Life and Leisure

Cyber criminals hiding behind screens should be exposed

By Jules Quartly (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-08 07:31

Cyber crimes have multiplied so rapidly that it requires a glossary of terms just to get a handle on the scene. Viruses, trolling, scamming, phishing, cyber stalking, cyber bullying, cyber extortion, grooming, malware, hacking, identity fraud ... it's a Sisyphean effort to just compile a list. No sooner has the task been done than another type of cyber crime rears its ugly head.

While statistics are hard to come by the experience of other countries is likely representative of China too. For instance, the latest figures in Japan suggest a record number of cyber crimes in the first half of this year. Police responded to 2,444 Internet cases, according to the National Police Agency. This is 31.5 percent up from 2009. In the United States it's a similar story. Last year, a National Internet Crime Center (NICC) report suggested Internet rip-offs had increased 33 percent over the previous year, with losses of $265 million.

This is the tip of the iceberg. Cyber criminals are ahead of the game, while the reporting of crimes and the ability of the police to do anything about them is marginal. It's a game of catch-up for the authorities, as crime migrates from the streets to the screen. For instance, in the US case, Americans filed 275,284 cyber crime reports but the NICC could only confirm "several arrests" because most of the agencies concerned did not provide clear-up rates.

I suggest this is because clear-up rates are poor, not just there, or here, but everywhere. So, not only is there more crime, but it's relatively safer to be a perp as it's easy to hide behind a virtual private network, mask an IP address, set up encrypted networks, move to different computer locations, or even different countries.

One of the biggest ironies of the situation is that while cyber crime is global, victims are local. A cyber criminal can operate from anywhere, but the victim can only report the attack to local police and they have little or no jurisdiction in the country where the crime may have been committed.

Additionally, it's tempting to believe that because a lot of computer crime is "faceless" it is easier and safer to attempt. Distance or alienation is a factor. If you don't have to actually face the victim the crime is depersonalized. While someone is content to hide behind their computer and stalk or flame someone, they may not be able to or willing to do so in person.

So, what to do with these individuals?

One response worth considering is Taiwan's Revised Personal Data Protection Act, which is scheduled to take effect next year and is intended to usher in an age of "information liability" and levy fines on anyone who deliberately or "unknowingly" breaches the island's Personal Data Protection Act. In effect this means that cyber bullying, cyber stalking, flaming and any leaking of personal data - such as that done by human flesh search engines - will be punished.

As in the real world, ignorance will be no defense before the law. While this legislation only targets some crimes, it does take action, at source. The flip side, of course, will be less online freedom, but it's tempting to respond here:

With freedom comes responsibility.