The Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act (IT Act) that has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. The court said that this section is violative of Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution that guarantees freedom of speech & expression to all its citizens. At Factly, we decided to take a look at the trends in cyber crimes (cases registered under the IT Act & under IPC) and if there is any correlation in the increase of cyber crime with the growth in internet subscriber base. The data about cyber crimes is available till 2013. The following analysis is based on the data from 2011 to 2013.

What are Cyber Crimes?

Cyber Crimes in India are registered under two different acts, the IT Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The cases registered under the IT Act include

• Tampering computer source documents (Section 65 IT Act)
• Loss /damage to computer resource/utility (Section 66 (1) IT Act)
• Hacking (Section 66 (2) IT Act)
• Obscene publication/transmission in electronic form (Section 67 IT Act)
• Failure of compliance/orders of Certifying Authority (Section 68 I T Act)
• Failure to assist in decrypting the information intercepted by Govt Agency (Section 69 IT Act)
• Un-authorised access/attempt to access to protected computer system (Section 70 IT Act)
• Obtaining licence or Digital Signature Certificate by misrepresentation / suppression of fact (Section 71 IT Act)
• Publishing false Digital Signature Certificate (Section 73 IT Act)
• Fraud Digital Signature Certificate (Section 74 IT Act)
• Breach of confidentiality/privacy (Section 72 IT Act)
• Others

On the other hand, cases are also registered under the IPC and those include

• Offences by/against Public Servant (Section 167, 172, 173, 175 IPC)
• False electronic evidence (Section 193 IPC)
• Destruction of electronic evidence (Section 204, 477 IPC)
• Forgery (Section 463, 465, 466, 468, 469, 471, 474, 476, 477A IPC)
• Criminal Breach of Trust (Section 405, 406, 408, 409 IPC)
• Counterfeiting Property Mark (Section 482, 183, 483, 484, 485 IPC)
• Tampering (Section 489 IPC)
• Counterfeiting Currency / Stamps (Section 489A to 489E IPC)

All India Numbers

The numbers of cases registered under the IT Act and IPC have been growing continuously. The cases registered under the IT act grew at more than 50% in 2012 & 2013. The cases registered under the IPC in 2013 more than doubled from 2012. Similar trend is observed in the number of persons arrested. The government also accepts that with the introduction of technologies, devices including smart phones and complex applications, and rise in usage of cyber space for businesses, cyber crimes are on the rise in the country.

Growth of Cyber Crimes Vs Internet Subscriber base

Though the growth in cyber crimes & Internet Subscriber base are not similar, they follow a similar trend. While cyber crimes have grown at more than 50% in both 2012 & 2013, the internet subscriber base has grown at 27% in 2012 and at 53% in 2013. It is evident that cyber crime is growing with increasing internet penetration where by electronic communication has become easier.

What about the states?

The list of states with the highest incidence of cyber crime for the period 2011 to 2013 throws no surprises. Maharashtra tops the list with more than 1800 cases in the 3 years while Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana) is a close second with about 1500 cases. Karnataka stands third while Kerala is fourth. The top states in this list are the ones with the highest internet subscriber base. They are consistently in the top when it comes to internet penetration. These are also states where the IT Industry has their base. The bottom ten also follows this trend. These are relatively smaller states with less population & lower internet penetration.

The Top 10

The Bottom 10

What is the Government Doing?

The government says that use of social media has also emerged as a key tool committing cyber crimes and attacks that affect nation and society and is conscious of increase in cyber crimes. It has taken various steps in the form of awareness, training, legal framework, emergency response and implementation of best practices to prevent occurrence of such cyber crimes

The government in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha said that they are taking the following steps to combat cyber crime.

• Government has set up cyber forensic training and investigation labs in the States of Kerala, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir for training of Law Enforcement and Judiciary in these States.
• Cyber Crime Cells have been set up in all States and Union Territories for reporting and investigation of Cyber Crime cases.
• Industry associations such as Data Security Council of India (DSCI), NASSCOM, Cyber Forensic Labs set up in certain States have taken up tasks of awareness creation and training programmes on Cyber Crime investigation.
• Academia like National Law School, Bangalore and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad are also engaged in conducting awareness and training programmes on Cyber Laws and Cyber crimes for judicial officers.
• It is proposed to set up two National Centers of Excellence in the area of Investigation of Cyber Crimes and Digital Evidence.
• Number of Cyber forensics tools for collection, analysis, presentation of the digital evidence have been developed and are being used by Law Enforcement Agencies.
• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) are involved in providing basic and advanced training to Law Enforcement Agencies, Forensic labs and judiciary on the procedures and methodology of collecting, analysing and presenting digital evidence.
• Steps have been taken to monitor and prevent financial frauds through phishing attacks, Credit / Debit card frauds, money laundering schemes etc.
• The Government has initiated action to set up National Cyber Coordination Centre to coordinate with multiple agencies and stakeholders for preventing cyber attacks, reducing vulnerability to cyber attacks and minimizing damage & recovery time from such attacks when they occur.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a Circular to all Commercial Banks on phishing attacks and preventive / detective measures to tackle phishing attacks. RBI has also advised Banks to leverage technology to support Business processes and implement all stipulations outlined by RBI from time to time.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued Circular dated 1st July, 2011 on Credit Card operations by Banks. The Banks have been advised to set up internal control system to combat frauds and to take proactive fraud control and enforcement measures.
• Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) for financial services has been set up at Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT). Such a centre exchange information on cyber incidents in financial sector and advises them for appropriate mitigation. 

Data Sources:

• Unstarred Question Number 364, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Answered on 25-02-2015 in the Lok Sabha.
• TRAI Reports