CYBER SECURITY AND CYBERLAW

The world has now seen new trends in terms of evolvement of cyber security regulation.  More and more countries have begun to start coming up with dedicated national laws targeted at protection and preservation of cyber security.  No wonder, the discipline of cyber security law as an emerging discipline has indeed caught the attention of various stakeholders across the world.  The latest development in this space is the passage of new law in Russia called RU Net law. This law is seeking to protect and preserve Russian networks and their security. 

Some experts are of the opinion that this law could even be carving out a new Russian net under the garb of cyber security regulation.  

China as a nation has increasingly made lot of advances in the area of regulating cyber security. In the last 3 years, China has come up with three dedicated new legislations which have comprehensively sought to deal with all issues and advances pertaining to regulating and protecting cyber security.  Smaller countries have begun to take opportunities and initiatives in this direction.  There are three examples that have come to the forefront in this regard.  In early 2018, Singapore came up with dedicated new law on cyber security which has further distinctive focused on protection and preservation of cyber security and is aim to balance the competing interest of various stakeholders.  The year 2018 also saw Vietnam coming up new cyber security law.  Recently in couple of months, Thailand is the latest entrant in the group of nations who have come up with cyber security law.  Once, the laws are being framed in different parts of the world, some experts are often ventilating the concerns that these laws are likely to become instrument for perpetuation of atrocities against targeted communities and individuals. There have already been complaints emerging in the public domain pertaining to potential misuse of laws that have been passed in countries like Vietnam and Thailand. 

India as a nation has not yet focused much in this direction at all. India does not have even a dedicated cyber security law.  However, India has sought to deal with cyber security by means of covering it under the provisions of Indian Cyberlaw being the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000 as amended by the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008. 
The Indian National Cyber Security Policy of 2013 has sought to elaborate Indian national position on cyber security. However, that Policy has not been implemented in its spirit. As India goes through its electoral process and as the new Government arrives, all eyes will be on the new government as to how it wants to deal with the issue of regulating cyber security. Cyber security regulation is a big central issue today and all stakeholders have important role to play in this regard.  Hence, not just the Governments of the world will have to increasingly start concentrating on the nuances for cyber security regulation but the private sector and corporate sector will also have to increasingly start focusing on adopting cyber security as a way of life. 

Proactively complying with data breach notification laws to protect and preserve cyber security of computer networks will be a good strategy for corporates as they move forward.  Also, complying with local laws and nuances to the extent they are applicable to cyber security is a good strategy. Corporates increasingly will have to adopt a strong approach inasmuch as they not only have to comply with the applicable laws but also have to constantly keep on their flexible mindset to deal with emerging new landscape developments concerning regulatory frameworks in the country. Cyber security law as a jurisprudence is increasingly becoming important. It is the time that every stakeholder specifically the corporates and private sector start taking cognizance of this and start coming up with proactive strategies to deal with such challenges of cyber security. 
The author Dr. Pavan Duggal, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, is an internationally renowned expert authority on Cyberlaw and Cybersecurity law. He has been acknowledged as one of the top four Cyber lawyers in the world. He is also the Chairman of International Commission on Cybersecurity Law.