India to make Cyber Army of Ethical Hackers.

No doubt this is a late step , Government of India has finally decided to build a network of ethical hackers to spy on the classified data of hostile nations by hacking into their computer systems Information Technology professionals and ethical hackers will be  hired for this  purpose .IT workers and ethical hackers who sign up for the ambitious project will be protected by law, says the proposal being discussed by senior government administrators.

The government is worried about spying and sabotage from neighboring countries, particularly China and Pakistan .According to the government proposal, the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) along with Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) will be responsible for creating cyber-offensive capabilities. NTRO is a key government agency that gathers technical intelligence while DIA is tasked with collating inputs from the Navy, Army and Air Force.

The NTRO will also suggest measures to ensure legal protection to recruits, a move that is expected to coax software professionals into joining the government group because under the Indian IT Act, hacking is punishable with imprisonment up to three years, or carries a fine up to `2 lakh, or both.

“Even if the offense is done on a computer on foreign soil, it is punishable under Indian laws,” says cyber lawyer Pavan Duggal, adding that the IT Act will have to be changed for “patriotic stealth operations”. Reports Economics Times India