World Cybercrime Experts See Need for Laws, Ties

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1582967

By Kim Yeon-hee 
October 16, 2002 

SEOUL (Reuters) - Top international cyber-crimebusters wrapped up a
three-day conference in the world's most wired country on Wednesday
with a call for greater global cooperation to fight online offences.

Senior cyber-crime police officers from 37 countries agreed at a
meeting in South Korea that worldwide investigations were needed to
chase online criminals who operate with little regard for state
frontiers.

"Cyber crimes are global crimes, using global IT networks," said Des
Berwick, an executive officer of the Australasian Center for Policing
Research, on the sidelines of the fifth Interpol conference on
computer crime.

Interpol -- which promotes international police cooperation and does
not deal with crimes involving just one country -- is based in Lyon,
France, and has 179 member countries.

It was the first time Interpol had held its computer crimes conference
outside its headquarters and it was no coincidence South Korea was
chosen as the venue. South Korea has the world's highest number of
high-speed broadband Internet users, and has cyber-crime statistics to
match.

Interpol has had a unit, the High Tech Crime Unit, in charge of online
crimes since 2000.

"A large component of this conference in Interpol activity is the
encouragement and establishment of cooperative mechanisms. So you have
communication liaison," said Berwick. "They can investigate
simultaneously around the world."

A lack of laws covering online crimes has hindered international
investigations into the growing number of crimes on the Internet.

About 50-60 countries have their own laws against cyber crimes, but
more than 100 countries have no laws on computer offences, said Marc
Goodman, a representative of Interpol's U.S. operations.

"Having laws on the book is the first step," said Berwick.

RAPID GROWTH IN SOUTH KOREA

In South Korea, cyber offences, including slandering and financial
fraud online, shot up 126 percent to 33,289 cases in 2001 from a year
earlier, and totaled 39,482 cases in the first eight months of this
year, according to the cyber-crime center under the country's National
Police Agency.

The number of cases jumped 43 percent in 2000, with computer-savvy
teenagers topping the list of offenders.

Online games added to the number of cyber offences, given recent cases
in which some Internet game buffs paid people real money to "kill"  
their cyber enemies.

"Many Korean citizens are online. The more people you have online, the
more cyber crime you are likely to have," said Goodman.

Hacking on computer systems, spreading viruses and cheating online
equity investors were among the most frequent Internet crimes in
Asia's fourth-biggest economy.

"We must have global cooperation...in investigating, addressing and
reducing the risk, and potential for cyber crimes," said Berwick.

Back in 1990, less than 100,000 people were able to log on to the
Internet worldwide. Now around 500 million people are hooked up to
surf the net around the globe, Goodman said.



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