Cyber Laws

UNIT-I
Syllabus
• Internet, E-Commerce And E-Governance With Reference To
Free Market Economy
• Understanding Computers, Internet and Cyber Laws
• Conceptual Framework of E-commerce: E-governance
• The Role of Electronic Signatures in E-commerce with
Reference to Free Market Economy in India.

Reference Books
1. Harish Chander, Cyber Laws and It Protection, PHI Publication.
 Cyber Laws
• Cyber Law is a generic term referring to all the
legal and regulatory aspects of the internet.

• Cyber Law encapsulates legal issues which are

related to the use of communicative
transactional, and distributive aspects of
networked information devices and
technologies.
• Cyber Law : it is law governing the cyberspace.

• Cyberspace refers to the virtual computer world, and more

specifically, an electronic medium that is used to facilitate
online communication.

• Cyber space is a very wide term and includes computers,

networks,software,data storage devices, the internet,
websites,emails and even electronic devices such as cell
phones, ATM machines,etc
 Cyber law encompasses laws relating to:
• Cyber Crimes
• Intellectual Property
• Data Protection and Privacy
• Electronic and Digital Signatures
 Need for Cyber Laws
• Cyberspace handles gigantic traffic volumes every
second.
• Billions of emails are crisscrossing the globe,
millions of websites are being accessed every
minute and billions of dollars are electronically
transferred around the world by banks every day.
• Cyberspace is absolutely open to participation by all
• Cyberspace is an intangible dimension that is
impossible to govern and regulate using
conventional law.
• use of internet and computers has brought along many
unavoidable misuses of computer and the internet.
• This has been easily possible because, in the use of the computers,
there is no territorial limit and can be used from any jurisdiction.
• A person in India could break into a bank’s electronic vault hosted
on a computer in USA and transfer millions of Rupees to another
bank in Switzerland, all within minutes
• This sort of freedom leads to many cyber criminal activities across
the world.
• Eg. Hacking, bugging, cheating, pornography, embezzlement,
fraud, online gambling, intellectual property crime, e-mail
bombing, forgery, cyber defamation, cyber stalking, unauthorized
access to Computer system,
• Cyber Crimes : Cyber crimes are unlawful acts
where the computer is used either as a tool or a
target or both.
• Cyber crimes also includes criminal activities
done with the use of computers.
• financial crimes, sale of illegal articles,
pornography, online gambling, intellectual
property crime, e-mail, spoofing, forgery, cyber
defamation, cyber stalking
 Cyber Crimes against Persons:

• Harassment via E-Mails:

• Cyber-Stalking: slander, defamation and threats.
• Dissemination of Obscene Material:
• Defamation: an act of intentionally insulting, defaming or
offending another individual or a party through a virtual
medium. It can be both written and oral.
• Hacking: unauthorized access to an account or computer
system,  illegal activity and data theft by cyber criminals. misuse
of devices like computers, smartphones, tablets, and networks
to cause damage to or corrupt systems, gather information on
users, steal data and documents, or disrupt data-related activity.
• Cracking: trying to get into computer systems in order to
steal, corrupt, or illegitimately view data
• E-Mail Spoofing: ends an email that has been
manipulated to seem as if it originated from a trusted
source
• SMS Spoofing:
• Carding:
• Cheating & Fraud:
• Child Pornography:
• Assault by Threat:
 Crimes Against Persons Property:
• Intellectual Property Crimes:
• Cyber Squatting
• Cyber Vandalism: Cybervandalism is damage
or destruction that takes place in digital form.
• Hacking Computer System:
• Transmitting Virus:
• Cyber Trespass:
• Internet Time Thefts:
Cybercrimes Against Government:
• Cyber Terrorism:
• Cyber Warfare:
• Distribution of pirated software:
• Possession of Unauthorized Information:
 Cybercrimes Against Society at large:

• Child Pornography:
• Cyber Trafficking:
• Online Gambling:
• Financial Crimes:
• Forgery:
Law encompasses the rules of conduct:
1.That have been approved by the government
2.Which are in force over a certain territory, and
3.Which must be obeyed by all persons on that
territory.
Violation of these rules could lead to government
action such as penalty in the form of fine,
imprisonment or compensation
 Introduction
• There is abundance of knowledge in every
sphere of life in the modern era.
• The means of communication have become very
fast.
• Any kind of information can be obtained within
minutes with the help of the Internet across the
world.
• Such a scenario has also made possible a
globalised free market economy in the world.
Impact of the Internet and Information
Technology (IT) on Business and Society
• Internet because of its open architecture,
digital format and unifying protocols, has
emerged as the platform to support increase
connectivity and interaction among network .
• technological development offer a vision of
future marked by new capabilities in
processing speed , transport and storage of
data .
• In Times of India it was reported that the cases
of credit card fraud have shot up these days
• terrorists plot -terror over the Internet.
• Yahoo! Inc. v. Akash Arora & Anr
• JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) Scholar case :
an airhostess had complained that she had
been profiled on Orkur as a “Sex struck women’
 Case-study
•  The case of Yahoo! Inc. v. Akash Arora decided
by the Delhi High Court
• This is the first case of ‘cyber-squatting’ in the
country
• The Court held that domain names serve the
same function as a trademark and are thus,
entitled to equal protection under the
trademark law.
• Cyber Squatting: It means where two persons
claim for the same Domain Name either by
claiming that they had registered the name
first on by right of using it before the other or
using something similar to that previously.
• For example two similar names i.e.
www.yahoo.com and www.yaahoo.com.
 E-Commerce and E- Governance
• E-Commerce stands for Electronic Commerce
• Commerce is on important part of a business.
• In simple words, commerce is nothing but buying and
selling of goods
• That means when we buy a product or service from
others or sell a product or service to others then it
is called as commerce.
E-Commerce
• One of the most popular activity on the Web is
shopping.
• "E-Commerce can be broadly defined as the process of
buying and selling of goods or services using on
electronic medium such as Internet.
• E-commerce is also referred as a paperless exchange of
business information using EDI, E-mail, Electronic fund
transfer etc.
 Advantages of E-Commerce :

• Global scope :
• Electronic transaction:
• Cost Saving :
• Anytime shopping :
• No intermediaries:
• Public services : E-commerce helps the
government to deliver public services such as
healthcare, education, social services at a reduced
cost and in an improved manner.
 Types of E-Commerce :
• The most common participants in e Commerce are business,
administration, government and consumer.
• The primary e-Commerce types are as follows:
1. Business - to - Consumer (B2C) :
• In B2C model, business sells it's products directly to a customer.
• A customer can view the products shown on the website.
• The customer can choose a product and order the same.
• The website will then send a notification to the business
organization via email and the organization will dispatch the product/
goods to the customer.
• These B2C businesses are online retailers.
• Example : Amazon, Flipkart etc.
B2C
2. Business - to - Business (B2B) :
• B2B model, business sells it's products to an
intermediate buyer who then sells the product to the
final customer.
• eg, a wholesaler places an order from a company's
website and after receiving the consignment, sells
the product to the final customer who comes to buy
the product at one of its retail outlets.
• Example : Tata communications (network provider).
B2B
3. Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C) :
• In C2C model, consumer helps consumer to sell
their assets like residential property, cars,
motorcycles etc., or rent a room by publishing their
information on the website.
• Website may or may not charge the consumer for its
services.
• Example OLX, Quikr, online auction.
C2C
4. Consumer - to - Business (C2B) :
• In this model, consumers have products or services of value
that can be consumed by businesses.
• Consumers offer products or services to businesses in
exchange for payment or other benefits.
• For e.g. - A blog can be written by an author for a business to
improve sale of products, ebay.
• A tech blogger who displays a company's service ads to their
audience in exchange for profits.
• Social media users who fill in survey or promote products and
services.
C2B
 E-Commerce Trade Cycle

• A trade cycle is the series of exchanges, between a customer and

supplier that take place when a commercial exchange is executed
• A general trade cycle consists of following phases:
• Pre-Sales : It consist of two steps like Search and Negotiate.
• Customer search for required website for product to be
purchased.
• In Negotiate step customer find a supplier who offers good
quality product at cheaper price and then customer agrees the
terms forwarded by supplier.
• Execution : This phase consist of Order and Delivery. Customer sends an
order for the selected product and after processing the order, customer
receives delivery of the product.

• Settlement : This phase consist of Invoice (if any) and Payment.

• Invoice means customer will receive a bill for purchased product and
after confirmation of received product, customer will pay for the same.
• After-Sales : This phase consists of warranty and After Sale Services.
• In warranty period, customer will get all maintenance services for free
or at minimum cost.
• After sale services means customer will do complaints (if any) about the
performance of product and get maintenance service from the supplier.
Trade Cycle
 E-Commerce Technology

• Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as

mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply
chain management, Internet marketing, online
transaction processing, electronic data interchange
(EDI), inventory management systems and
automated data collection systems.
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) : EDI is the electronic
interchange of business information using a standardized format;
• a process which allows one company to send information to
another company electronically rather than on paper.
• Business entities conducting business electronically are called
trading partners.
• Many business documents can be exchanged using EDI,
• two most common documents are purchase orders and invoices.
• It is computer-to-computer interchange of strictly formatted
documents via telecommunications or physically transported on
electronic storage media.
 E-Governance

• It signifies the implementation of information

technology in the government processes and
functions so as to cause simple, moral, accountable
and transparent governance.
• The basic purpose of e-governance is to simplify
processes for all, i.e. government, citizens, businesses
etc. at National, State and local levels.
• Hence, E-governance delivers SMART government. (S-
Simple, M-Moral, A-Accessible, R-Responsive, T-
Transparent Government)
E-Governance
 Advantages of E-governance :

• Reduced corruption
• High transparency
• Increased convenience
• Direct participation of constituents
• Reduction in overall cost.
• Expanded reach of government
 Types of E-Governance :

1. Government-to-Citizen (G2C):
• The Government-to-citizen refers to the government services
which enable citizens to get access to wide variety of public
services.
• Most of the government services fall under G2C.
• It helps the ordinary people to reduce the time and cost to
conduct a transaction.
• A citizen can have access to the services anytime from
anywhere.
• services like license renewals and paying tax are essential
in G2C.
2. Government-to-Business (G2B)
• The Government to business is the exchange of
services between Government and Business
organizations.
• G2B provides access to relevant forms needed to comply.
• The G2B also consists of many services exchanged
between business sectors and government.
• It aims at eliminating paper work, saving time, cost and
establish transparency in the business environment,
while interacting with government.
3. Government-to-Government (G2G)
• The Government-to-Government refers to the
interaction between different government
departments, organizations and agencies.
• In G2G, government agencies can share the same
database using online communication. The
government departments can work together.
• Eg. inter-relationship between domestic or
foreign government.
4. Government-to-Employee (G2E)
• The Government-to-Employee is the internal part of
G2G sector.
• G2E aims to bring employees together and improvise
knowledge sharing.
• Similarly, G2E provides online facilities to the
employees like applying for leave, reviewing salary
payment record and checking the balance of holiday.
• The G2E sector provides human resource training and
development.
• E-Governance projects are e-Mitra project (Rajasthan), e-
Seva project (Andhra Pradesh), CET (Common Entrance
Test) .
• Digital India : launched by the Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modi on 1 July 2015
• objective of connecting rural area with high-speed Internet
networks and improving digital literacy.
• Bharat net, digital locker, e-education, e-health, e-sign, e-
shopping national scholarship portal.
• UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age
Governance) Mobile App it is a Government's all-in-one
single unified secure multi-platform, multi lingual, multi-
service freeware mobile app.
 free market economy
• The free market is an economic system based on supply
and demand with little or no government control.
•  Free markets are characterized by a spontaneous and
decentralized order of arrangements through which
individuals make economic decisions.
• A free market is one where voluntary exchange and the
laws of supply and demand provide the sole basis for the
economic system, without government intervention.
• A key feature of free markets is the absence of coerced
(forced) transactions or conditions on transactions.
 Security Measures in E-Commerce

• E-Commerce security refers to the principles which

guide safe electronic transactions, allowing the
buying and selling of goods and services through the
Internet.
• Encryption : Encryption is widely used on the
internet to protect user information being sent
between a browser and a server.
• This includes passwords, payment information and
other personal information that should be
considered private.
• The process consists of two processes as
encryption and decryption.
• Encryption converts Plain text ( readable form
of data ) into Cipher Text (coded form of data)
means non-readable form of data.
• Decryption is exactly opposite process of
encryption, It converts Cipher text into Plain
text.
• Encryption is of two types-
• 1. Symmetric (Shared Secret Encryption )
• 2. Asymmetric (Public-Key Encryption )
• Symmetric :Symmetric cryptography, known
also as secret key cryptography, is the use of a
single shared secret to share encrypted
data between parties.
• Symmetric :
• Symmetric is a type of encryption where only one key (a
secret key) is used to both encrypt and decrypt electronic
information.
• The entities communicating via symmetric encryption
must exchange the key so that it can be used in the
decryption process. 
• By using symmetric encryption algorithms, data is
converted to a form that cannot be understood by anyone
who does not possess the secret key to decrypt it.
symmetric cryptography
• Asymmetric cryptography: also known as public-key
cryptography.
• is a process that uses a pair of related keys -- one public
key and one private key --to encrypt and decrypt a message
and protect it from unauthorized access or use. 
• A public key is a cryptographic key that can be used by any
person to encrypt a message so that it can only be
deciphered by the intended recipient with their private key.
• A private key -- also known as a secret key -- is shared only
with key's initiator.
• The two participants in the asymmetric encryption
workflow are the sender and the receiver;
• each has its own pair of public and private keys.
• First, the sender obtains the receiver's public key.
• Next, the plaintext -- or ordinary, readable text -- is
encrypted by the sender using the receiver's public
key;
• this creates cipher text. The cipher text is then sent to
the receiver, who decrypts the cipher text with their
private key and returns it to legible plaintext.
 Digital Signature:

• Hand written signature is prone to forgery and

tampering and this limitation can be overcome
by digital signature to a greater extent
• Digital signature is a mathematical scheme to
verify the authenticity of digital documents or
messages.
• Digital signatures can provide evidence of
origin, identity and status of electronic
documents, transactions or digital messages
• The digital signature is a set of characters that
are added at the end of a document or the
body of a message to certify or show validity
and security.
• They are therefore used to identify the person
issuing said message and to certify the
veracity that the document has not been
modified with respect to the original.
• A digital signature is like a lock on a document.
•  It can be visualized as an electronic finger print
which encrypts and identifies a person’s identity.
• When we need to secure a document we use
digital signature.
• The validation of digital signature is performed
by trusted certificate authorities or trust service
providers so it is usually authorized. .
How Does a Digital Signature Work?
• John signs an agreement to sell smart cards to a
Telecom company using his private key.
• The buyer(Telecom company) receives the document.
• The buyer(Telecom company) who receives the
document also receives a copy of John’s public key.
• If the public key cannot decrypt the signature (via the
cipher from which the keys were created), it means the
signature is not John’s, or has been changed since it
was signed.
• The signature is then considered invalid.
• Digital signatures use a standard, accepted format,
called Public Key Infrastructure(PKI), to provide the
highest levels of security and universal acceptance.
• They are a specific signature technology
implementation of electronic signature (eSignature).
• To protect the integrity of the signature, PKI requires
that the keys be created, conducted, and saved in a
secure manner, and often requires the services of a
reliable Certificate Authority(CA)
• Certificate authorities bind the user’s identity
to a PKI-based digital certificate which allows
the user to apply digital signatures to the
document and the cloud-based signing
platforms. When a digital signature is
employed to a document, a cryptographic
operation attaches a digital certificate with
the data into one unique fingerprint.
 Electronic Signatures
• Electronic Signatures  use a technology that binds
the signature to the signer’s identity and the time it
was signed.
• An electronic signature could be a process attached,
electronic symbol or sound to a message, contract or
document which can be used to get consent or
approval on electronic documents or forms.
• Electronic signatures are a substitute for
handwritten signatures in practically each personal
or business process.
• There are two essential components of an
electronic signature:
• (i) Signer’s intent to sign, i.e., the document is
captured
• (ii) Document or record is correct.