DATE=5/15/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CYBERCRIME MEETING (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262401
BYLINE=MAX RUSTON
DATELINE=SAN FRANCISCO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO:  The Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized 
nations have begun a meeting in Paris (Monday) to 
discuss the growing threat of cybercrime -- primarily 
crime committed using the Internet and other computer 
networks.  V-O-A's technology correspondent Max Ruston 
in San Francisco reports on the meeting's efforts to 
coordinate the fight against computer-related crime.


TEXT:  The G-8 meeting was called in an effort to 
speed up and standardize the global fight against 
cybercrime.  Computer security experts say the issue 
of cybercrime is so new that few countries have 
developed adequate measures to deal with it.

Business leaders, police, judges, diplomats and civil 
liberty groups attending the G-8 meeting are 
attempting to prioritize measures that countries can 
and should take to fight computer crime.  They are 
also working to develop recommendations for new means 
of international cooperation on that issue.

The meeting follows a significant reminder about the 
threat of computer-related crime - that is the spread 
earlier this month of the computer virus called the 
"love bug."

David Kennedy is director of research at the U-S-based 
firm I-C-S-A-dot-net, which specializes in providing 
security to Internet-connected computer systems.  Mr. 
Kennedy says the most useful step the G-8 could take 
now is to develop model laws and regulations for other 
countries to copy.

            /// KENNEDY ACT ///

      One thing that we could hope they will do is 
      agree to develop a model language for other 
      countries to use for their own cybercrime 
      statutes.  As we have seen in the last two weeks 
      with the "lovebug" issue, not all countries have 
      cybercrime statutes.  We found out most 
      countries that are connected to the Internet 
      need some type of cybercrime statute. Some model 
      language would be helpful if that came out of 
      the industrialized countries.

            /// END ACT ///

Mr. Kennedy says the "lovebug" virus, which has been 
traced to the Philippines, is an example of why such 
laws are important.  He says the Philippines does not 
have laws against cybercrime, making it difficult to 
prosecute or extradite the individuals who are 
believed to have been behind the virus.

But the standardization of cybercrime laws is 
controversial, because of differing views on privacy, 
and may prove difficult to achieve.  The United States 
is expected to support calls for measures that would 
give law enforcement authorities the ability to move 
quickly to carry out searches and seizures.  European 
nations are expected to be more cautious about 
advocating any measures that could be perceived as 
threatening to an individual's privacy.

The three-day G-8 meeting comes amid parallel efforts 
by the 41-nation Council of Europe to draft a treaty 
to standardize cybercrime laws.  The council is 
working with the United States, Japan, Canada and 
South Africa in that effort.  The treaty would require 
member nations to pass laws against a series of 
computer crimes, including child pornography, online 
fraud, and hacking (illegal entry into computer 
systems).  The treaty is expected to be finalized by 
December and ready for ratification in September 2001.  
(Signed)

NEB/MPR/TVM/gm



15-May-2000 20:18 PM EDT (16-May-2000 0018 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.