Personal Internet Security: SCL Evidence for the Lords

September 25, 2006

The House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology is aiming to report on ‘security issues affecting private individuals when using communicating computer-based devices, either connecting directly to the Internet, or employing other forms of inter-connectivity’. SCL has been invited to submit evidence.


The particular issues on which evidence is sought are:


·         What is the nature of the security threat to private individuals and what is the scale of the problem?


·         How well do the public understand the nature of the threat they face?


·         What can be done to provide greater personal internet security? How much does this depend on software and hardware manufacturers?


·         Is the regulatory framework for internet services adequate?


·         How well equipped is Government to combat cyber crime? Is the legislative framework in UK criminal law adequate to meet this growing challenge?


 Commenting, Lord Broers Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, said:


“We are doing more and more online, from our weekly grocery shop to banking to downloading music and video and, increasingly, using the internet to make telephone call. Those who haven’t yet done so are being encouraged to get online – but how many of us know about the risks? Technology is changing so fast that no-one seems to have had time to step back and look in the round at the emerging threats to personal security, and the ways society might counter them. This inquiry gives Parliament a chance to do just that.”


The SCL Internet Interest Group has arranged a meeting for 9 October at the London offices of Baker & McKenzie. All SCL members who feel that they can make a contribution to the evidence are invited to attend (there is no charge for attendance). Chairing the meeting and leading the SCL response is Dr Ian Walden, Head of the Institute of Computer and Communications Law and Associate Director of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London.


Click here for full details of the meeting. Click here for full details of the committee’s call for evidence.