The intentional instillation of fear or horror in people’s thoughts and intimidation of people via force, firearms, or other means are all considered acts of terrorism. This is done to achieve some ridiculous political, religious, or economic objectives.
Methods of Cyberterrorism
Terrorists utilise the following methods to engage in cyberterrorism:
- Breaking into the government’s networks and databases in order to gain access to sensitive information that would threaten national security.
- Introducing malware or a virus into the computers and wiping out all backups of the government database stored online.
- An attack known as a “DDOS” occurs when terrorists take over a system by infecting it with viruses first. Then, terrorists can access the systems, alter the data, and obtain the information from any location.
Combating Cyber Terrorism in India
The Indian Parliament has not yet passed any legislation that particularly addresses the problem of cyber terrorism, despite the fact that the number of cyber terrorist attacks has escalated by leaps and bounds.
However, several already-existing laws have been changed so that they now cover the crime of cyberterrorism.
The laws are as follows:
- IT Act
The IT Act’s Section 66F defines cyberterrorism. This Section was added by way of an amendment to the Act in 2008. The terrible 26/11 terror assault in India led to this modification. In this instance, the terrorists utilised the communication services to help them carry out a string of 12 shooting strikes across Mumbai. This tragedy serves as a prime illustration of how terrorism may be carried out online.
Additionally, this Section lays out the penalties for those who engage in cyberterrorism or conspire to do so. Such individuals are subject to imprisonment, which may result in life imprisonment.
However, it is important to remember that cyberspace is constantly changing and that this definition of cyberterrorism now contains new gaps.
Blocking information access
In the interests of national sovereignty and integrity, Section 69A of the IT Act also gives the Central government—or any of its authorised employees—the authority to order any government agency to prevent public access to any information from a computer resource.
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (“CERT-In”)
According to Section 70B of the IT Act, the CERT-In team was established to offer timely alerts of incidents posing a threat to cyber security as well as a list of emergency procedures for dealing with those situations.
- Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967
This Act establishes penalties for terrorist acts. Although cyberterrorism does not fit the criteria of terrorism as this Act defines it, it also specifies penalties for conducting terrorist camps and recruiting people for terrorist acts. The use of cyberspace for the aforementioned purposes is also considered cyber terrorism and is, therefore, illegal.
- Indian Penal Code, 1860 (“IPC”)
The term “property,” which is employed in this Act in connection with the punishment for theft and other crimes of a similar nature, has been expanded to embrace data as well and includes the crime of data theft within its purview.
In the case of R.K. Dalmia v. Delhi Administration, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India ruled that the term “property” as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has a much broader meaning than the term “movable property” and that there is no good reason to limit the meaning of the term to only movable property when it is used without qualification.
The Honourable Supreme Court further noted that the interpretation of the word “property” has no bearing on whether the offence specified in a particular section of the IPC can be committed in relation to any specific type of property.
Therefore, it shall become a crime under the IPC when substantial information in the form of data is stolen by terrorists in violation of the nation’s sovereignty and integrity.
- Cyber Security Policy, 2013
For the first time in history, in the year 2013, India introduced its national-level cyber security policy. This policy gives out a general framework for maintaining and defending the security of cyberspace. The primary goal of this strategy is to provide a comprehensive framework for cyber security in the nation so that Indian cyberspace is safe from any type of attack from terrorists or other anti-social elements. However, this policy needs to be updated to include newer techniques for guaranteeing the security of the always-developing cyber environment.
