Hacking is undoubtedly one of the worst issues
that one wants to deals with. Often I get to see women complaining about
hacking of their social media accounts, people including men and women fearing
about and getting victimized by way of hacking of their email accounts , net
banking profiles and overall, the computer devices. New netizens are more prone
to getting victimized by hacking; so are their parents if these netizens are
pre-teens or teenagers. It is important to know some key factors which are
associated with hacking. These are as below:
The
five key factors which everyone should know about hacking:
1.
The term hacking is not
defined in any uniform style. Different researchers have defined hacking in different
ways. All most all academic definitions have indicated that computer hacking or
cyber hacking may mean unauthorized access to the computer, computer data etc,
changing the data without any authorization etc. In a way, it is directly
related to unauthorized data privacy infringement. A ‘smart’ example could be
the allegedly unauthorized access into the personal documents including bank
access details of the TRAI chief by the ethical hackers when the TRAI chief
threw challenge that ADHAR ‘hack proof’.[1]
2.
Indian laws especially
Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended in 2008) does not address the issue
as “hacking”. The issue is dealt with by not one, but three Sections, namely,
Ss. 65 which prescribes punishment for tampering with computer source documents,
66, which prescribes punishment for computer related offences and 43, which
speaks about Penalty and compensation for damage to computer, computer system
etc.
3.
Hacking may literally start
with unauthorized access or securing to the computer, computer system, computer
network etc. Accessing or ‘securing access’ can be done by various ways. This
may also include giving way to the hackers by opening suspicious mails/messages
or links. It is for this reason that new users of internet and digital technology
must be extremely cautious while opening suspicious mails/links etc.
4.
Hacking may also include
downloading/extracting data etc, modifying such data, reproducing that data in
an altered form etc. It may also include unauthorized access to the computer or
computer system or data etc and infecting the same with viruses which will
immediately or gradually destroy all data, software etc stored in the computer
and computer system. Hacking may necessarily include unauthorized accessing and
then using of the computer network, email id, phone number or social media
profile for impersonating and unethical gain. It is for this reason that often
people complaint about hacking when their accounts have been unauthorisedly
accessed, data extracted/accessed and modified and email ID/social media
profiles etc are used for impersonating by way of a fake avatar.
5.
Hacking may also involve
denial of services, which is why a computer or computer system thus affected may not get connected to the
internet easily and according to the wish of the real owner of the computer or
computer system etc, but according to the wishes of the hacker only.
Now you may understand that
when your computer shows activities which are not generally expected, you must
be alarmed that your computer or the computer network or the computer system
has been affected by hacking : typically your device may slow down for no
reason, you may start getting to see that the data is altered, your net banking
account or email or social media account’s password and username and the
related phone number and email id may get changed without your authorization,
your documents including your photo may get published or circulated elsewhere
without your knowledge. Most scary of these is the camera device of your phone or
laptop or Ipad (when they are on switch on mode) etc may become active even
when you are not using the camera. It is for this reason that cyber security experts suggest to not to use
the electronic devices when one expects complete privacy from the outside
world, like when one is in the washroom.
So,
what about the punishment?
Do Indian laws address hacking as “hacking” ?
The answer is NO. But this does not mean that the act of hacking
is not punishable. As discussed
above, when the constituting elements mentioned under points nos 3, 4 and 5
create unauthorized access to the computer, computer system, data etc, Sections 65, 66 and 43 may
immediately be applicable for booking the offences for tampering the computer
source code, computer related offences and damage to the computer system etc. As such there are two types of
punishments that are prescribed for hacking related offences : punishment as
per civil offences which are regulated by S.43 and punishments as per criminal
nature of the offence, which are regulated by Ss. 65 and 66. In the later, the
punishments may include imprisonment for a period upto three years and/or fine which may extend to Rs. two
lakhs. In case S.66 is applied, then the fine amount increases upto Rs. 5
lakhs. Again, if the act of hacking is judged as per S.43, then the provision
would be read with S. 45 of the Information technology Act, which indicates that,
a maximum of Rs. 25, 000/ may be paid as compensation to the victim for such
offences (this is especially so because S.43 does not mention any specific
amount of compensation and this lacuna is filled by S.45 which prescribes
residuary penalty). However, the recent
trend may show that most of hacking related cases had been booked under Ss. 66,
65 and 43 so that the perpetrators may undergo jail term as well as are bound
to pay fine.
Interestingly, the Information
Technology Act does not restrict the criminal liability to a specific age as is
seen in the Indian penal code. Hence, even if it is a computer genius as young
as 10 or 12 years of age, he/she may not escape the clutches of law in case
he/she has done the offence/s which may constitute hacking. Considering their
age and maturity level, Juvenile Justice
(care and protection) Act , 2015 may also be applicable. Again, this would NOT mean that parents would
be considered completely innocent. Very recently the courts in Gujarat had made
the parents liable for underage kids driving two and four wheelers. If the children are arrested, the parents may
have to pay for negligence in monitoring the wrong doing of their children.
I end this piece with a
positive note: if we adults are aware, then our children will also be aware and
we can prevent the digital as well as real life privacy infringement in a swift
way.
Please Note: Do
not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations
provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article,
please cite it as “Halder D. (2018), " 5 key factors about hacking and the
laws” 3rd September, published
in http://debaraticyberspace.blogspot.com
[1] See Rachel Chitra(2018), Hackers deposit Re 1 in Trai chief's
account. Published in https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/hackers-deposit-re-1-in-trai-chiefs-account/articleshow/65190556.cms
on 30/07/2018
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