Blunkett urges more action in cybercrime fight

David Blunkett MP has used his keynote speech at this year's InfoSec show at Earl's Court to push for more action in the fight against cybercrime, sounding a warning about high levels of complacency in government and crime-fighting circles.

The former Home Secretary has been busy over the last couple of days highlighting the threat posed by cybercrime in the national media building up to this morning's speech at the annual security industry show.

"There still appears to be a woeful level of awareness of the threat of cyber attack, organised crime and the level of fraud, covering government, business and individual consumers and users of the Internet," he said.

"The threat by organised criminals engaging in sophisticated fraud is just as great as the danger from those seeking to damage the economic, commercial and political life of the country," he added.

Blunkett said that the Olympics in 2012 should be used as a moment to show the rest of the world that the UK understood the threat from cybercrime and was secure.

He also quoted recent research and figures from the US which showed the cost of protecting military and government data and the number of attacks, with 44,000 incidents in America in 2007.