34. Indian Cyber Law and Cyber Crime Awareness
34.1 More IT Act Sections You Should Know
Chapter 18 covered sections 43 and 66 to 66F. These are the other sections that come up often:
| Section | What it covers (in simple words) |
|---|---|
| 65 | Tampering with computer source code |
| 67 / 67A / 67B | Publishing or sending obscene material electronically; sexually explicit material; child sexual abuse material (the most serious) |
| 69 | Government power to intercept, monitor or decrypt information in specified situations |
| 69A | Government power to block public access to online content |
| 70 / 70B | Protected systems (critical infrastructure); CERT-In as the national incident response agency |
| 72 / 72A | Breach of confidentiality and privacy; disclosure of personal information in breach of a lawful contract |
| 79 | "Safe harbour" for intermediaries (platforms) if they follow due-diligence rules |
| 66A | Was struck down by the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) – nobody can be booked under it |
The IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 tell platforms how fast to remove unlawful content and to appoint grievance officers.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Interviewers sometimes ask a trick question: "Can a case be filed under 66A?" The answer: no – in 2015 the Supreme Court struck down 66A (the Shreya Singhal case). Quoting an old or struck-down section is a common mistake, so check the official text.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
Interview मध्ये "66A खाली case होतो का?" असा प्रश्न trick म्हणून विचारतात. उत्तर: नाही – 2015 मध्ये Supreme Court ने 66A रद्द केला (Shreya Singhal case). जुना किंवा रद्द झालेला section सांगणे ही common mistake आहे, म्हणून official text मधून चेक करा.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
Interview में "66A के तहत case होता है क्या?" ऐसा सवाल trick के तौर पर पूछते हैं. जवाब: नहीं – 2015 में Supreme Court ने 66A रद्द कर दिया (Shreya Singhal case). पुराना या रद्द हुआ section बताना common mistake है, इसलिए official text से चेक करो.
Practice task
On indiacode.gov.in open the Information Technology Act, 2000 and read sections 67, 72 and 79. For each, write one realistic example using a fictional Maharashtra business (for example "Sahyadri Travels").
Extended teaching notes
Why this lesson matters
In India, unauthorised access can be a crime under the IT Act. CERT-In issues directions for certain organisations. The DPDP Act 2023 raises expectations around personal data. When unsure, stop testing and ask.
- Written permission and exact scope before any test.
- Report financial fraud quickly via 1930 / cybercrime.gov.in.
- Preserve evidence (screenshots, IDs, hashes) without altering originals.
- Bug bounties only on programmes that list the target.
Mini case study
Suppose we are on a purple-team exercise for an Indian mid-size company (sample data). Red notes a technique from this lesson against a lab clone. Blue must show the control that stops it, the log that would have fired, and the ticket that hardens production. That is the standard this course trains you for.
Defender's worksheet (do this today)
- Write the lesson title, date and the exact lab target you are allowed to use.
- List three owned systems (VMs, apps, or cloud accounts) where this lesson applies.
- Run one safe check from the lesson on a lab system only. Paste the command and output.
- Write a two-sentence fix you would give a teammate.
- Name one related public advisory (CERT-In, CISA, NVD, or a vendor bulletin) with its date.
Indian workplace (sample data)
Suppose we are a junior analyst at Infosys, TCS, Wipro or a fintech SOC in Bengaluru/Pune. Turn this lesson into one checklist item with an owner, a due date and a place to store evidence (ticket + screenshot).
Global practice
Compare your notes with OWASP, CIS Benchmarks, NIST CSF/IR guidance or a cloud Well-Architected security question. Write five lines on what overlaps.
Everyday analogy
Explain the risk and the fix to a family member without jargon. If they can repeat the warning, you understand it well enough to teach juniors.
Key terms
- Control: a safeguard (patch, config, process, detection).
- Finding: a weakness backed by evidence.
- Remediation: the fix plus how you verified it.
- Scope: systems you have written permission to touch.
- Least privilege: only the access the task needs.
- Defence in depth: several layers so one failure does not end the story.
Common mistakes
- Skipping written permission "just for a quick scan".
- Practising on hostel, office or public targets without authorisation.
- Collecting tool output without writing the fix.
- Copying attack steps onto production to "verify". Defenders verify with versions, configs and patches.
- Publishing screenshots that contain secrets, cookies or internal hostnames.
Recap
- Evidence, fix, owner, date.
- Own lab only.
- Fix > spectacle.