The Indian parliament was notified on Friday that more than 700 cases of privacy violations were registered in 2020 under Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar noted, “As per the data maintained by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, a total of 389, 812 and 742 cases for violation of privacy under Section 66E of the IT Act, 2000, were registered during the years 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively,”
He added that punishment for violation of privacy is punishable under Section 66E of the Act, and that these cases are handled by state law enforcement agencies.
He said “The government is committed towards open, safe and trusted and accountable internet where intermediaries shall always respect the Constitutional rights of all Indians online specially Article 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. Government has taken several steps for the digital safety of people,”
The minister stated that in 2021 (up to October), there were over 12.1 lakh cyber security incidents, in response to another query.
He stated “Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has reported that a total number of 11,58,208 and 12,13,784 cyber security incidents are observed during the year 2020 and 2021 (upto October), respectively. Out of this, a total number of 54,314 and 32,736 cyber security incidents were related to government organizations during the year 2020 and 2021 (up to October), respectively,”
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is responsible for tracking and monitoring cyber security incidents across the country.
The minister said the government is well aware of cyber security threats, as the Internet expands and more Indians become connected and use the Internet.
He added that the government is well aware of various cyber security threats and has taken a number of steps to improve cyber security and prevent cyberattacks.
Regularly issuing alerts and advisories about the latest cyber security threats/vulnerabilities and countermeasures to protect computers and networks, and holding regular training programmes for network/system administrators and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) of Government and critical sector organizations about securing the IT infrastructure and mitigating cyber-attacks.