Bangalore techie convicted for hacking govt site

A Bangalore-based software professional has been sentenced to one-year jail and fined for hacking a government website and gaining UN authorized access to broadband internet by ‘altering computer database.’

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai, has sentenced N G Arun Kumar, the techie, to undergo a one-year rigorous imprisonment for one year with a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 420 IPC (cheating) and Section 66 of IT Act (hacking). Kumar was convicted on October 26, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI had registered a cyber crime case against Kumar and carried out investigations on the basis of a complaint by the Press Information Bureau, Chennai, which detected the unauthorised use of broadband internet.

The complaint also stated that the subscribers had incurred a loss of Rs 38,248 due to Kumar’s wrongful act. He used to ‘hack’ sites from Bangalore as also from Chennai and other cities, they said.

Investigations had revealed that Kumar was logging on to the BSNL broadband internet connection as if he was the authorised genuine user and ‘made alteration in the computer database pertaining to broadband internet user accounts’ of the subscribers.

Dealing with a set of complex cyber crimes has prompted the CBI to provide specialised training to its sleuths with a separate wing on Economic Offences giving focused attention to this area. Cyber crime in the country now covers hacking, spoofing and botnet attacks which are capable of causing serious security breaches in the information systems of vital installations.

Security implications

According to the Union home ministry, instances of money laundering through e-channels for terrorist funding have assumed menacing proportions. “Internet is being used as a secure means for internal communication among terrorists and also for hate campaigns through social networking sites. The potential damage on account of such attacks to the national security is immense," said Home Ministry officials.

In the wake of increasing cyber crimes, the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008, has now come into force, allowing the police and investigating agencies to identity theft, cyber-stalking, cyber harassment, child pornography, hacking and spamming.