India’s position regarding cyber security and privacy protection has been exposed due to recent negative developments that have severely affected the rights of Indian citizens. It has now become very clear that India is a sitting duck in both the fields of civil liberties protections and cyber security. It has also been well understood by Indian citizens that privacy rights in India is not charity but a constitutional right. As a result it would be next to impossible for the Modi government to fool Indian citizens anymore in this regard.
Cyber security in India is an alien concept for Indian government for long. Even the Modi government is currently not in a position to tackle the cyber security challenges of India with its current approach and policies. Anybody can target India for various forms of cyber attacks and cyber crimes and India has become a land of no resistance for the crackers.
According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law and CEO of Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB), India is a Sitting Duck in the Cyberspace and Civil Liberties Protection Regime. Malware like Stuxnet, Duqu, Flame, Uroburos/Snake, Blackshades, FinFisher, Gameover Zeus (GOZ), etc cannot be tackled by India due to lack of Offensive and Defensive Cyber Security Capabilities in India. Cyber Security Breaches are increasing World over and India must be “Cyber Prepared” to deal with the same. The Cyber Security Challenges before the Narendra Modi Government are not easy to manage and Indian Cyberspace must be protected on a “Priority Basis”.
Whether it is Congress government or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, none of them have done anything significant in the directions of ensuring effective cyber security laws and privacy laws in India. For instance, the Modi government has done nothing except summoning of few officials of United States for blatant violation of privacy rights of Indians and invading Indian cyberspace.
According to Dalal “We cannot “Enact Laws” but we can use “Counter Technologies” to prevent Illegal and Unconstitutional E-Surveillance and Eavesdropping. Self Defence and Privacy Protection in India must be ensured by us at our own levels. The initiatives titled PRISM Break and Reset the Net are the “Starting Point” in this regard”. If Modi government fails to safeguard privacy rights in the information era, self defence seems to be the only available option for Indian citizens.
