Supreme Court judge Altmas Kabir on Saturday stressed the need for the police and magistrates to acquire greater skills and expertise in information technology in cracking cybercrime.
Inaugurating a two-day international seminar on Cyberspace Usages-Challenges and Disputes Resolution jointly organised by the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA), India chapter, and the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), he said no magistrate court had ever convicted a single cyber offender.
This was due to the lack of knowledge and skills in IT on the part of the investigators as well as the magistrates. He pointed out that youths were attracted very much to the cyberspace or the internet. The cyberspace knew no boundaries.
The Information Technology Act was brought in to bridle the galloping world of cyberspace. In fact, those who committed cybercrimes sitting in the remotest corner of the world could be traced with the aid of forensic sciences, he said.
Speaking at the function, Supreme Court Judge Cyriac Joseph said a holistic approach should be adopted to tackle the moral and ethical issues emerging out of the use of cyberspace.
He pointed out that technological development was essential for a country. The people who used technology should ensure that it was put to good use for the betterment of society.
The internet and other social networks had a positive impact in society. But one could not shut their eyes to their misuse.
Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court J. Chelameswar said though advancement in technology brought many advantages, it also equally created many problems and disputes.
He underlined the need for equipping the law enforcement agencies with the latest development in cyberspace to deal with cybercrimes.
He pointed out that lawbreakers were way ahead of law enforcers in understanding the changes in technologies.
K.K. Venugopal, president of Honour, UIA, and senior Supreme Court lawyer; Pascal Maurer, president, UIA; M.K. Damodaran, former Advocate-General; and A.K. Ganguli, president, UIA India chapter, spoke.
Kamlesh Bajaj, chief executive officer, Data Security Council of India (DSCI), NASSCOM, who spoke on data protection standards, said data protection had emerged as a major corporate and government concern over the world.
The DSCI had established a privacy framework for information technology and business process outsourcing companies. He said in order to make the protection standards more effective, clients should incorporate such standards in their contracts with the IT/BPO service providers in the country.
The insistence on self-certification and conformance testing by DSCI through its panel of independent auditors would enhance the trust of service providers in data protection.
