Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Cyber security concerns
Internet security has been a concern of national government's for some time. It is inevitable given the international nature of the internet that any information held on it is vulnerable to attack. There are also other issues regarding ownership of that information when it is stored on servers in a different country to its source.
That is why the Prime Minister is right to raise this issue with the Indian Government but although it is a start, the issue of confidential information about millions of Britons stored on Indian computer systems being open to cyber attack from terrorists, fraudsters and hostile nations such as China, is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Independent reports that David Cameron and his counterpart, Manmohan Singh, will establish a joint force dedicated to fighting against hacking and organising specialist training for police officers. There will also be exchanges set up for academics from the two countries to pool expertise on how best to combat the threat.
Ideally though this is a subject that is bigger than a bilateral agreement of this nature. There needs to be a wide-ranging international agreement backed up by a legally binding treaty on a whole range of issues including security, ownership of data, cross-border redress for individuals who are illegally targeted by hackers and trolls and some ethical policing.
It is a big ask but such an international protocol is getting more and more urgent.
That is why the Prime Minister is right to raise this issue with the Indian Government but although it is a start, the issue of confidential information about millions of Britons stored on Indian computer systems being open to cyber attack from terrorists, fraudsters and hostile nations such as China, is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Independent reports that David Cameron and his counterpart, Manmohan Singh, will establish a joint force dedicated to fighting against hacking and organising specialist training for police officers. There will also be exchanges set up for academics from the two countries to pool expertise on how best to combat the threat.
Ideally though this is a subject that is bigger than a bilateral agreement of this nature. There needs to be a wide-ranging international agreement backed up by a legally binding treaty on a whole range of issues including security, ownership of data, cross-border redress for individuals who are illegally targeted by hackers and trolls and some ethical policing.
It is a big ask but such an international protocol is getting more and more urgent.
