Campus Journalist 
CYBER LAW SHOULD BE A PART OF NATIONAL LAW
We all are to some extent aware of the innovation taking place when it comes to the technology. Technological advancements are also taking place in the cyber world. This means that we are increasingly getting exposed to this world which no doubt has a lot of benefits. But like every other ting, this too comes with its own set of cons. The first one being; the risk of cyber-attacks. Although, there is a general knowledge about it among the masses, what the country lacks is solid awareness about the pros and cons of the cyber world.
Keeping that in mind and intending to create awareness about the various safety measures and precautions especially now; during the COVID-19 times against cyber-attacks, the PhD Chamber of Commerce and Industry had hosted an interactive session. The topic was ‘Emerging Cyber Threats and Challenges in India during COVID-19 Lockdown’ and there were a host of delegates from various fields who put forth their opinions about the situation. The session attracted an audience of more than a hundred industry people all across India. The session was sponsored by Roundrobin Tech Services, Dr. Aruna Oswal and Coca Cola.
Starting off with the most noteworthy person when it comes to the field of Cyber Law; Dr. Pavan Duggal was present in this session. He is the Founder and Chairman of international Commission on Cyber Security Law and he presented in a detailed format the various emerging threats of cyber-attacks and cyber security. He stated that cyber-attacks were unfortunately the new normal now. He spoke about various case studies of corporates, hospitals, banks and other institutions which have been hit severely by cyber-attacks.
Sharing information about the various data protection and privacy laws in the country, he pointed out that they still need a lot of work to be done. Because of the lockdown, the companies are forced to let people work from home and often the employees do not have as sophisticated software as the office does. Hence, any sensitive information about the company that is being handled by such employees are at a greater risk and vulnerable to cyber-attacks. He was of the opinion that cyber security ought to be a part of our daily lives and that Cyber Law should be a part of National Law. He also spoke about the newly emerging global security laws with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).
Mr. Matthew See; who is working at WatchGuard Technologies spoke about the spike in the number of cases of cyber-attacks during the lockdown not just in India but across the globe. He also shared various case studies of business houses that are trapped in the complicated web of cyber security.
Mr. Anyesh Roy, DCP of Cyber Crime with Delhi Police also shared his inputs about the situation of cyber law and cyber security in the country. He pointed out that email fraud is the most common type of cyber-crime that people are falling victim to these days. This can easily be prevented by manually writing the email ids instead of depending on the automated ones. He also threw light on the importance of installing anti-virus applications on not just the laptops and computers but also the emails and mobile phones which are equally vulnerable to a cyber-attack. He also shared the increasing cases and dangers of Ransomware; wherein the device is hacked and the hacker(s) give an option between losing all the data on the device or paying a certain money in order to get back full control. Hence, he laid down the importace of having multiple backups.
Various other notable personalities shared their insights about the cyber world and gave advices on how to be safe online. Like Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General of the PhD Chamber spoke about how cyber-crime has been an issue in the corporate sector while Mr. Sachin Dedhia gave a detailed presentation on how to retrieve a password from the system and how various electronic devices are hacked.
Overall, it was a very informative session and everyone agreed that cyber law indeed needs to be a part of the national law. Various concerns were raised about the security of the cyber space and the crimes that were increasing due to the easy access of the internet to everyone. The Co-Chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurship Committee, Dr. Blossom Kochchar delivered the vote of thanks.
By Sayantani Rakshit