CYBER LAW IN INDIA: OVERVIEW AND RECENT TRENDS

This paper offers an in-depth analysis of the digital legal system in India, with a special focus on the actions taken on the ground through the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. It looks into both the advantages and threats of the digital media by illustrating how internet networks can serve the global trade and education while still being the source of the cybercrimes like financial fraud, identity theft, and violation of personal data privacy. The study describes the working of the major criminal aspects of the law under the Act like Sections 65 66 66C, 66E 67 67A, 67B, and 72. Also, it identifies and discusses the five major challenges that are having a significant impact on the direction of internet law namely data privacy adherence to the DPDP Act, cybersecurity rules by CERT-In, the regulation of cryptocurrencies, hardware security problems of the Internet of Things (IoT), and issues of legal liability related to developments in artificial intelligence. Based on discussion of main landmarks court decisions like K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, CBS Online Services, NASSCOM v. Ajay Sood, and Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India, the article concludes that Indian judiciary is gradually recognizing data protection and digital access as essential rights guaranteed under the constitution.