What amendments were introduced in IT Act in the year 2008?

Q. What amendments were introduced in IT Act in the year 2008?

Answer:-

The Act was later amended in December 2008 through the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008. It provided additional focus on Information Security. It has added several new sections on offenses including Cyber Terrorism and Data Protection. The Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (IT Act 2008) came into force from October 27, 2009 onwards. Major amendments of IT ACT (2008) included:-

• Digital Signatures :- Authentication of electronic records by digital signatures gets legal recognition.
• Electronic governance :- E-Documents get legal recognition. Documents required as per law by any arm of the government may be supplied in electronic form.
• Offences and Penalties :- The maximum penalty for any damage to computers or computer systems is a fine up to Rs 1 crore.
• Amendments to other laws :- Other related acts such as the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891, the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 were to be amended to align them with the IT Act.

In other words :-

A major amendment was made to the IT Act in 2008. It introduced Section 66A which penalized sending of "offensive messages". It also introduced Section 69, which gave authorities the power of "interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource". Amendments also contained penalties for child pornography, cyber-terrorism and voyeurism. The Act was passed in December 2008 and came into force in October 2009.