1,791 cyber crime cases registered in India in 2011

Our dependence on technology - be it our cellphones, tablets, or laptops, seems to be directly proportional to the progress that technology itself has been witnessing. The growth of the Internet, the world over, has been a very important chapter in this respect. Social networking, gaming, storing data and online shopping are only a few of the many doors that the web has opened up. This, however, has also given birth to an ugly spate of cyber crimes.A recent report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) - Crime in India 2011 - has thrown light on how the nation has fared, as far as cyber crimes go. According to the report, the number of cases that were registered under the nation's IT act last year were 1,791 - a considerable rise of 85.4 percent from the 966 cases registered in 2010.

Cyber crimes registered  in India in 2011...

The report states that the highest number of cases were registered in Andhra Pradesh (349), Maharashtra came second with 306 registered cases, followed by Kerala (227 cases), Karnataka (155 cases) and Rajasthan (122 cases). 46.1 percent of the total cases pertained to Loss/damage to computer resource/utility reported under hacking with computer systems for which 487 persons were arrested. 496 cases pertaining to Obscene publications/transmission in electronic form were registered in 2011, following which 443 persons were arested. It added, "Out of total (983) Hacking cases, the cases relating to Loss / Damage of computer resource/utility under Sec 66(1) of the IT Act were 84.0%  (826 cases) whereas the cases related to Hacking under Section 66(2) of IT Act were 15.9% (157 cases). Andhra Pradesh (267) followed by Karnataka (87), Rajasthan (69) and Maharashtra (68) registered maximum cases under Sec 66(1) of the IT Act out of total 826 such cases at the National level."

The report further revealed that of the total 157 cases of Hacking under Sec. 66(2), 23 cases, i.e the maximum came from Karnataka, followed by 22 from Kerala and 20 from Andhra Pradesh. Further, Andhra Pradesh accounted for 242 arrests, i.e. 20.4 percent of the total 1,184 arrests in cases pertaining to the IT Act, 2000, followed by Maharashtra with 226 arrests.

Interestingly, the report also found that 58.6 percent (i.e., 695 out of 1,184) of those arrested belonged to the age group 18-30 years, while 31.7 percent (i.e., 376 out of 1,184) of those arrested belonged to the age group 30-45 years. Rather shockingly, the report revealed that of the people arrested, ten in Madhya Pradesh, four in Maharashtra, three in Kerala and two in Delhi, were found to be below the age of 18. 

Clearly, the numbers are out for all to see. With many of us spending so much time online, it only is imperative that we maintain caution. 

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