Section 43: Penalty for Damage to Computer, Computer System, etc.

1. If  any person without permission (or the knowledge) of the owner or any other person who is in-charge of a computer, computer system or computer network,—
2. Accesses or secures access to such computer, computer system or computer network;
3. Downloads, copies or extracts any data, computer data base or information from such computer, computer system or computer network including information or data held or stored in any removable storage  medium;
4. Introduces or causes to be introduced any computer contaminant or computer virus into any computer, computer system or computer network;
5. Damages or causes to be damaged any computer, computer system or computer network, data, computer data base or any other programs residing in such computer, computer system or computer network;
6. Disrupts or causes disruption of any computer, computer system or computer network;
7. Denies or causes the denial of access to any person authorized to access any computer, computer system or computer network by any means;
8. Provides any assistance to any person to facilitate access to a computer, computer system or computer network in contravention of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations made there under;
9. Charges the service availed of by a person to the account of another person by tampering with or manipulating any computer, computer system or computer network;
10. Destroys, deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means;
11. Steals, conceal, destroy or alter any computer resource with an intention to cause damage;

He can be made liable to pay damages by way of compensation not exceeding one crore rupees to the person so affected. Explanation—For this purposes,

1. “computer contaminant” means any set of computer instructions that are designed—
2. To modify, destroy, record, transmit data or program residing within a computer, computer system or computer network; or
3. By any means  to usurp the normal operation of the computer, computer system or computer network;
4. “computer data base” means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts or instructions in text, image, audio, video that are being prepared or have been prepared in a formalized manner or have been produced by a computer, computer system or computer network and are intended for use in a computer, computer system or computer network;
5. “computer virus” means any computer instruction, information, data or  program that destroys, damages, degrades or adversely affects the performance of a computer resource or attaches itself to another computer resource and operates when a program, data or  instruction is executed or some other event takes place in that computer resource;
6. “damage” means to destroy, alter, delete, add, modify or rearrange any computer resource by any means.
7. “Computer Source code” means the listing of programs, computer commands, design and layout and program analysis of computer resource in any form.