Short notes: electronic governance; cyber terrorism

(i) Electronic governance. Chapter III of the Information Technology Act, 2000, "Electronic Governance", gives legal effect to the use of electronic means in place of paper:

• Legal recognition of electronic records (section 4): a legal requirement that information be in writing or in typewritten or printed form is deemed satisfied if it is made available in an electronic form and is accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference.
• Legal recognition of electronic signatures (section 5): a legal requirement that information be authenticated by a signature, or a document signed, is deemed satisfied by an electronic signature affixed in the manner the Central Government prescribes.
• Electronic records in Government and its agencies (section 6): where a law requires a form or application to be filed with a government office, a licence or permit to be issued, or money to be received or paid in a particular manner, doing so in the electronic form the appropriate Government prescribes satisfies that law.
• Delivery of services by service providers (section 6A): the appropriate Government may authorise service providers to set up and run computerised facilities for delivering services to the public electronically, and to collect service charges on a notified scale.
• Retention of electronic records (section 7): a legal duty to keep documents or records for a period is met by keeping them electronically, if they remain accessible for later reference, are kept in their original format or one shown to represent the original accurately, and carry the details of their origin, destination and date and time of despatch or receipt.

Together these provisions let government receive, issue, store and authenticate records electronically.

(ii) Cyber terrorism (section 66F). Section 66F(1) defines the offence in two limbs.

Limb (A): attacks on computer resources. A person commits cyber terrorism who acts "with intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India or to strike terror in the people or any section of the people" (s. 66F(1)(A)), by:

• 1. denies, or causes the denial of, access to any person authorised to access a computer resource; or
• 2. attempts to penetrate or access a computer resource without authorisation, or exceeding his authorised access; or
• 3. introduces, or causes to be introduced, any computer contaminant;

and by that conduct causes, or is likely to cause, death or injury to persons, or damage to or destruction of property; or disrupts, or knows it is likely to damage or disrupt, supplies or services essential to the life of the community; or adversely affects the critical information infrastructure specified under section 70. An attempt is enough under (ii): the access need not succeed.

Limb (B): obtaining restricted information. It is also cyber terrorism knowingly or intentionally to penetrate or access a computer resource without authorisation, or exceeding authorised access, and by that conduct to obtain information, data or a computer database restricted for reasons of the security of the State or foreign relations; or to obtain any other restricted information, data or database with reason to believe that it may be used to cause injury to "the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence, or to the advantage of any foreign nation, group of individuals or otherwise" (s. 66F(1)(B)).

Punishment (section 66F(2)): whoever commits or conspires to commit cyber terrorism is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for life.