Laws relating to Ethical Hacking in India

Introduction:

Nowadays, We are living in an era of science and technology. Science and technology make our life easy and fast. It helps to complete our work from home by direct online transfer of documents and other important data. But one of the biggest challenges is how to keep safe these documents in the virtual platform from hackers. It is considered that the word “Hacker” 1^st time use in 1960 when the hacking occurred in MIT. Till the end of 1980, the internet started to make their identity in the market. People started their business and other activities by using the internet.

Now, people are worried about the hackers who steal the data and hack the computer of any individual or organization and bring control over them. They can cause harm to those from who the data has been hacked and stolen. Hackers are those people who steal data from various organizations and cause harm or destroy those data for their benefit and some other purpose. Hacking data or networking is considered one of the biggest crimes in the world. Today not only India but also other countries are suffering from these challenges of hackers. We can say that hacking is a trespass with the computer.

Ethical Hackers are different from Hackers

As we know hacking is the process of access to personal data of any individual, company, organization, and institution without their prior consent or permission. It can also be known as digitally stealing any account, profile, or various personal documents of any individual or organization. Hacking is considered an unauthorized intrusion into a computer and its network system.

Now the question arises, What is ethical hacking? And how it is different from hacking? The answer is quite simple, Ethical hacking is the process of hacking in which hackers have prior permission to hack the data and they are hired by various institutions to collect every information regarding the loopholes and weakness of their computer and their networking system. After knowing all the weaknesses, they have to tell the owners of the institution and also tell how to make strong to protect their data.

Ethical hacking and hacking both are the same things but the main objective behind both things is different. Ethical hackers are appointed by various organizations, institutions, and governmental agencies. The work of ethical hackers is to identify the loopholes and weaknesses in the system of that particular organization by which they hired and also tell how to eliminates these loopholes to protect their data from stealing and hacking. While hackers are not hired by any organization they work self and steal data and hack the account of the various organization whom they make target. Hackers intend to cause harm and destroy the data of organizations. Ethical hacking plays a crucial role in protecting article 21 of the Indian Constitution which tells us about the “Right to Life and Personal Liberty”. Ethical hacking helps in protecting the personal data of individuals or various organizations and governmental agencies. Ethical hacker used their skills in securing and protecting the data, and networking of the computer system of that organization for which they are hired.

Types of  Ethical hacking

There are three types of ethical hackers, these are given as follows:-

1. White Hat Hackers: These are those hackers which have authorized access to the networking and website of that particular organization or institution to detect the weakness and fault of that institution’s network and their website. These white hat hackers are also known as the “Cyber Security Hacker”. The work of these hackers to collect all the possible information and details related to the network and website and tell the owners how to secure it.
2. Black Hat Hackers: These hackers try to steal the data from the website without the prior permission of the owner. They can cause harm and destroy the networking system of any targeted company or agency. These black hat hackers are also known as the “Crackers”.
3. Grey Hat Hackers: These are those hackers which are generally the mix of both White hat and Black hat hackers. These hackers have good knowledge of cyber law they can use their skills for good work and can also violate the law to gain data access when they want.[1]

Goals of Ethical Hackers

There are three main goals of ethical hackers, these are given as below:-

1. They have to protect the privacy of the organization from the hack for which they have hired by that particular organization.
2. They have to identify the weakness and loopholes in the computer and its networking system and report to the organization about their weaknesses and faults. He also needs to inform that where these mistakes or weaknesses are found in the system and how it can be improved so that we can keep it secure from hackers.
3. They also have to inform both the hardware and software vendors about the identified weakness so that vendors can report further and eliminate these mistakes for next time.

Law Relating to Ethical Hacking in India

Today not only India but the entire world is facing the threatening of hacking of their data, account, profile, and various website. Hackers cause online fraud with various organizations and try to harm and destroy their data for their benefit. We can take the recent example of Symbiosis medical college in which an unknown cybercriminal frauds the students by taking money from them under the NRI quota. A wide array of legislation has been brought an action to protect the rights of the citizen and keep their dealing safe on the virtual platform. Ethical hackers have to keep in mind various laws that are formed by our legislation under various acts like the Information Technology Act of 2000. The Information Act 2000 came into effect with the main objective to provide security to the data that is kept and exchange by the virtual platform.[2]

These laws are as given below:-

1. Section 43 of the Information Technology Act 2000, said if any person found misusing, damage, destroy and causing harm to the data and networking website of any company or organization without the prior consent and permission of the owner of that organization or any individual, The hacker will be liable and can be punished for that.
2. If prior permission is obtained by the hacker, then he is not liable for punishment. According to section 43A of IT Act 2000, if the ethical hacker or any authorized person can access all details of that organization but he can’t protect successfully the data and try to cause harm or destroy that data will be held liable for punishment[3].
3. Section 66 of The Information Technology Act 2000 said that If any fraud or dishonest person try to violate the rules and regulation that are mentioned in section 43 of the Information technology Act shall be punished with the imprisonment of 3 years.[4]
4. According to sections 70A and B, the government agencies have the power to appoint experts of cyber law and security to protect their infrastructure from terrorists and other hackers.[5]
5. According to section 72 of the IT Act, if any ethical hacker breaches or tries to breach the confidentiality and privacy of that organization shall be punished.

Ethical Hacking as a Profession

In the era of science and technology, we circulate our data from one organization to another by using the computer. It is considered that Cybersecurity and networking websites are the booming industries in the world. Companies and various organizations use networking websites to complete their work fast and also control their activities. It has become a challenge to keep our data safe in virtual space from hackers. For the protection and security of the data of these organizations and their work, we need ethical hackers. To become an ethical hacker we have to need to require proper knowledge of computers. There is a lot of scope for ethical hackers in upcoming digital India. Today every organization, institutions, and even also government agencies require ethical hackers to protect their data and help in maintaining the proper working of their system in virtual mode.

Conclusion

In the modern era, hacking becomes a common thing. Hacker can steal any data which they keep as a target. Hackers create fear in the mind of people. As we all know that causing harm or entering into the property of any person is considered a crime, in the same way, hacking is trespass with a computer networking system because hackers bring control over the computer of another individual for their profit without there prior consent. There is no law or act regarding hacking. Hacking and ethical hacking both are different things because the intention behind both is different. Hackers have malafide intention behind the hacking of system while Ethical hackers are hired by companies and organizations for the protection of their data and website from hackers and terrorists. There is a need to make laws on Hacking so that we can protect our data from the hack and can take action against those who try to hack or steal data. Ethical Hacking can be proved the best helper in making digital India successful.

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References:

[1] Greeks for greeks Introduction to ethical hacking at https://www.greeksforgreeks.org/introduction-to-ethical.

[2] Daisy Roy, laws you need to know as an ethical hacker at https://blog.ipleaders.in/law-need-knowthical-hackers.

[3] SS. Rana & Co. advocates, India: IT Rules 2011

[4] Section 66 of The Information technology Act 2000

[5] Section  70 of The Information Technology Act 2000