UNAUTHORIZED ACCESSING PROTECTED SYSTEM

·        The appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that any computer, computer system or computer network to be a protected system.

·        The appropriate Government may, by order in writing, authorize the persons who are authorized to access protected systems notified under sub-Section (1)

·        Any person who secures access or attempts to secure access to a protected system in contravention of the provisions of this section shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine.

·        As per Executive order dated 12-09-2002, issued by Ministry of Communication & Information Technology details of every protected system should be provided to the Controller of Certifying Authorities.

There are three elements to this section:-

1.     Gazette notification for declaring protected system.

2.     Government order authorizing persons to access protected systems.

3.     Punishment for access to protected systems by unauthorized persons.

Relevant terms and issues:-

Appropriate government is determined as per Schedule VII of the constitution of India.

           Schedule VII of the Constitution of India contains 3 lists – Union, State and concurrent. Parliament has the exclusive right to make laws on items covered in the Union list e.g. defence, Reserve Bank of India etc.

           State Government have the exclusive right to make laws on items covered in the State List e.g. Police, prisons etc.

           Parliament as well as thee State Governments can make laws on matters in the Concurrent List e.g. forests, electricity etc.

?  If the computer network of the Indian Army is to be declared as a protected system, the Central Government would be the appropriate Government.

? If the computer network of the Mumbai police is to be declared as a protected system, the Government of Maharashtra would be the appropriate Government.

? If the computer network of the Forest Department in Maharashtra is to be declared as a protected system, the Central Government as well as the Government of Maharashtra would be the appropriate Government.

All the acts, rules, regulations etc. passed by the Central and State Government are notified in the Official Gazette. The official Gazette in the electronic form is called the Electronic Gazette. The official Gazette in the electronic form is called the Electronic Gazette. The Government order may specify the authorized persons by name or by designation (e.g. all officers of rank of Inspector and above deputed in a particular department).

The term “securing access” in this section is a grammatical variation of the term “secures access” as discussed earlier.

Attempt to secure access is a very wide term and can be understood through the following illustrations.

? Arjun runs a password cracking software to crack the password of a protected system. Irrespective of whether he succeeds in cracking the password, he is guilty of attempting to secure access.

? Arjun runs automated denial of service software to bring down the firewall securing a protected system. Irrespective of whether he succeeds in bringing down the firewall, he is guilty of attempting to secure access.

? Arjun sends a Trojan by email to Revathy, who is the network administrator of a protected system. He plans to Trojanize Revathi’s computer and thereby gain unauthorized access to the protected system. Irrespective of whether he succeeds in finally accessing the protected systems, he is guilty of attempting to secure access.

Punishment:-

           This section is rigorous or simple imprisonment of up to 10 years and fine.

UNAUTHORISED ACCESS TO PROTECTED SYSTEM

(Summary)

Actions Covered:-

           Unauthorized access to protected system (or attempt thereof)

Penalty:-

           Imprisonment up to 10 years and fine (this may be rigorous or simple imprisonment i.e. with or without hard labour)

Relevant Authority:-

           Court of Session.

Appeal lies to:-

           High Court

Investigation Authorities:-

1.     Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA)

2.     Person authorised by CAA

3.     Police Officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent

Points to mention in Complaint:-

1.     Complaint details

2.     Suspect details

3.     Details of gazette notification and Government order

4.     How and when the contravention was discovered and by whom

5. Other relevant information