Fight Against Cybercrime
Ladies and gentlemen, as the Internet has expanded in recent years, the opportunities for crime have expanded as well. Committing crime online, is no longer a theoretical possibility. We are facing criminals who realize that they can make money with little risk of being caught. Fighting this kind of crime，which is called cybercrime, requires great effort and involves many countries working together.
Cybercrime refers to any criminal offence related to the Internet．The Council of Europe has classified Internet crimes into four categories. First, the Council lists crimes related to a lack of proper Internet security, such as downloading or deleting other people’s files without permission and spreading computer viruses. Second, it records crimes that are usually committed without a computer, but which can occur over the Internet. For example, some criminals use the Internet to cheat others of their money. Third, the Council mentions websites which contain offensive information or encourage hatred and violence. Last of all, it names those offences related to intellectual property (intellectual property is a design, patent, book，film, etc., that the law prevents other people from copying).
At the Council of Europe, we feel that it is important to classify such crimes, as it helps us assess the problem of cybercrime. All Internet users are affected by cybercrime in one way or another. Most people have received computer viruses, and many have been the targets of e-mails that try to cheat them of money. Some criminals send e-mails promising money or cheques. The people receiving these e-mails are asked to supply information about their bank accounts, and in the end, their money is stolen.
Although there are an increasing number of such cases against people, crime against large companies is a bigger problem. Large companies are ripe targets for these criminals, who are often information technology experts. Let me give you some statistics. A survey conducted in 2010 by the Computer Security Institute, a private organization in the USA, showed that 45.6 per cent of the 351 biggest companies and government agencies had had their security systems broken into in the previous year. Security consultants tell us that cybercrime is costing firms worldwide hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
In some cases, the criminals steal money from the companies. In many other cases, company databases or customer secrets are stolen, and the companies must pay the thieves money to keep them from leaking the contents. Considering how bad the situation with cybercrime against companies has become, many people wonder why so little is known about this. The main reason is that most cybercrime is not reported. Until now, most companies have been unwilling to report cases of cybercrime. They fear that by doing so, they will lose customers, who may think that the company cannot protect their confidential information or their money.
All of this is made more difficult by the legal situation regarding cybercrime. Cybercrime is so new that many governments have not yet passed laws against it, and there are many holes in their legal systems. Some countries have laws against traditional crimes committed using computers, but others have no laws against cybercrime at all. In addition，most countries do not have arrangements for dealing with suspects from other countries who may have committed cybercrime. These criminals can be anywhere and can move fast, especially in Europe, where visas are not required to travel between many countries. Thus, it is difficult to catch criminals of cybercrime.
The only answer to this problem is international cooperation. The technical skills of these criminals are among the best in the world, which means that governments must join forces to keep up with the advances in technology used by the criminals. It is also important to draft new laws and negotiate international standards for fighting cybercrime. This will allow states to follow criminals across borders. Steps have been taken towards this. In 2001, the Council of Europe produced an agreement on cybercrime, which has been approved by the USA, Canada, Japan and South Africa, as well as by many European countries.
The Council of Europe’s agreement is only a first step. One of the fathers of the Internet, Vinton Cerf, would no doubt agree that teamwork is a key to dealing with cybercrime, as he has said the problem of cybercrime is so huge that it requires the United Nations to form a special agency to act. Certainly, governments and private businesses must work together to stop the widespread problem of cybercrime.