MPs warned over massive scale of digital crime

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 30 Apr 2004 at 12:51

Wyatt suggested: 'We run ads about lock up your car. Should we do the same about lock up your computer?'

Courts and juries also need to be more technologically savvy when cases under the CMA come to trial, and raising awareness of these issues is an important first step, the participants believed.

And any legislation on DOS attacks must step carefully to avoid criminalising attacks made as a political protest or because of popularity - say, the day when Glastonbury tickets are available online.

Similarly, the criminalising the possession of tools to gain unauthorised access to systems would make criminals of many owners of computers infected with viruses and users of Internet Explorer, given the rise in browser-based attacks. And yet, saying that your computer had been hijacked for criminal activities is an easy defence to make.

Indeed, most present agreed that while much of the original CMA has stood the test of time well in terms of application, the lack of cases brought under it means it has rarely been tested as to its real effectiveness as legislation against such crimes.

The Computer Misuse Act inquiry was organised by the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group.