Security threats Toolkit
Story: Lords calls for urgent action on internet security
Hasn't this government report gone a stage too far?
Is it just me or is the recent report from the government about internet fraud going just one stage too far?
While the Lord’s committee is right to highlight the threat of organised crime and unchecked private usage of the internet, the onus of protection is perhaps a bit skewed.
The question for me is how can government or business protect individual users more when individual users seem to be happy to give their personal details to any tom, dick or harry just because they are on-line?
For the commission to say that an individual is currently responsible for their own internet security (which is ultimately true), and then imply that this should no longer be the case could set a dangerous precedent. We already see users have little or no regard for their own information once it is on the internet. Social networking is testimony to this, with internet users letting criminals get knowledge of personal details on a scale never before witnessed. How can institutions take more responsibility than they currently do when the personal owners (i.e. each individual user) of information seem to have so little regard for their own security? Statements about individuals being able to absolve themselves further from the responsibility for their own security, and heaping this responsibility onto third parties will only promote crime based on stupidity and a lack of care.
Throwing stones at government and business alike for not protecting the user is a poor solution to managing the problem of fraud. If the purpose of this report it to highlight the poor personal security of many individuals, I applaud it. If it is just to shift the blame to business, obfuscating the need for personal responsibility over your own identity and internet usage, that is something else.
Bart Patrick, SAS UK
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