A conference attended by prominent lawyers and academics from the country today called for a robust legal framework to deal with rising cybercrime across the world.The two-day conference on ‘Cyber Laws and Cyber Security’ is being organized by Anjuman-e-Vakula Kashmir at the auditorium of the Media Complex here.The conference was attended by some of the best lawyers from across the country, academia, and students from different colleges and universities, as well as officials of the directorate. In his remarks, V Shekhar, senior advocate, Supreme Court of India, who was the chief guest, said the information technology has witnessed innovations in hardware and software components but there is a need for aggressive legal recourse to tackle happenings in the cyber world including theft of data and espionage.“After IT Act, 2000 was enacted, many amendments have been brought in to cope with growing challenges in terms of privacy intrusion and data theft but we are far behind. Our country has to find solutions to mounting problems in the cyber world,” he said.
Prof A R Yusuf, Chairman SAC for Dal Lake Conservation, said there has been the cyber environment has witnessed gradual degradation due to the proliferation of technology in this cyber age. “Our world has passed into a new era where youngsters using new technology are vulnerable to cybercrime. On social media, people fall prey to rumours and become carriers of misinformation because of which they have to face consequences,” he said.Prof Yusuf urged Anjuman-e-Vakula, Kashmir to organise such seminars in schools and colleges in rural areas and make people aware of the cyber laws and cyber security. Delving on the issue of child pornography, Prof Yasir Latif Handoo, assistant professor, Kashmir Law College, said there is a need for International Court on Cyber Crime on the lines of International Court of Justice to deal with such crimes.“Besides, there has been a significant rise in attacks on government and private sector, particularly financial sector. In the government sector, there has been 136 percent increase in cyber crimes in 2016-2017 while the private sector has seen 119 percent,” he said. Advocate Ateef Kanth of J&K High Court said the cyber laws in India are nascent and a lot of education and research is required to formulate effective legislation on cyber crimes, “The scale of cyber crimes in India is negligent, mostly dealing with privacy issues, while huge cyber scams have been reported globally. Keeping this in mind, we have to be proactive in evolving an effective, since most of the offences defined in IT Act, 2000 are bailable,” he said.Tahir Majid Shamsi, additional solicitor general of India, J&K High Court said the scale of information available online makes the internet users vulnerable to privacy intrusion, “Securing data is a big issue. In today’s world, most people don’t know the importance of cyber laws, which are meant to protect your information. There is need to educate people on cyber laws,” he said. thers who spoke on the occasion include Muzaffar Hamid Bhat, CGC, J&K High Court and some faculty members of Kashmir Law College. The proceedings were moderated by Masooda Jan, senior counsel, J&K High Court.