Ministry of Defence on Wednesday informed parliament that they have taken necessary steps to insure that military secrets are not leaked out through social networking Web site, Orkut.

Defence Minister, A K Antony, said in a written statement that "defence personnel is periodically sensitized to the nuances of military security, and to the implications of sharing classified information with strangers on social networks. They are also aware of the implications of such sharing under the Official Secrets Act".

According to the minister, directions have also been issued to "take stern action against defaulters" using the Internet at large for passing on defence secrets.

Antony also detailed the steps being taken to ensure that foreign intelligence agencies did not gain access to India's military secrets through the Internet.

These included sensitisation of defence and civilian personnel at all levels, with special attention paid to new entrants at training institutes; regular policy guidelines being issued for compliance; and checks/audits undertaken by in-house teams to locate any breach, the minister stated.

Source: (Techtree, Sify)

Cyber criminals are up for more serious chastisement. They will no longer be able to exploit loopholes in the Information Technology Act, which requires law enforcement agencies to book criminals under different laws.
The government will soon make the IT Act of 2000 complete in itself by importing provisions from not only the Indian Penal Code (IPC) but also from other statutes like the Indian Evidence Act (IEA) of 1872 and the Code of Criminal Procedures (CCP) of 1973.

Inclusion of provisions in the Indian Evidence Act will give legal authority for the use of digital signatures under the prevailing cyber law itself. Sections 47, 67A, 85A, 85B and 85C of the IEA will be adopted, a department of information technology official said. Making fake digital signature certificates will now be a criminal offence and would attract harsher punishment.

While Section 47 and 67A of the IEA deal with matters related to proof of handwriting and signatures, Sections 85A, 85B and 85C deal with matters relating to authentication of digital signatures. The inclusion of these Sections will help law enforcement agencies as well as the judiciary.

“If some document is sealed with digital signature, it can be opened only with the help of two codes, one of which is with the user and the other with the controller of certifying authority (CCA). The documents will not open unless the codes match — as is the case in operating a bank locker,” an expert on digital signatures said. Inclusion of these new Sections will also help in promoting the use of digital signatures, the DIT official said.

The department also proposes to include Sections 320 and 198A of the CCP in the IT Act to help enforcement agencies in treating cyber criminals like other criminals. Once the review of the IT Act of 2000 is over, the government will invite public comments before finalising the changes.

In these times of frequent comparisons between aamchee Mumbai and Shanghai and every other global city, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), which enjoys the distinction of being the largest municipal corporation in the country, has launched its citizen portal dedicated to the citizens of Mumbai (www.mcgm.gov.in).

In what could prove a laudable effort at e-governance -- if only it is honestly implemented -- the portal aims at transforming the way in which our city lives and breathes... It claims that it will ensure 'freedom from queues' to Mumbaikars.

Enabled by solutions, consulting, and services by SAP AG, Siemens Information Systems, and ABM, the citizen portal is designed to address the needs of employees, corporates, and administrators through online availability of services backed-up by necessary infrastructure.

Some of the services offered by the portal include: birth and death certification, health care, MPFA licenses, trade licenses, hoarding licenses, advertisement licenses, complaints registration, nursing home and sonography, water works, etc.