This week's expert is Aled Miles, managing director and VP of Northern Europe for Symantec. This week saw one of the most significant announcements by the Government in the fight against Cybercrime since the initial passing of the Computer Misuse Act in 1990, following the hacking of the Duke of Edinburgh's Prestel mailbox. Using computers to commit crime isn't new, but it does appear to be on the increase as more and more people gain access to the internet.
Cybercrime today is focused on corporate espionage and financial gain.
Gartner Group is already predicting that the financial damage caused by cybercrime will increase by between 1000 and 10,000 per cent by 2004. Special forces such as this new national crime unit are encouraging in that it demonstrates that recognition of the issue is there and the resources will be made available to combat this growing sector of crime. To really be able to combat criminals using computers and telephone lines, we need to engage in international co-operation and develop legislation on a global level which makes unauthorised data access or destruction illegal across all countries. The Love Bug virus is a prime example of how a criminal act that cost the world millions of dollars, goes unchallenged because the law in the Philippines did not recognise international crime committed via computers. This week we've also seen a lot of coverage in the media regarding privacy around the information people are providing as part of the national census, so it's undoubtedly a real concern.