Old duffers and Internet security do not mix
By Davey Winder in Editorial
Posted in Security on
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee have published their long awaited report into Internet security, and it is just as amusing as you might imagine a report by a bunch of old duffers talking about the Internet would be.
The hugely insightful conclusion would appear to be that “the Government must do more to protect individual Internet users” which I am sure must have taken the poor loves many a dunked rich tea to arrive at. Instead of acting to protect individuals, or providing incentives for the private sector to act, the Government continues to insist that individuals are ultimately responsible for their own security. This, the Committee insists, is “inefficient and unrealistic”.
Not as inefficient and unrealistic as encouraging Internet service providers to improve the security offered to customers by establishing a kite mark for Internet services, it has to be said. I guess that memory does worsen with age, otherwise their Lordships might have remembered that various similar schemes have come and gone, all gone in fact, courtesy of being pointless. Even the one most likely to succeed, the Which? scheme backed by the Consumer Association vanished quietly after loudly going nowhere. It is almost as pointless as those numerous sites which used to carry little award logos from self styled ‘best of the web’ services. As if a crappy logo could disguise a crappy page.
Other suggested measures are a little more sensible, such as establishing a centralised and automated system for the reporting of e-crime. Although it falls down a tad when you read that it should be administered by law enforcement, and they should have increased skills to catch and prosecute e-criminals. Listen up Lord Cuckoo, out here in the real world where us peasants live, the police don’t even bother investigating when your car gets vandalised or your house burgled. If you are a victim of identity theft or credit card fraud then the official line is that it’s a matter between you and your bank, and they don’t want to get involved. Considering that there are no motoring laws being broken, and council tax payments withheld, I cannot see what possible incentive there is for the police to investigate the spreading of malware, a 419 fraud or some online security breach.
About the only thing I agree with would be the establishing of a data security breach notification law, forcing companies into revealing when their security had been breached so that customers are aware of the potential infringement, and to establish legal liability for damage arising from such breaches.
Lord Broers, Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, said:
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