National Journal of Cyber Security Law

Beyond the Firewall: Understanding the Complexities of Cybersecurity in India

Darsheen Kaur Thapar — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The contemporary landscape of security is significantly shaped by the evolving challenges of cybersecurity within our technology-driven world, particularly as information and communication technologies (ICTs) become increasingly central to global economies and infrastructure. The anticipated rise in cyberattacks, fueled by our growing dependence on digital systems, targets a wide
range of entities, including individuals, organizations, and governmental bodies. Furthermore, the strategic significance of ICTs, perceived by some nations as a potential arena for conflict and a crucial instrument for national security, underscores the vulnerabilities inherent in our interconnected world. This paper examines the role of cybersecurity in the broader context of security considerations, with a specific focus on India's perspective to enhance understanding of this critical issue.

Acid in the Inbox: How Legal System Ignore the Severity of Digital Death and Rape Threats

Ananya Semwal — Fri, 30 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article looks into the growing crisis of online gender-based violence in India, sparked by the recent trolling of social media influencer Apoorva Mukhija. While digital spaces were once seen as platforms for free expression and connection, they are increasingly being misused to target, harass, and silence women. From rape threats and acid attack warnings to coordinated trolling campaigns, the abuse is not just alarming—it’s deeply personal and psychologically damaging. Through real-life case studies and a closer look at India’s legal framework, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the article highlights how current laws fall short in addressing the full extent of digital abuse. It also reviews efforts under the Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) Scheme, while pointing out gaps in enforcement and victim support. The article argues for urgent legal reforms, stronger accountability from social media platforms, and better
training for law enforcement. It emphasizes the need for collective responsibility—by lawmakers, tech companies, and civil society—to make the internet a safer space for everyone, especially women and marginalized groups.

Towards a Smart Nation: The Digital India Journey

Atisha Mitra, Jyotika Teckchandani — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Government of India started the ambitious "Digital India" plan with the goal of transforming the nation into a knowledge economy and society propelled by technology. This vision focuses on leveraging technology to create a more inclusive, accessible, and transparent system, bringing the benefits of digital platforms to every citizen. The primary objective is to provide high-speed internet access, digital literacy, e-governance, and digital infrastructure, especially in rural and remote areas, to reduce the digital divide. The Initiative encompasses several key areas, including the promotion of digital literacy, the creation of a robust digital infrastructure, and the development of efficient government services through e-governance. Additionally, it seeks to empower citizens by making education, healthcare, and financial services more accessible via digital platforms. Financial inclusion is another crucial aspect, with an emphasis on making digital payments and mobile banking more widespread to support the unbanked population. While Digital India holds great promise for economic growth and social empowerment, it also faces challenges, such as infrastructure gaps in rural regions and the risk of deepening inequalities if certain communities remain digitally excluded. However, with strategic investments in infrastructure and policies that promote equitable access, Digital India aims to revolutionize the way citizens interact with the government and the economy, propelling India into the forefront of the global digital landscape. This paper explores the vision, goals, and potential outcomes of Digital India, as well as shape challenges that need to be addressed to ensure that the benefits of the digital revolution are felt across all sections of society.

Cyber Insurance: Legal Challenges and Regulatory Responses

Katneni Charan, Shruti Sabale — Wed, 07 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Cyber insurance has become a necessity for organizations to reduce risks from cyber-attacks. But cyber insurance law and regulation is highly complicated and problematic. These include unclear policy language, problems with cyber-related blame, privacy regulations, and the threat of moral hazard. Also, the regulatory response has lacked swiftness to accommodate, leaving policy language in heterogeneous forms and jurisdictional uniformity. This paper addresses these issues, examines existing regulation, and presents solutions to the legal grey areas in the cyber insurance space. With a focus on the most pressing issues and a review of the judiciary, the paper will help to deliver a comprehensive overview of the changing cyber insurance landscape and recommend areas for further improvement in regulatory coherence, policy clarity and legal protections for both insurers and insureds.

Cross-Border Electronic Evidence Frameworks – EU vs. India

Tirthaj Mishra — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This research examines the critical disparities between the European Union's and India's approaches to accessing cross-border digital evidence, highlighting significant systemic challenges in India's current framework. The study analyzes the EU's proactive e-Evidence Regulation (2023/1543), which enables rapid data retrieval through European Production Orders within 10 days, against India's territorially constrained Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA, 2023) that relies on inefficient Mutual Legal Assistance treaties. Through doctrinal analysis, the research reveals that India's framework suffers from jurisdictional ambiguity, procedural bottlenecks, and inadequate privacy protections, contributing to cybercrime losses. The study proposes comprehensive reforms including adopting extraterritorial jurisdiction with judicial oversight, enforcing mandatory compliance through penalties,
integrating privacy safeguards aligned with K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), establishing a centralized digital judicial network, and enhancing international cooperation through strategic engagement with frameworks like the Budapest Convention. These reforms aim to balance investigative efficiency with fundamental rights protection, positioning India to effectively combat transnational cybercrime while maintaining constitutional privacy guarantees in an increasingly digital landscape.

Cyberbullying and Mental Health: A Social Work Perspective on Prevention and Intervention

Bhupal Bhattacharya, Sarmistha Bhattacharya — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Cyberbullying has emerged as a significant public health concern, particularly affecting the mental health and well-being of young individuals. The expansion of digital communication platforms has increased the risk of harassment, leading to anxiety, depression, and even suicidal ideation among victims. This paper examines the psychological impacts of cyberbullying, the role of social workers in intervention and prevention, and the effectiveness of existing policies. By emphasizing trauma-informed care, community education, and policy advocacy, social workers can play a crucial role in mitigating the adverse effects of cyberbullying and promoting safer online spaces.

Protecting Women in the Digital Era: Combating Cyber Threats with Laws and Safety Measures

Hajiram Beevi J, Fathima Fouzia J., Munawara Banu S. — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper discusses the growing cybersecurity risks faced by women in India as more people use digital devices and the internet. It looks at various cybercrimes targeting women, such as cyberstalking, online harassment, revenge porn, identity theft, cyberbullying, and phishing. These crimes not only invade women’s privacy and security but also cause emotional, psychological, and social harm. The paper emphasizes legal provisions such as the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which safeguard women from cybercrimes, including offenses like voyeurism, stalking, defamation, and online harassment. In order to safeguard personal information, it also highlights how important it is to follow to safe online practices, such as creating strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, utilizing encryption software, and choosing secure platforms. It also suggests tools and technologies that can enhance cybersecurity for women. In conclusion, while progress has been made in legal and technological protections, more awareness, research, and collective efforts are needed to create a safer digital environment for women and reduce the risks of cybercrimes.

Artificial Intelligence and Policy Regulation

Jagdeep Kaur, Rajni Bala — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper explores the changing landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) governance and regulation, highlighting the need to develop responsible, transparent, and cooperative policies to harness AI's benefits while mitigating its risks. As AI develops at a rapid pace, it transforms a number of sectors, raising important ethical, legal, and societal issues, such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, job displacement, and security concerns. The study reviews international frameworks like the United States' AI Executive Orders, the European Union's AI Act, and China's comprehensive governance strategies, highlighting their approaches to striking a balance between innovation and accountability. However, a number of significant challenges remain, particularly the rapid pace of technological advancement, the complexity of AI systems that frequently operate across national boundaries, and the disparity in regulatory standards across jurisdictions. The study emphasises the necessity of developing globally coordinated and transparent rules that enable ethical AI deployment, protect fundamental rights, and foster international collaboration. Addressing ethical quandaries, protecting data privacy, establishing liability, and encouraging public-private collaborations to achieve shared standards are all important policy considerations. Furthermore, the report proposes the establishment of international AI safety standards, emphasising proactive collaboration among governments, industry leaders, and researchers
to develop adaptive governance frameworks that keep up with technological advancements. By emphasising the importance of broad global strategies, this study hopes to contribute to ongoing efforts towards responsible AI development, ensuring that AI's societal advantages are maximised while its associated risks are carefully handled by effective and harmonised regulatory laws.

The Global Development of ICT: A Quest for an Assessment on the Uncertainty Impacts on Country’s’ Development Challenge to Fight Against Corruption

Saphy Lal Bullu — Wed, 07 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As a new platform, the development of ICT has a huge link to society since it creates private communication or telecommunication, both offer and acceptance can be communicated via electronic means and provide a new route to corrupt behaviours. The vast number of associations has grown through a new trend of ICT networks. People take such advancements in technology as an opportunity to conduct unlawful activities. That ideology led the author of this article to assess whether the development of ICT facilitates a loophole for corrupt activities to nourish or not. Objectives: The fifth aspect will be articulated in this article to assess whether the development of ICT brings challenges to the fight against corruption. The first part provides an overview of ICT; the second highlights the conceptual framework of ICT, its development trends, forms, and characteristics; Thirdly part presents the understanding of corruption, its forms, and the criminalisation of corrupt acts; the fourth presents an assessment from the demonstration made in part two and three to explore whether the development of ICT brings new challenges to eliminate and control corrupt activities; and at the final to provide a new solution for improvements/ changes to fight against corruption. Findings: Even though the development of ICT brings challenges and opportunities in our daily lives, the findings indicate that the same development provides a new challenge to fight against corruption since there are loopholes for
unlawful activities to be conducted by public officials and individuals to make sure some process or procedures are hindered.Methodology: The qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches are based on analyzing and assessing secondary data collection by demonstrating an overview of Information technology, its development, and its characteristics, to explore whether it is creating a new challenge to fight against corrupt transactions or otherwise. These two methodological approaches contributed toward a better understanding of the usefulness and relevance of Information technology and initiatives to combat corruption; finally, the descriptive analysis took place to gather all relevant sources which assist in data presentation and findings.

The Legal & Psychosocial Impact of Cybercrime on Women: A Critical Analysis

Monika Jain — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In India, internet usage is expanding quickly. New opportunities have emerged in every sector, including business, education, sports, and entertainment. Cybercrime is one of the biggest drawbacks. Cybercrime is defined as any unlawful behavior carried out using a computer network, particularly the internet. Cybercrime also includes the violation of privacy or the destruction of computer system assets like software, files, or web pages. While some cybercrimes need skills, the majority of cybercrimes in
India are done by educated individuals. Therefore, in-depth understanding of cybercrime and its prevention is necessary. Additionally, in India, the majority of crimes are done accidentally or out of ignorance. According to the argument made in this paper, cybercrime introduces a new type of hightech and business criminal. This paper examines cybercrimes in general, cybercriminals and their motivations, and specific cybercrimes, as well as the special difficulties and response issues that may
arise during prevention, detection, and investigation.

Prospects of Information Technology in reference to Cyber Terrorism

Saquib Ahmed, Bhupinder Singh — Wed, 07 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The modern world that we live in is often called a global village. Technology has annihilated time and distance and thus has brought everything at the spur of a click. The world run on information technology where internet is the lifeline for the flow of information, business and governance. This information technology revolution has been endowed with its own possibilities and perils. Cyber-terrorism and Cyber-crimes are the ugly fallouts of the free access to internet with which societies and states are
grappling with the world over. Cyber terrorism is an organized criminal activity committed by one person or group of persons or countries to disturb a genuine economic or political transaction. It could involve the planning and execution of attacks on networks, computer systems, and telecommunications infrastructures, as well as the electronic exchange of information and the making of threats. Examples include hacking into computer systems, inserting viruses into vulnerable networks, defacing websites, launching denial-of-service attacks, or making terrorist threats through electronic communication. If cyber criminals are today's equivalent of the small-time thugs who prey on the gullible and innocent, the cyber terrorists are those organized groups which have their own agenda to destabilize the regimes by wreaking a terror havoc. This they have to do no longer with killing innocent people by bullets and bomb blasts. This they do by targeting those centres of power which ensure a smooth functioning of our world as we know it. The study undertaken in this paper highlights the various aspects and threats of this problem and the possible way outs at the disposal of the governments to curb and annihilate this monster.

Liability and Virtual Spaces: Examining Legal responsibilities in Metaverse

Bhavana Sharma, Elisha Kanungo — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The divisions between the real and virtual worlds are becoming increasingly hazy due to the metaverse, which has ushered in a completely new era of digital connections. Concerns concerning legal responsibilities and liabilities have surfaced as individuals participate in immersive virtual experiences on a growing basis. This article investigates the intricate web of legal issues pertaining to the metaverse, focusing especially on liability issues. Virtual property rights are one of the main issues in the metaverse. Users invest time and energy into building up virtual assets, which raises questions of security and ownership. Moreover, challenges pertaining to infringement of virtual property can arise, leading to lawsuits involving many jurisdictions. User-generated material is a significant aspect of liability in virtual environments. Concerns including defamation, intellectual property infringement, and privacy concerns worsen when users are allowed to create and share content inside the metaverse.
Determining responsibility for such information is challenging, particularly in light of the decentralized nature of many virtual networks. Legal systems must thus change to address the unique challenges presented by the metaverse while striking a balance between innovation and protection. Ultimately, addressing liability concerns in the metaverse requires a multifaceted strategy that considers usergenerated content, jurisdictional difficulties, virtual property rights, and platform operators' responsibilities. This article aims to provide light on the evolving legal duties in virtual spaces by examining these concerns and laying the groundwork for further research and policy development.

Cyber Scams in India: The Dark Side of Digital Growth

Esha Jain — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

India’s digital revolution has significantly transformed the nation’s economy, communication, and governance, but it has also given rise to an alarming surge in cyber scams. With increased reliance on online platforms, vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure have been exploited by cybercriminals through scams such as phishing, vishing, SIM swap frauds, ransomware, identity theft, and online job frauds. The lack of digital literacy among a large segment of the population—particularly the elderly and those unfamiliar with cybersecurity protocols—has further contributed to this rising threat. As per recent reports, India has lost over ₹11,000 crore to cyber frauds in just the first half of 2024, emphasizing the urgent need for cyber awareness and preventive action. Legal protections under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, including Sections 66, 66C, 66D, and 67, provide a framework to penalize cyber offenses. Additionally, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has implemented stringent measures like real-time fraud detection, multi-factor authentication, and cybersecurity audits to secure the financial sector. However, legal provisions alone are insufficient. Combating cyber scams effectively requires a collaborative effort involving government agencies, financial institutions, and individuals. Public education campaigns, robust cybersecurity infrastructure, and strict enforcement of laws are essential to protect users and digital assets. As cyber threats evolve rapidly, a proactive and united approach is crucial to ensure a safe digital ecosystem in India.