silicon.com campaign inspires cybercrime unit

An industry and governmental taskforce has been formed to tackle the growing threat of cybercrime, inspired directly by silicon.com's Fighting Fraud campaign.

Set up under the auspices of the DTI-sponsored Digital Content Forum (DCF) by the British Web Design and Marketing Association (BWDMA), the action group will work to encourage innovations in the fight against web fraud.

The Cyber Crime Industry Action Group is to have its first meeting shortly with the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit - the police body set up to deal with cybercrime - to thrash out definitions of industry best practice to slow the growth of web fraud.

Patrick White, BWDMA founder, said: "When silicon.com started its Fighting Fraud campaign earlier this year it opened a can of worms that is not about to go away. This industry action group seeks to give the continuing campaign to fight crime on the web a permanent home."

Ideas to be examined by the action group include ways for companies to be able to report instances of crime to the police confidentially.

White added: "Currently the police doesn't have the relationship with people and firms on the web that it does with people in the real world, where they feel they can just dial 999 and report a crime. Most companies are afraid to admit to having been the victim of cybercrime, and this attitude needs to change."

Last week the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit told silicon.com it was interested in looking for ways to develop a secure confidential reporting system for web crime.

silicon.com's Fighting Fraud campaign started in April 2001 to lobby for the creation of a single, industry-funded body, to which instances of online fraud can be reported.