DATE=5/15/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CYBERCRIME MEETING (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262401
BYLINE=MAX RUSTON
DATELINE=SAN FRANCISCO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized
nations have begun a meeting in Paris (Monday) to
discuss the growing threat of cybercrime -- primarily
crime committed using the Internet and other computer
networks. V-O-A's technology correspondent Max Ruston
in San Francisco reports on the meeting's efforts to
coordinate the fight against computer-related crime.
TEXT: The G-8 meeting was called in an effort to
speed up and standardize the global fight against
cybercrime. Computer security experts say the issue
of cybercrime is so new that few countries have
developed adequate measures to deal with it.
Business leaders, police, judges, diplomats and civil
liberty groups attending the G-8 meeting are
attempting to prioritize measures that countries can
and should take to fight computer crime. They are
also working to develop recommendations for new means
of international cooperation on that issue.
The meeting follows a significant reminder about the
threat of computer-related crime - that is the spread
earlier this month of the computer virus called the
"love bug."
David Kennedy is director of research at the U-S-based
firm I-C-S-A-dot-net, which specializes in providing
security to Internet-connected computer systems. Mr.
Kennedy says the most useful step the G-8 could take
now is to develop model laws and regulations for other
countries to copy.
/// KENNEDY ACT ///
One thing that we could hope they will do is
agree to develop a model language for other
countries to use for their own cybercrime
statutes. As we have seen in the last two weeks
with the "lovebug" issue, not all countries have
cybercrime statutes. We found out most
countries that are connected to the Internet
need some type of cybercrime statute. Some model
language would be helpful if that came out of
the industrialized countries.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Kennedy says the "lovebug" virus, which has been
traced to the Philippines, is an example of why such
laws are important. He says the Philippines does not
have laws against cybercrime, making it difficult to
prosecute or extradite the individuals who are
believed to have been behind the virus.
But the standardization of cybercrime laws is
controversial, because of differing views on privacy,
and may prove difficult to achieve. The United States
is expected to support calls for measures that would
give law enforcement authorities the ability to move
quickly to carry out searches and seizures. European
nations are expected to be more cautious about
advocating any measures that could be perceived as
threatening to an individual's privacy.
The three-day G-8 meeting comes amid parallel efforts
by the 41-nation Council of Europe to draft a treaty
to standardize cybercrime laws. The council is
working with the United States, Japan, Canada and
South Africa in that effort. The treaty would require
member nations to pass laws against a series of
computer crimes, including child pornography, online
fraud, and hacking (illegal entry into computer
systems). The treaty is expected to be finalized by
December and ready for ratification in September 2001.
(Signed)
NEB/MPR/TVM/gm
15-May-2000 20:18 PM EDT (16-May-2000 0018 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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