an offence punishable with 5 years imprisonment. Earlier the offence was restricted to "Publishing" and "Transmitting" only and the new section extended it to other activities which could some times be induced involuntarily through viruses or trojans. Now it has also been noticed that a system is developing whereby one uses some body else's computer storage to store and use sexually explicit material. Imagine your website storage space or worst your desktop/laptop storage space being partially intruded by a virus and used for storage of pornographic files to which some body else can have access whenever he wants. It makes you the repository of objectionable material and throws a challenge at you to prove that you were not aware of what was going on in your own digital space. This article highlights the dangers involved.

Now that ITA 2008 including Section 67B has become effective from October 27, 2009, there is a need to ensure that Section 67B needs to be put on chain through a set of rules that will ensure that it would not be misused. ....More

Japanese Rape Game.. Can it be Stopped?

In the last few days discussions are on in India how to tackle the ill effects of the Japanese game which is said to be circulating in India. (See article here). The ITA 2008 has enough powers to take action both against the distributors of such games. It is not necessary that action is needed on the person who plays because he is actually a victim. Since the distributor is a habitual offender having set up a business for repeated offences, I will not be able to get the bail at least for the second offence. (Watch out for more on this in these columns)

Metadata could be part of RTI

Nov: 05: At a time that a discussion on whether file notings should be part of RTI in India, it is interesting to note that in USA, the Arizona Supreme Court has held that even the Meta data (Notings made by the software about when a version of the document was created etc) is also part of public disclosure.. Detailed Article

Are You ITA 2008 Compliant?

Nov 04: Naavi.org had raised a similar query in its columns on November 15th, 2000, immediately after ITA 2000 had been notified. It was also discussed in one of the CII meetings in Chennai at that time. Now after 9 years, time has come to again raise a similar query with reference to the ITA 2008. Compared to the provisions of ITA 2000, ITA 2008 has brought in  lot more compliance requirements along with more penalties and punishments for non compliance.

I therefore urge all companies whether they are IT or non IT to immediately start a plan of action to work towards compliance of ITA 2008. As a first step, I would advise all Company Secretaries to send a note to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, asking them to convene a Board Meeting exclusively for discussing the impact of ITA 2008 on their company.... More

IGNOU Online Test Sabotaged?

In a reminder of the risks of e-business and e-education, the ambitious start of an online entrance examination system (IGNEAT) launched by IGNOU had to be abandoned due to a suspected cyber attack. The problem may even be a technical glitch rather than a cyber attack. However a complaint has been made at the Cyber Crime cell of Delhi Police which may undertake an investigation of a possible "Denial of Access Attack". IGNOU suspect that the attack might have been launched by a software developing firm which failed to get the contract.  Related Article

US $711 million penalty for Spam

Facebook has won a whopping $711 million in a lawsuit filed a for violating the Can-Spam Act, which bans "false and misleading" marketing e-mails.  U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California found that the defendant  "willfully violated" a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction issued in the case and referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution of criminal contempt, according to CNET. 

Related Article: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Facebook_awarded_711_Million_in_spam_lawsuit-nid-62426.html

 

Naavi.org is India's premier portal on Cyber Law. It is not only an information portal containing information on several aspects concerning Information Technology Law in India but also represents the focal point of several services around Cyber Law carried on by Naavi.

The first such service is the Cyber Law College a virtual Cyber Law education center in India which provides various courses on Cyber Law.

The second key service is the Cyber Evidence Archival center which provides a key service to help administration of   justice in Cyber Crime cases.

The third key service is the domain name look-alikes dispute resolution service which provides a unique solution for websites with similar looking domain names to co exist.

The fourth key service is the online mediation and arbitration service another unique global service.

The fifth key service is the CyLawCom service which represents the Cyber Law Compliance related education, audit and implementation assistance service.

Additionally, Naavi.org is in the process of development of four sub organizations namely the Digital Society Foundation, Naavi.net, International Cyber Law Research Center and Cyber Crime Complaints and Resolution Assistance Center. Digital Society Foundation is a Trust formed with the objective of representing the voice of Netizens in various fora and work like an NGO to protect their interests. Naavi.net is meant to develop a collaborative distributed network of LPO consultants. International Cyber Law Research Center would support research in Cyber Laws and Cyber Crime Complaints and Resolution Assistance Center would try to provide some support to victims of Cyber Crimes.

Together, Naavi.org represents a "Cyber Law Vision" that goes beyond being a mere portal. Started in 1997, when the concept of Cyber Law was new across the globe, consistent efforts over the last decade has brought Naavi.org to the beginning of "Phase 2" in which the services are ready to reach out to a larger section. This is recognized as the phase of collaborations and growth by association. Naavi.org will therefore be entering into a series of associations to develop each dimension of its vision with an appropriate partner. Individuals, Organizations and Commercial houses which have synergistic relationship with the activities of Naavi.org are welcome to join hands in commercial and non commercial projects of Naavi.org.

Naavi

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