Proposals to createa
new police computer crime unit may not be enough to restore
businesses' confidence in the government's approach to fighting
high-tech crime, say IT security professionals.
A survey of 54 of the Corporate IT Forum's 150 member
organisations in August found that confidence in the government's
willingness or ability to solve crimes by hackers and virus writers
is very low.
The Corporate IT Forum said it was concerned that the
£7m funding for the new unit, dubbed the Police Central E-Crime
Unit will not be enough to protect businesses from malicious
computer attacks. Plans for the e-crime unit
were
announced by the Home Office last month.
David Roberts, chief executive of The Corporate IT Forum, said
the amount of funding is disproportionate to the size of the
problem.
"IT chiefs in UK PLCs donot think the government appreciates the
scale of the cybercrime threat, the seriousness of the threat, or
how much it is costing," he said.
The survey found that 69% of organisations polled reported
increases in deliberate high-tech crime, but only 4% reported every
incident.
Fifty seven per cent said the police would not investigate
high-tech crime if they did report it.
According to Roberts, large businesses welcome the formation of
the Police Central E-Crime Unit as a good first step, but they
think it is only part of the solution.
Forty eight per cent of those polled said consistent and
appropriate penalties for cyber criminals and cross-border e-crime
legislation was the best solution to the problem.
"The government must pay urgent attention to putting the
penalties and legal frameworks in place to deter these criminals,
wherever they are in the world," said Roberts.
The survey revealed that 68% of companies are forced to spend up
to 40% of their security budgets protecting themselves against
cybercrime.
Most organisations (60%) said they reported high-tech crime only
occasionally, and35% said such crimes were rarely reported.