Tories combat cybercrime

The Tories said only improvements to current tactical and strategic approaches will help the growing problem of cybercrime.

Speaking at the E-crime congress in London yesterday, shadow home secretary David Davies said the Conservatives would introduce a range of measures to combat online crime. They include reversing the changes brought in by the Government last year that direct people away from reporting online financial fraud to the police.

Although the average UK consumer using the internet is worth more than £10,000 to criminals, according to a Yougov survey for security company Verisign, many incidents of online financial fraud are not being reported to the police. Instead the victims are expected to inform their bank only.

Davies said the Tories would also establish a fraud and complaint centre as a single reporting point for cybercrime that the public could use to report all online abuses. There have been repeated calls from politicians and industry for a centre, along the lines of the US Internet Crime Complaint Center that consumers could use to report these crimes.

He told delegates the public urgently needed somewhere to report cybercrimes: "They say no-one can hear you scream in cyberspace."

Recently the House of Lords Select Committee on personal internet security called on the Government to provide £1.5m funding for a new e-crime coordination unit. However the Home Office is still debating whether to do this. The recent departure on overseas secondment of Commander Sue Wilkinson of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has added to fears that such a unit will not be established.

Other measures proposed by the Conservatives would include a new police national cybercrime unit and a specialist team within the Crown Prosecution Service, which could work closely with these police officers.

The Party would also designate a single minister for cybercrime and promote cybersafety and security as a core part of ICT training in schools and colleges. Davies also said that a review of existing legislation would be carried out to ensure that the UK's laws provided effective sanctions against existing and developing cybercrimes.