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Lords to debate security progress of "wild west" web
Is the government doing enough?

By Tom Espiner

Published: Monday 06 October 2008

The House of Lords will debate personal internet security on Friday, with the aim of assessing the progress the government has made on protecting the public.

The debate follows on from the publication of two reports by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, in August 2007 and July 2008. The initial inquiry found that public confidence in the internet was in danger of being undermined by online fraud and other e-crime, and called the web a "wild west" where people had to fend for themselves.

Lord Broers, who chaired the inquiries into personal internet security, said in a statement on Monday: "This debate will enable members of the House to question the government on what has been achieved and will allow members of the Committee to reassert their calls for better protection for internet users."

Lord Broers said that while the government had made progress on establishing a dedicated e-crime unit, it was still behind in encouraging software makers to accept liability for insecure code, and tightening up online fraud reporting.

"Some of our recommendations, such as the establishment of a specialist e-crime police unit, are now being acted on by government," he said. "But others, such as software developers' liability for damage caused by security flaws, and enabling people to report online fraud directly to the police rather than their bank, have either been ignored or are awaiting action."

Other recommendations from the committee included the introduction of a law to compel banks and other companies to notify customers of a data breach, and a law to hold banks responsible for losses due to electronic fraud.