This article is from CNN from 5th March, 2010. John Sutter debates whether we should be chasing cyber criminals or teaching people how to fight against them. Cybercrime rates are up yet arrests of those responsible are rare. The masterminds who write the viruses and Trojans are not deterred by the few arrests that have occurred so some might say that chasing cyber crooks is a futile endeavour.
Karygiannis, a computer scientist and senior researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, says it would be better to develop new anti-virus technologies and to teach people how to use the internet safely and protect themselves from internet crime.
In March 2010, three men were arrested in connection with a “botnet” network that infected nearly 13 million computers which was used to steal financial and personal information from people in over 190 countries. Mustaque Ahamad, director of the Georgia Tech Information Security Centre, says preventing viruses was an old way to fight cybercrime. Now, we must work towards catching those responsible.
However, this is a lot easier said than done. Many people argue that arresting those responsible is not acting as deterrent. Cyber security experts say that efforts to prosecute those responsible is a waste of time as often the wrong people are arrested, they are often the middlemen. One might also argue that arresting those responsible is pointless because anyone can write a virus. All one has to do is download the software, which are still available for purchase. The people who write this software are almost impossible to catch; therefore, more viruses will always be generated, even if the government continue with arrests.
It is also difficult to say whether the people who write this software are doing anything illegal. The U.S. government, who are cracking down on cybercrime, do not have jurisdiction on the entire planet Earth. If they were to catch those behind the malicious programs, they do not have legal authority to get them and also, it’s not clear that they are committing a crime. Marty Lindner, principal engineer with Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Emergency Response Team states, “It’s not illegal to write bad software. It’s illegal to use it.” Also, botnets rapidly spread from computer to computer without human instruction so it is difficult to track the source.
As well as prosecuting those responsible, researchers are trying to develop new software to fight viruses and increase education efforts. They are working on a new method of virus protection which looks for harmful files based on reputation and behaviour on the internet. Some are looking into remote monitoring on computers which ensures that people update their anti-virus protection regularly.
I think one must attack cybercrime from both fronts. Emphasis should be put on education and self-protection as well as prosecuting hackers. This is a very serious issue as skilled hackers can easily gain access to all of one’s personal and financial details so it is important that we focus on reducing cybercrime and prosecuting those responsible.
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