Regulations need to evolve fast for tackling cyber crime

With cyber crime growing at a menacing pace amid dynamic changes in technology, the "threat landscape" has become larger and policies need to evolve continuously to contain it, CERT-IN Director Gulshan Rai said today.
The number of Internet users in the country is growing at a rapid pace as more and more people log onto the Web through handheld devices like mobile phones and tablets, he said.
"We are in an era where surveillance is becoming difficult as technology is constantly evolving... There is no permanent solution. The government has taken a lot of steps... Comprehensive steps need to be taken to collaborate and evolve (regulation and policies)," Rai said at an event organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

Rai clarified however that this was his personal view.
"We estimate that there are over 400 million Internet users in the country. The Internet penetration was at about 10 per cent in 2011 and we expect it to touch 28 per cent by the end of this year. Traffic is also growing at a very strong pace. India is poised to become one of the largest Internet economies," he said.
Rai added that the threat landscape has grown larger as IT has become an essential component of all sectors.
According to government data, from 2011 to 2014 (till May), a total number of 21,699, 27,605 (in 2012), 28,481 (in 2013) and 9,174 Indian websites were hacked by various hacker groups spread across worldwide.

In addition, during these years, a total number of 13,301, 22,060, 71,780 and 62,189 security incidents, respectively, were reported to the Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In).