Criminalization of computer wrongdoing prerequisite for combating computer crime

Date: April 25, 2005
Source: I-Newswire.com


... children who were sexually abused. Different countries had gone to different degrees when writing their legislation. There were countries that had gone as far to say that viewing child pornography was legal, but that storing it was a criminal offence.

Mr. SANSOM noted that, regarding legal challenges, in cases where individuals sought not to store images on hard drives but evaded prosecution by viewing images, Canada had changed the child pornography law to address both supply and demand by adding two phrases into existing provisions. “Accessing” would address the question of user demand and “making available” would deal with streaming video sites.

Mr. GRABOSKY asked about images created digitally -- morphed images and not actual living beings?

Mr. McCULLOCH said legislation in that regard was not uniform. Some had addressed the issue, others had not. In some countries, one had to prove the age of the child and prove that the child was real. Figures were looking more and more real everyday.

Mr. DEBARA ( Libya ) asked if the Latin principle could be used concerning evidence in the field of cybercrime. Would criminal evidence need to be re-examined in a more specific fashion? Regarding how one gathered evidence, he said evidence was not always legitimate. Were there model cases which would improve understanding about how to counter the problems?

HECTOR SOTO CANDIA ( Chile ) said high-tech crime must be fought with advanced technology.

HENNING WEGENER of the World Federation of Scientists said the focus today had been primarily on individual victims. Were they missing the larger threat of cybercrime to society? Cybercrime could be highly destabilizing. He was speaking of critical infrastructure countries. In almost all countries, those critical entities were in private hands, including air traffic control, banking and energy. Today, the stabilizing features of interwoven societies were managed and controlled by digital means. Cyberwar was yet another issue.

Mr. GRABOSKY noted that private institutions with assets to protect were well advised to protect them. Most invested in the protection of their own assets quite substantially. In some cases it was a matter of good sense. In other cases, market forces would move institutions to protect their assets.

Ms. HUBBARD ( United States ) said that, from a State perspective, the United Nations was doing significant work in the area of critical infrastructure protection.

Mr. McCULLOCH explained that the responsibility of companies protecting their assets was similar to individuals being responsible for protecting their own property.

Summarizing the discussion, Mr. REDO, of UNODC, said seven key themes had emerged. The first theme was the evolving nature and speed of computer-related crimes and the array of offences that were encapsulated in cybercrime. That had raised questions about monitoring and data collecting. The second theme was that of the digital divide. Building of capacity had been mentioned in that regard. A third area of concern was the issue of technical assistance. What could be done? What was being done? What could the United Nations and UNODC do? The critical issue of training was also mentioned.

He said a fourth theme was international cooperation. As it had become clear, speed was required in many cases. Although the 24/7 network was mentioned, it had also been mentioned that it incorporated only States that had the resources to use it. It had been asked how that mechanism could be strengthened. A fifth theme was that of cooperation with the private sectors. As a sixth theme, the harmonization of law was mentioned. Much of that related to admissibility of evidence and gathering evidence in cybercrime matters. The final theme was the question of victims, both individual victims and collective victims such as societies, companies and States that could be targeted by cybercrime, including terrorism.

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