Government's e-crime plans criticised

gallery

The Government's move to fold the High-Tech Crime Unit into the Serious Crime Unit has been called "absurd" by Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.

Davis was speaking at a Microsoft conference on law enforcement. He said that not only was the decision a "mistake", but that it had also undermined public confidence in the police's ability to handle e-crime.

"There's a public perception that e-crime is so pervasive that the police don't have the capacity to investigate each individual allegation, and that they're wasting their time reporting it. If citizens do fall victim to e-crime they need to be sure action will be taken," he said.

Davis went on to promise the creation of a Police National Cybercrime Unit in the event of a Conservative government, as well as a dedicated minister for cybercrime, responsible for setting government policy and building bridges with international organisations dedicated to tackling online crime.

"Cybercrime is an area of rapid change in which governments can't keep up without help. It's one of the biggest potential terrorist and organised criminal threats we face. The collective intelligence of our enemies in this area is immense," he added.

This view was backed by fellow speaker Lord Toby Harris, who was on the Select Committee on Science and Technology which described the internet a "wild west" back in August.

"[In cybercrime] we can anticipate that criminals will be ahead - the issue is how far behind we'll be," he said.

"Soon every crime that's committed will have a major e-crime component and we need a police service that can respond effectively to that threat. I'm convinced of a need for a dedicated central e-crime unit, a national centre for police excellence where people can go when they encounter something new."

Harris then went on to sound a clear note of caution regarding the future if cybercrime isn't thwarted. "There will be attacks from nation states and terrorist groups. They don't currently think [cyber attacks] are as newsworthy as blowing up a building or a train, but they're coming. It will be linked to another attack - imagine the 7/7 attacks without our emergency services being able to communicate with each other."

Email to a friend

Print this page