MPs call for stiffer cybercrime penalties
The All Party Internet Group (APIG) has called upon the Government to introduce stiffer penalties for computer criminals.
APIG wants denial of service (DoS) attacks – which cause servers to be overloaded with information from thousands of PCs – to be made an explicit offence and increased prison sentences for hacking offences.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that DoS attacks are becoming more frequent. At the beginning of June a number of online UK gambling sites became unavailable as criminal gangs targeted the sites in an attempt to force the companies to pay their demands.
The recommendations come out of the MPs’ review of the 1990 Computer Misuse Act (CMA).
Though DoS attacks are already illegal, the committee believes that there would be “significant value” in making this an explicit offence to send a message to the Criminal Justice System and criminals that such attacks should be taken seriously.
If their recommendation that the tariff on hacking is increased to two years from six months is accepted, then this will also make it an extraditable offence.
The MPs also recommend that companies should be able to make private prosecutions under the act if the police do not consider the crime a prosecution imperative.
They point out that there is a distinct lack of reliable statistics on the frequency of such crimes, and urge the Government to introduce better statistical monitoring.
Committee chairman, Derek Wyatt, said: “We hope that our suggestions will see a Bill in the Queen’s Speech in November and that the Home Office and the National Office of Statistics will start to include all cyber crime activities in their monthly and quarterly figures for without them we are still guessing at the extent of the crimes committed.”
Vice chairman Richard Allen said that the Government must ensure that “firm action” can be taken to tackle cybercrime to ensure that the Internet is a safe environment for everyone to use.”
Industry representative Nick Ray, CEO of software security company PREVX, said that the recommendations are a “right direction to bring IT security legislation in the UK up to date with the new threats faced by users.”
“We are particularly pleased to see that the Inquiry has endorsed our view of the need to produce reliable statistics on cybercrime in order to assist in policy formation and has made recommendations that the Home Office instigate measures to achieve this. We would encourage the Home Office to include not only the serious incidents of hacking / fraud but the daily blight of viruses, Internet worms and spy ware infections that affect every computer user.”
