Section 84C

Section 84C criminalises attempted cyber offences — acts that cross the threshold from preparation into execution but fall short of completing the offence. The punishment is capped at half the maximum imprisonment for the completed offence. So an attempted Section 66 offence (maximum 3 years) attracts up to 1.5 years; an attempted Section 66F cyber terrorism offence (maximum life imprisonment) attracts up to 7 years imprisonment as an attempt. The critical element is 'does any act towards the commission of the offence' — mere preparation is insufficient. A person who researches vulnerabilities but does not attempt to exploit them has not committed an IT Act attempt offence. However, a person who sends crafted malicious packets towards a target system but whose attack is blocked by a firewall has committed an attempt under Section 84C. This provision is practically significant for cybersecurity incident response: when defenders detect and block an intrusion before it succeeds, the attacker may still face criminal liability for the attempt. It also applies to failed phishing campaigns, blocked denial-of-service attacks, and intercepted identity theft attempts.