As the world is in a fast moving track and in today's digitally connected world, there is a generation of various amount of data by several entities. This data contains a significant value and has to be protected from cyber threats.

So here stands a question as to what is a cyber crime? Cyber crime is termed as a criminal activity that either uses or targets a computer, a computer network or a network device. There is a major risk in the cyber crime as they have a catastrophe pic effect in terms of financial losses, breach of sensitive data, system failure and also on the reputation of an organisation.

Cybercrime and India:
Across the globe and India the cyber crime have been on the rise. India is an information technology giant across the globe as of 2022 India holds 35% of the global share market in information technology, the highest by any country across the globe so it is very necessary that there should be a well defined law and working mechanism for the cyberspace to grow in India.

As of 2015, 49000 cybercrime have been reported in the year 2018,The first big spike was seen as the rate of these crimes crosses 2 lacs mark from there on cyber crimes have grown 28 times and has now crossed a massive number of 14 lack in 2021. in 2021 among the states, Telangana has reported the highest number Of cyber crime more than 10,000 crimes were detected.

Cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi have also witnessed a significant rise in the cyber crimes in past years. The data breach by cyber criminals lead to massive amount of monetary loss to the countries, the average cost incurred due to data breach in the US is the highest globally at 9.44 million$ and while Canada stood at second With $5.6 million and third goes to India with 2.32 million$.

Types of cyber crime:

• Cyberstalking:
Cyberstalking is a type of cyber crime that is used to harass or stalk a person through the means of the Internet and technology. It is basically an extended form of cyberbullying and, in person, stalking. However, these crimes are done through text messages, email, and other mediums of technology.
• Phishing:
Phishing attacks are the practice of sending fraudulent communications that appear to come from a reputable website. The main aim is to steal sensitive data like credit card or login information or install malware on the computer system.

Challenges related to cyber crime in India:

1. No separate law:
As of now, there is no separate law or procedural code for the investigation of cyber-related offenses.
2. Profit over protection:
After the liberalization reforms in 1991, the Information Technology sector has witnessed large investments by the private sector. In India, operators do not invest in protective infrastructure; they invest and focus on profitable infrastructure only because of the thinking that investing heavily in cyber protectiveness will not generate profit for them. All operators are focused on profits and basically do not want to invest in infrastructure that will not generate profits, that is, protective infrastructure.
3. The digital expansion of the economy:
In the last couple of years, India has made significant progress in digitizing various economic factors, such as money transactions through UPI, the latest rollout of 5G, and the upcoming 6G network. This expansion of the digital ecosystem makes India a hub for potential hackers and cybercriminals as customer and citizen data will be stored in digital platforms, and transactions are likely to be carried out online.
4. Limited capacity:
The capacity to solve cybercrime offenses is very limited, and offenses related to these remain unreported or, in case they are reported, have very limited expertise to solve them. While India is improving its data protection infrastructure day by day, there is still a long way to go before a standard infrastructure is in place to tackle cybercrime.

Measures that can be taken to tackle cyber crime in India:

• Awareness campaigns regarding cybersecurity:
The central and state governments, in joint cooperation, should conduct awareness campaigns regarding cybersecurity, especially in rural areas because people in rural areas are more prone to cybercrime attacks.
• Data protection law:
In today's age, data is the new currency. Just as we protect our monetary currency, it is very important that we also protect our data. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the data protection regime in India. In 2019, India took a step toward data protection by introducing the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019.
• Quick responses:
As we see today, the number of cybercrimes is increasing in India day by day, and citizens are vulnerable to this crime. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a quick response system for citizens who are victims of this crime to tackle this problem more efficiently.

Conclusion:
India Today is seeking the information technology boom and as we entered a new phase of digitalization and everything is coming to the digital platform it is important that India has a strong in- build infrastructure for the protection of data from cyber crime, it is important for India to ensure Global cooperation through strengthening joint efforts in cybersecurity research and development as most cyber attacks originate from beyond the border.

For Indian government and corporation it is important to find the loopholes or gaps in their system and address those gaps or loopholes and create a high in build layered security system, wherein different levels of security shall work to tackle the cyber crime.