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17MCSC09 CYBER SECURITY AND CYBER LAW

1.34 Legal Provisions in Indian Perspective

The confluence of two legal paradigms, i.e., the law of evidence and that of information Notes
technology has made the legal domain at par with the contemporary challenges of the

cyber space.
1. Firstly, the traditional law defining the term Evidence’ has been amended to include
electronic evidence in Section 3, The Evidence Act, 1872. The other parallel legal
recognition appeared in Section 4, The Information Technology (Amendment) Act,
2008, with the provision for acceptance of matter in electronic form to be treated

as written’ if the need arises. These show a prima faci acceptability of digital
evidence in any trial.
2. Further, Section 79A of the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 has gone aboard to define
electronic evidence as any information of probative value that is either stored, or
transmitted in electronic form and includes computer evidence, digital audio, digital
video, cell phones and digital fax machines.

3. With regards to admissibility of electronic records, Section 65-B of the Evidence
Act, 1872 enunciates various conditions for the same.
4. Since digital evidence ought to be collected and preserved in certain form, the

admissibility of storage devices imbibing the media content from the crime scene
is also an important factor to consider. Reading Section 3 and Section 65-B, The
Evidence Act, 1872 cumulatively, it can be inferred that certain computer outputs
of the original electronic record, are now made admissible as evidence without
proof or production of the original record. Thus, the matter on computer printouts
and floppy disks and CDs become admissible as evidence.
5. The other most crucial question in cybercrime investigation regarding the reliability

of digital evidence has also been clarified by Section 79A of the IT (Amendment)
Act, 2008, which empowers the Central government to appoint any department or
agency of Central or State government as Examiner of Electronic Evidence. This
agency will play a crucial role in providing expert opinion on electronic form of
evidence.

1.35 Phases of Cyber Forensics

Identification Phase

The identification phase is the process of identifying evidence material and its probable
location. This phase is unlike a traditional crime scene it processes the incident scene
and documents every step of the way. Evidence should be handled properly. Basic
requirement in evidence collection is evidence must be presented without alteration. This

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