What cyber terrorism is
Cyber terrorism is the use of computers and networks to threaten the nation or to strike terror, by attacking systems in a way that causes serious harm. In Indian law it is a specific offence, defined in section 66F of the Information Technology Act 2000. The section is one of the family of offences numbered 66A to 66F in the amended Chapter XI, and it carries the heaviest punishment among the offences in sections 65 to 67B.
The offence is distinct from ordinary hacking. Ordinary unauthorised access is dealt with in sections 43 and 66, with a maximum of three years. Section 66F applies where the act is done with a particular purpose and has, or is likely to have, serious consequences, or where the information obtained is of the most sensitive kind.
The two limbs of section 66F
Section 66F(1) has two parts. The first, clause (A), applies to a person 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, by doing any of three things: denying or causing the denial of access to any person authorised to access a computer resource; attempting to penetrate or access a computer resource without authorisation or exceeding authorised access; or introducing or causing to introduce any computer contaminant. In addition, the conduct must cause or be likely to cause death or injury to persons, or damage to or destruction of property, or disrupt, or be known to be likely to disrupt, supplies or services essential to the life of the community, or adversely affect the critical information infrastructure specified under section 70.
The second part, clause (B), applies to a person who knowingly or intentionally penetrates or accesses a computer resource without authorisation or exceeding authorised access, and by that conduct obtains access to information, data or a computer data base that is restricted for reasons of the security of the State or foreign relations, or any restricted information, where there is reason to believe that it may be used to cause or be likely to cause injury to the interests of 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 or group.
The punishment
Under section 66F(2), a person who commits or conspires to commit cyber terrorism is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for life. The section names no fine and no minimum term, and the sentence is for the court to decide within the maximum. The reference to conspiracy means that planning the offence is punishable as well as committing it.
Because the offence carries a term that may extend to life, it is outside the offences that a court may compound under section 77A of the Act, which excludes offences punishable with life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term exceeding three years.
Related provisions and how cases are handled
Several other provisions deal with the same area from the side of the State. Section 70 allows the appropriate Government to declare critical information infrastructure to be a protected system. Section 70B makes the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team the national agency for incident response. Section 69 allows the Central Government or a State Government to issue directions for the interception, monitoring or decryption of information in the interests of the sovereignty or integrity of India, the defence of India and the security of the State, among other grounds.
Offences under the Act are investigated by a police officer not below the rank of Inspector under section 78. Cases of this kind depend on digital evidence collected by forensic laboratories, as described in the page on computer forensics. The wider list of offences is in the guide to the IT Act 2000, and the way cyber crime is recorded is in the page on cyber crime in India.