China's New Domain Name Registration Rules

Feb 24: It is reported that China is introducing an experimental law to make it mandatory for Web site owners to be identified by a photograph and a persona visit to the ISP. This may help in preventing registration of fraudulent websites and though otherwise restrictive has some positive aspect... Related Report

Google Execs Sent to Jail

Feb 24: An Italian Court has sent three Google Executives to 6 month's imprisonment for privacy violation. It is related to the posting of abusive content on Google Videoe. The issue will have an impact on the determination of "Intermediary Liability" in case of such crimes. Google maintains that the objectionable content was removed within few hours of being informed by the Police and is likely to appeal against the verdict. The case establishes the concept of "Vicarious Liability" of a content provider and the need to exercise "Due Diligence". Indian law in this regard is clear that if the intermediary establishes that they have practiced due diligence they may not be held liable. Otherwise they do face the liability. It is unlikely that the Italian judge would have ignored this practice. Probably, instead of defending on the "Due Diligence" principles, Googel might have taken the defence on "Freedom of Speech" and the "Right to facilitate content upload without any responsibility" and failed to convince the judge. This is a preliminary observation and we need to study the judgment in detail before making further comments.  Related Article : Google Blog

Related Article in ET

IT Refund Fraud

Feb 22: Frauds involving filing of false IT returns and claiming refunds have been reported in Mumbai. The password of an assessing officer was found to have been stolen and used to clear the refunds which were then encashed through the bank accounts. In some cases the PAN card holders have colluded in encashing the refunds though it is not clear they were aware that the refunds had been obtained by such fraudulent means. Lack of information security practices at the IT department is said to be the main cause of the fraud. If this is an indication of the vulnerability of the Government IT system, one can anticipate that similar frauds must be happening on other Government departments where payments are being made out. Review of IS in e-Governance from the point of view of fraud prevention is therefore a priority for the IT managers in Government sector. It is time that NIC develops a special task force on Information Security for the purpose. Related Article

When Complainant is Influential..

Feb 21: Knowledge about Cyber Crimes is inadequate with the law enforcement as most of the senior Police officers would admit. Sometimes, one wonders whether this is being misused in some places as one of the incidents quoted in techgoss reveals... Related Article

February Issue of Cyber Laws For CxO

February 21: The second issue of Cyber Laws for CxO, a special issue on Digital Signature is now on E-Stands. The E News letter is being mailed to the exclusive set of subscribers who have subscribed through the website http://www.cyberlaws4cxo.com .

Microsoft Outsources Legal Work to India

February 21: In a bid to manage the legal budget, Microsoft is reported to have outsourced its legal work to India. The business is estmiated to be worth around US $ 800 million (approximately Rs 3500 crores). The work involves Intellectual Property and Patent related works. The work has been assigned to CPA India at Noida which is part of CPA Global headquartered from the tax haven English Channel island at St Heiler, Jersy. CPA Global has offices all over the world and it is a good news for the legal community in India that Microsoft intends to use CPA India for their work. This is likely to give a boost to the Legal Outsourcing work in India... Related Article

Ignore this Spam Mail

Feb 20: A spam mail appears to be circulating under the apparent sender's address naavi@vsnl.com . The mail gives links to some mp3 downloads from a website called mp3hava.com. The mail has not been sent by me and it appears that either mp3hava.com has hacked into VSNL server and caused the mail to be sent or otherwise planted a trojan in my or any of my contact's computer and sent the mail. In either case this is an offence under Section 66 and 66A of the ITA 2008 by mp3hava.com. I am exploring further action in this regard. In the meantime those who receive the mail with the subject "Listen Latest Mp3 Songs Trailers Hindi Telugu Tamil Malayalam Kannada" may kindly ignore the mail. A copy of the mail and the header information contained there in as well as the mail sent to Tata Indicom in this respect is available here...More

Terrorist Turned Cyber Criminal

Feb 20: The link between terrorists and Cyber Criminals is often spoken about.Naavi.org has been highlighting the distinct possibility of Terrorists using Cyber space for raising money for their operations through cyber crimes . This possibility was also pointed out to the adjudicator of Tamil Nadu in a Phishing Case.  Here is a corroborating example of an Indian Mujahiddeen operative involved in several bomb blasts in India being caught in an online fraud. .. Article in Pioneer

Top 25 Programming Errors Exploited by Criminals

Feb 20: Software vulnerabilities have always been a gateway for hackers and cyber criminals to commit offences. The latest list of 25 most dangerous programming errors that enable attackers to take control of software, steal data or prevent the software from working released by security specialists are here.

WIPRO Embezzlement.. An IS Perspective

Feb 19: The Rs 20 crore  embezzlement incident at WIPRO reflects how a CMM 5 level Company with ISO 27001 audit certification and other accolades can go wrong in implementing an effective Information Security practice. This is not the time to gloat over the failure of a fellow IS manager but time to introspect why the security breach occurred and where did the controls fail... More

Hacking for US $4 Million at WIPRO

Feb 17: An employee of WIPRO is reported to have embezzelled US $ 4 million by stealing a password and using it to transfer money belonging to the Company. It is clear that the large amount has been transferred under instructions which was (presumably) not backed by Digital Signatures. The case reveals the extent of loss companies and banks may sustain if they continue to ignore the need to adopt secure means of authentication recommended by ITA 2008. Company also appears to have not taken legal action against the employee and only suspended him.This also is a case where the company has provided a deficient Clause 49 report in its previous annual report and mislead the shareholders. Perhaps SEBI would call for an explanation on what due diligence was followed before the Clause 49 certificate was provided and what was the effectiveness of the audit committee with independent Directors and what is their liability to the shareholders for the negligence. ..More

Times of India group guilty under Sections 67,67A and 67B? Will Police Act?

Feb 14: We have been debating how Times of India through its front page article on February 11, in its print editions took up promoting and advertising pornography on Internet through the savitabhabhi.com (since banned by Government of India) and its clone which is now in operation. ..These pages contain pictures and text which are sufficient to invoke Section 67 and 67A of ITA 2008.  Further, a few of the pictures depict minors engaged in sexually explicit acts which is good enough to invoke section 67B of ITA 2008...More

What Do We Do with Obscenity in Times of India?

Feb 13: It is well known that Times of India has been in the forefront of corruption of journalistic ethics in India with the introduction of soft porn into the daily media.Over the last few days we have been debating the article which appeared in TOI on February 11th with the title “Govt Can’t Ban Porn Website for Obscenity”. It is in this connection that we need to take note that TOI has been a purveyor of a new culture on soft porn in India preint media. ...More

Govt Can Ban Porn websites for obscenity

Feb 12:On February 11th, Times of India carried a front page article titled "Govt Cannot Ban Porn Websites for Obscenity". The article and contents came as a "dream cum true" for many who make it their daily habit to live on a porn diet. Times of India carried the news widely in all its publications including Economic Times.Unfortunately however,  the entire article is based on a false interpretation of the provisions of the ITA 2008 and if any one is feeling happy that India is now ripe for exploitation by the pornography industry, they are sadly mistaken...More

Times of India.. Is it Set  to Mislead the Public on Savita Bhabhi Issue?

Feb 11: Times of India as a publication has been in the forefront of introducing "Soft Porn Journalism" in India in print. Naavi.org has also observed that Times of India has an unusual interest in promoting commercial interests even when the stand they may espouse as a publication is against public interest. We have seen this in the various articles Times of India published to thwart the passage of Information Technology Act Amendments which were seen as detrimental to the interest of "Intermediaries".

Now in "Savita Bhabhi", the true colours of India Times as a Porn Support Publication has come out in the open once again... More

Maturity Model for Information Security Capability..2

Feb 8: Now, under the the Maturity Model for Information Security Capability (shall we call it IS-CMM ?.. so that we can appreciate the relationship of this approach with the better known CMMI or SEI CMM terms  used in software industry) we are exploring the methods for measuring the IS capability of an organization. ..More

IS Maturity Capability Model

February 5: We had discussed in the previous articles that Information Security adoption by individual employees may be mapped to five parameters namely,1.Awareness, 2. Acceptance 3.Availability, 4. Mandate and 5. Inspiration.

In this article, I add a few more thoughts on how we can build a measurement system where a Company’s level of achievement can be mapped against a model similar to the CMM modeling system. This would be relevant for the purpose of auditing of the level of IS achievement. Under this model, each of the five motivational factors are mapped against the level of achievement in a matrix as shown in the following picture. ..More

Cyber Cafe Pro Offered free

February5: One Roof which had been offering a Cyber Cafe management software geared towards Cyber Law Compliance has now released a free version of the software. Cyber Cafes may download the software from http://www.oneroof.com .  This software is designed to follow the compliance requirements suggested in ITA 2008and is likely to emerge as the most best ITA 2008 compliant cyber cafe software for Indian Cyber Cafes. Details

US to Pledge substantial Investment in Cyber Security Research

February 5:  The passage of Cyber Security Enhancement Bill by Congress in US is expected to result in substantial investments flowing to create Cyber Security work force as well as in Cyber Security research. Similar action is called for in India also. Article

Western Union used as Terror Agent?

February 5: A probable scam involving an attempt of extortion in Mumbai  in the name of Al Quida has also exposed the role of Western Union as the prime agency that assists in collection and distribution of cyber crime wealth.  Unless Western Union changes the way it handles its business, it will remain a key link in growth if International terror. Since laws in India permit CERT In to monitor Intermediaries, CERT In should step in and take suitable action against Western Union to stop use of its services for cyber crimes. Article

Cabinet Secretary to Meet IT Experts on China Hacking Issue

February 1: It is reported that the Cabinet Secretary of GOI is likely to call for a meeting next month with some experts to discuss the security issues arising out of the alleged Chinese hacking attempts in India. Report in indian express

Veerappa Moily Calls for a fresh law on Cyber Crimes

February 1: Addressing a two day conference in Delhi to discuss enforcement issues in Cyber Crimes, the Union Law Minister Mr Veerappa Moily has called for a fresh comprehensive law to address the increasing Cyber Crimes in the country. One of the suggestions that has been made is the creation of an "All India Cyber Crime Police" set up which has been one of the fundamental changes that Naavi.org has been suggesting for the last several years. The CJI has also highlighted the need to block Internet pornography. Report in TOI

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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.

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