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Cyber Law & Information Security

Sharique M. Rizvi

During the past decade, the growth in the use of the Internet and the (cyber) space it has created, has developed from science fiction into a socially constructed reality. Cyberspace possesses some unique qualities, which create a series of challenges for our existing laws. These qualities are: its lack of respect for jurisdictional boundaries, the sheer volume of traffic that it can handle virtually instantaneously, its openness to participation, the potential for anonymity of members of the virtual community, its apparent economic efficiency. It is these very qualities of cyberspace, which has today become its nemesis and has necessitated the need for cyber law.

Cyber law exists at the (cutting) edge of law, where the ability of existing law to achieve its goals is challenged. In this sense the "law" in Cyber law is a much broader concept, it is "law in action" as opposed to "law in books" as it applies to situations where Law cannot cope. Moreover, the technological revolution has wrought in its wake various security issues and there was an urgent need for security experts as well.