Smart Cities Cyber Security In India: The Problems And Solutions

Smart cities are the future of urbanisation and population sustainability. The aim of smart cities is to provide a conductive environment for living, commercial activities, healthcare and overall development. Smart cities also predominantly rely upon use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to render public services. Wherever applicable, Internet of Things (IoT) (PDF), cloud computing and virtualisation and machine to machine (M2M) system usage is also there. However, this omnipresent usage of ICT, IoT, M2M, cloud computing, etc has a potential drawback as well in the form of indifference towards smart cities cyber security.

It is not difficult to visualise a scenario of cyber attacks against the critical infrastructures of the smart cities that are run by ICT and technology. Such a cyber attack can cripple the entire smart city if properly executed. Critical infrastructure protection in India (PDF) is still at nascent stage. The national cyber security policy of India 2013 is also very weak and even that has not been implemented by Indian government so far. The much awaited cyber security policy of India 2015 is also missing so far.

A strong cyber security infrastructure of India is need of the hour especially when there is no well settled international legal issues of cyber attacks that can be invoked in the case of a cyber incidence. It is very important that international legal issues of cyber attacks must be resolved by various government and non government stakeholders. There is no globally acceptable cyber law treaty and cyber security treaty (PDF) that can govern the relationships between various countries.  Even the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare  (PDF) is just an academic document with no legal binding obligations. The truth is that Tallinn Manual is not applicable to international cyber warfare attacks and defence and countries are free to take measures as per their own choices.

This has necessitated that cyber security related projects in India must be not only expedited but they must also be successfully implemented as soon as possible. Unfortunately, cyber projects like National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) of India, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIPC) of India, Grid Security Expert System (GSES) of India, National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) of India, Cyber Attacks Crisis Management Plan of India, Crisis Management Plan Of India For Cyber Attacks And Cyber Terrorism, Cyber Command For Armed Forces Of India, Tri Service Cyber Command for Armed Forces of India, Central Monitoring System (CMS) Project of India, National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) Project of India, Internet Spy System Network And Traffic Analysis System (NETRA) of India, Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project of India, etc have still not been implemented successfully by Indian government.

This raises the pertinent question as to how Indian government would ensure cyber security of smart cities in India. We at Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security Research and Development in India (CECSRDI) believe that Modi government must take cyber security seriously. The cyber security challenges in India would increase further and India must be cyber prepared to protect its cyberspace. CECSRDI believes that the starting point is to draft the cyber security policy of India 2015 as the 2013 policy is highly defective and of little significance. We also believe that a dedicated cyber security law of India is need of the hour. The same must be a techno legal framework keeping in mind contemporary cyber security threats. Further cyber security disclosure norms in India must be formulated by Modi government. The cyber security awareness in India must be further improved so that various stakeholders can contribute significantly to the growth and implementation of cyber security initiatives of Indian government.

Source: International Legal Issues Of Cyber Attacks.

Cyber Security Law Firms In India

About four years back, India's leading techno legal ICT law firm Perry4Law wrote about cyber security legal practice in India. The article was very clear in its message that techno legal fields like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, cyber warfare, cyber terrorism, etc are not the preferred field of legal practice for law firms and lawyers in India and other countries. The main reason for avoiding cyber security legal practice was lack of expertise to manage complicated cyber security related issues. Only law firms like Perry4Law have been managing techno legal issues of cyber security, cyber law, cyber forensics, e-discovery, etc in India so far.

Then came the positive development and lawyers and law firms started exploring the areas like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, etc. Although the number of such lawyers/law firms is negligible yet the growing interest in the techno legal fields would increase such numbers in future. Further, techno legal issues would also change the way traditional businesses and transactions would be carried out in future. For instance concepts like cyber insurance, online dispute resolution, e-courts, digital evidencing and e-discovery, media forensics, cyber forensics, etc would be very much used in future.

However, technology laws have their own peculiar problems. Cyber laws are generally curative in nature as against the desirable preventive requirements. They are formulated keeping in mind the crimes/cyber crimes that have already taken place instead of what cyber crimes can possibly happen in future. In short, cyber laws must be “futuristic” in nature as against “historical” in their applicability. This brings novel legal challenges before lawyers and law firms as cyber security legal practice becomes very challenging and research oriented field.

Cyber crimes and cyber attacks have increased tremendously world over. No country is safe from cyber crimes and sophisticated cyber attacks. Despite this position there is no method or procedure to asertain international legal issues of cyber attacks. Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) has been managing the exclusive techno legal blog on international legal issues of cyber attacks and the same can be accessed here. Further, to spread public awareness in the techno legal fields, P4LO has also been providing global techno legal news and views and the same can be accessed here. A virtual law campus (VLC) has also been launched by Perry4Law's Techno Legal Base (PTLB) so that skills developments in the fields like cyber law, cyber security, e-discovery, cyber forensics, etc can be ensured for various stakeholders including lawyers.

With issues like cyber espionage and cyber warfare, the traditional armed forces and legal fraternity are now collaborating upon a very unique platform where lawyers need to have a sound knowledge of both law and technology. It seems the techno legal community alone would be able to dare to explore issues like cyber law, cyber security, etc in future.

International Legal Issues Of Cyber Attacks By Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO)

Anybody who has dealt with international cyber law and cyber security related issues must be aware that it is really tough to solve such cases. Being transnational in nature, cyber law and cyber security issues require international cooperation among various nations and law enforcement agencies.

For instance, if a simple exercise of internet protocol tracking is undertaken, it takes months before any information is received from a foreign jurisdiction. Even in such cases, these are exceptional cases and not a general practice. In this process, the crucial digital evidence is lost forever and the cyber crimes investigation becomes a cold trail.

As there is a severe conflict of laws in cybersapce, it is very important to be aware of various technology related laws of various jurisdictions. However, it is not possible to be aware of all the laws of various jurisdictions. In order to spread public awareness in this regard, Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) has been managing a dedicated blog on international legal issues of cyber attacks and cyber security. It is the exclusive techno legal blog on the topic not only in India but in entire world.

The blog has covered many techno legal aspects like use of cyber espionage malwares, need for the national security policy of India, legal immunity against cyber deterrent acts in India, open source intelligence through social media websites, protection of Indian cyberspace, national counter terrorism centre (NCTC) of India, cyber security challenges of India, cyber preparedness of India, the Wassenaar Arrangement and cyber security issues, intelligence agencies reforms in India, banking cyber security, techno legal analysis of Gameover Zeus, cyber crimes insurance in India, smart cities cyber security in India, etc.

As on date we have no dedicated cyber security laws in India. This is the reason why cyber security is more ignored than complied with in India. Even the blooming e-commerce industry of India is devoid of required cyber security practices and requirements. Cyber security of banks in India is also not upto the mark. This has forced the Reserve Bank of India to constitute a IT subsidiary that would consider, monitor and prescribe cyber security related rules, regulations and practices for banks in India. Even the Companies Act 2013 has prescribed cyber security obligations for the directors of companies. This is in addition to the cyber law obligations of banks and directors of Indian companies.

It is well understood that international legal issues of cyber attacks are not easy to handle. Nevertheless, Indian government cannot afford to ignore this situation and it must urgently work towards making Indian cyber security robust, resilent and effective. P4LO hopes that our readers would find our blog on international legal issues of cyber attacks, cyber law and cyber security useful.

Source: CSRDCI.

Perry4Law Leads In Cyber Forensics And Cyber Security Legal Practice Worldwide

When we hear of fields like cyber security and cyber forensics, technology companies come to our mind. As the demands of clients have significantly increased, many non traditional professionals have also started providing services in these areas. One such professional branch is legal fraternity that has started providing services for areas like forensics audit, cyber forensics, cyber security, e-discovery, etc.

In the year 2002, Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) was established and its segment Perry4Law Law Firm is the first and exclusive techno legal law firm of India. With more than a decade experience, P4LO and Perry4Law Law Firm have catered the needs of national and international clients in various techno legal fields.

Perry4Law has set a trend for cyber forensics and cyber security legal practice worldwide through its domain specific and highly specialised techno legal services. Its research works are frequently cited by scholars at national and international levels. What is more amazing is the establishment of dedicated online resources in the fields of Cyber Law, Cyber Security, Cyber Forensics, E-Discovery, Telecom Laws,  Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), Corporate Laws, etc.

Praveen Dalal, managing partner of Perry4Law Law Firm and P4LO and leading techno legal expert of Asia, is a strong advocate of Civil Liberties Protection in Cyberspace. He believes that Human Rights Protection in Cyberspace must be Internationally Recognised. He also believes that E-Surveillance Projects of India need Parliamentary Oversight and Judicial Scrutiny.

Dalal is also a strong advocate of cyber and data security.  No Client would be happy if its/his/her confidential and sensitive documents are obtained through cracking/hacking the Law Firm Website or Database, opines Dalal. Perry4Law Law Firm uses the “Best Cyber Security Practices” recommended by International Organisations, informs Dalal.

P4LO has been providing various techno legal trends since 2006. Recently released techno legal trends include cyber forensics trends and developments in India 2014- Part 1, cyber security developments in India 2014 and cyber security trends of India 2015, cyber law developments in India 2014, telecom related developments in India 2014, etc.

With international level of techno legal expertise, P4LO and Perry4Law Law Firm are class apart and world leaders in techno legal services. Other Law Firms of India must also start providing services in techno legal fields if they have the requisite expertise in this regard.