Gov't ploughs £4.3m into fight against cybercrime

The government has added fresh resources to the fight against cybercrime with the launch of a £4.3m programme to help combat fraud, estimated to cost UK consumers £3.5bn per year.

The programme, which aims to take down scam websites, was launched by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills this week.

| Full Story |

* * *

Cyber crime: How to make sure your passwords are safe from hackers

The number is up for anyone who thinks they can count on a simple online password to keep personal details secure.

Choosing an easy-to-remember sequence of numbers is so widespread it is making it easy for cybercriminals to hack into accounts.

Experts analysed more than 32 million accounts, leaked when Rockyou.com, which provides applications for sites including MySpace and Facebook, was hacked in December.

They compiled a Top 10 of the most common passwords used and five were sequences of numbers - with "1,2,3,4,5,6" top of the list.

Other passwords which can be easily guessed by hackers include "princess", "iloveyou" and the actual word "password".

| Full Story |

* * *

Cybercrime: Time to face up to responsibilities

Cybercriminals will only fear the long arm of the law if governments, businesses and the public face up to responsibilities and work together on a co-ordinated response, says Simon Lavin.

When the world wide web was created, it was not a dangerous place. There were no risks and no criminals. Only when trading started, and valuable information was stored, shared and transferred, did it become an arena where profit and loss was possible. At that point, the criminals arrived.

So the risk has been created by the very organisations that use the internet to enable their business models and practices. Yet how much responsibility is placed on those organisations that create the risk of e-crime, and how much do they assume themselves?

Conservative figures estimate that businesses alone lost out on almost £300m in Wales in 2009, and this a country that is seen to be leading the way in the fight against cybercrime in Europe.

| Full Story |

* * *

'Action needed' on internet bullying

As many as 340,000 children and teenagers are regularly bullied over the internet or on their mobile phones, according to a new report.

The charity Beatbullying said young people experienced most abuse on the instant messaging service MSN and the social networking site Bebo.

"We know the consequences of online bullying are just as traumatic as those of face-to-face bullying," said the organisation's boss Emma-Jane Cross.

"We want all social networking sites, internet service providers and mobile phone companies to take measures to identify and remove offensive material."

The release of the new research is timed to coincide with national anti-bullying week which this year concentrates on internet and mobile phone abuse.

| Full Story |