Cyber Forensics and Cyber Laws

Cyber crimes are of various kinds and with the advancement in science and technology, new kinds of cyber threats are arising every other day. As cybercrime increases, there is a high need for cyber forensic expertise altogether business models and more importantly among law enforcement agencies who depend on computer forensics to find cyber criminals.

Cyber or computer forensics is the application of forensic science to gather, process, and interpret digital evidence to assist during a criminal investigation and presenting digital evidence in a court of law. Its the branch of forensic science in which evidence is found in a computer or other digital device and with increasing cybercrime, cyber forensics has now become crucial for public safety, national security, and law enforcement. Though the creation of this science was meant to research false data, the enhancement of latest techniques has added a bigger scope through cyber forensics. The science of cyber forensics dates back to the times of floppy discs and since then it has evolved, growing parallelly in complexity with cybercrime.

• Cyber forensic techniques include:

1. Cross-driven analysis that correlates data from multiple hard drives.
2. Live analysis, which obtains data acquisitions before a PC is shut down.
3. Deleted file recovery.
4. Detecting data theft using Stochastic Forensics.
5. Concealing a file, message, image, or video within another file using Steganography.

• Five Standard Phases of Computer Forensic Investigation :

The listed five-step computer forensic investigation allows examiners to thoroughly investigate the assigned case.

1. Policy and Procedure Development — Law enforcement and government agencies are hiring experienced cyber security experts to draw proper guidelines, policies, and procedures to be followed during computer forensic investigation because data are often delicate and sensitive.
2. Evidence Assessment — Evidence assessment may be a critical part of digital forensics because it provides a transparent understanding of the case details and includes examining hard drives, email accounts, social networking sites, and other digital archives for digital evidence linking someone to the crime. The investigators should also preserve the acquired evidence properly.
3. Evidence Acquisition — During evidence acquisition, computer forensic investigators are subjected to follow the policies dedicated to preserving the integrity of potential evidence. This step should be completed carefully and legally because the documented evidence are crucial within the proceedings of a court case.
4. Evidence Examination — The analysis of digital evidence provides details just like the date, time, and site where the info were created and downloaded. It also helps the investigators to seek out the connection between uploading of files from storage devices to a public network.
5. Reporting — Lastly, investigators got to report the entire process of investigation and evidences acquired and examined to the authorities. This is often needed to ensure that all the guidelines, policies, and procedures have been followed throughout; it also ensures the authenticity and integrity of the info retrieved for the evidential reasons.

Need of Cyber Law

With the evolution of the web, information technology and computers, challenges imposed by cyber crimes have also increased. Therefore, cyber laws regulate all fields of laws during which cyber crimes can be committed, like criminal law, contract, intellectual property law and tort. Cyber laws deal with various kinds of concerns, like free speech, safety, intellectual property rights, privacy, terrorism, e-commerce and jurisdiction of cyber laws.

• With the rise within the number of internet users, the necessity for cyber laws and their application has become very urgent in modern times. Cyber laws are needed because:

1. Consumers are increasingly using online payment apps and sites, as they’re easy and efficient. Government’s scheme of ‘Cashless India’ has also gained popularity resulting in a high amount of online transactions.
2. Email, SMS, messaging apps and social networking sites have become the primary mode of communication.
3. Companies are highly dependent upon their computer networks to keep their electronic data safe.
4. Most of the government forms are now filled in electronic format, for example, Income Tax Return, Passport application, Pan Card application, Company law forms etc.
5. Digital Signatures and authorization is fast, replacing conventional ways of identification for transactions.
6. Computers and networks also help in non-cyber crimes as well. As most of the data, these days are stored in computers and mobile phones. The evidence collected from them can help in various crimes such as kidnapping, terrorist attacks, counterfeit currencies, tax evasion and such.
7. Cyber laws help in representing and defining the model of cyber society and maintaining cyber properties.
8. Digital contracts are also gaining popularity in modern times; cyber laws help in protecting the rights of these legally enforceable digital contracts.

• Scope of Cyber Law

The scope of cyber law is very wide as it deals with various kinds of challenges and threats imposed by the internet and developments in computer technology:

1. Dealing with computer hackers, spammers and those who spread malware and viruses.
2. Protecting the privacy of the individuals and preventing frauds in money transactions.
3. Regulations and categorization of contractual obligations related to the acquisition of software.
4. Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and dealing with issues of copyright in a computer program and patent protection of software programs.
5. Dealing with the purchases from other jurisdictions under e-commerce.
6. Regulation and dealing with the issue of trafficking in domain names under the law; and
7. Regulation of the content and information available on the internet.
8. Protection and regulation of freedom of speech and expression and right to information.

• Cyber Law in India and the IT Act, 2000

In India, cyber laws are contained in the Information Technology Act, 2000. The main object of this Act is to provide legal recognition to e-commerce and electronic formats and to facilitate the filing of electronic records with the Government. This legislation lays down rules and regulations related to cybercrimes, electronic information and formats, electronic authentication and digital signatures, and liability of network service providers. The I.T. Act is based on the United Nations Model Law on Electronic Commerce 1996 (UNCITRAL Model) recommended by the General Assembly of the United Nations by a resolution dated 30 January 1997.

The Indian Cyber Law covers these major aspects of Cyberspace and cybercrime:

1. The Indian Cyber Law makes every format in electronic form legal, which means anything that you write, share and publish electronically is now considered legal.
2. It also makes all electronic contracts legal, which means that an offer can be electronically made and accepted, and it would amount to a valid and binding electronic contract.
3. The Indian Cyber Law recognizes and legalizes the concept of digital signatures and electronic authentications.
4. Indian Cyber Law covers almost all kinds of cybercrimes and provides punishment for the same.
5. It also punishes the people of other nationalities, provided their crimes involve any computer or network situated in India.

Legalization of everything in electronic format, such as publications, communications, signatures and authorization, means that it is all now valid and can be used in any proceedings.

• Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008

Few amendments have been made in the I.T. Act, 2000 which have improved certain provisions of the original Act. Few of the amendments are:

1. The term’ digital signature’ has been replaced with ‘electronic signature’ to make the Act more technology-neutral.
2. The term ‘Communication device’ has been defined. According to the definition, ‘Communication device’ means cell phones, personal digital assistants or combination of both or any other device used to communicate, send or transmit any text, video, audio or image.
3. The term ‘Cybercafe’ has also been defined as any facility from where the access to the internet is offered by any person in the ordinary course of business to the members of the public.
4. New Sections are added to deal with data protection and privacy.

Conclusion

The role and usage of the web is increasing worldwide rapidly. It has increased the convenience of the consumer as everything can be done staying at home. Alongside proper legislation to protect and prevent cybercrimes, its of utmost importance that people are made aware and educated regarding cybercrimes. Nevertheless, even though internet users let loose their personal data easily, it still remains the responsibility of the State to guard the interests of its people. It has been recently found that big companies like Facebook use personal information and data of its users and use this information to influence the political views of people. This is a serious threat to both individual’s privacy and the Nation’s interests. With the introduction of the I.T. Act, 2000, the issue of crimes in Cyberspace in India has been addressed very smartly, yet, the proper implementation of the Act is still lacking. The necessity for efficient cyber laws is extremely evident, considering the current scenario, but individuals should also be conscious of such threats while surfing the web.