BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) – Cybercrime experts from around the world will meet in Europe this week to discuss how governments should counter attacks aimed at crippling the Internet and hitting users with data loss, identity theft and fraud.
Taking the lead in the fight against computer-related crime is Estonia, the Internet-savvy Baltic country that came under a wave cyber attacks last year that paralyzed many of its businesses and institutions.
A conference by the Council of Europe in France on Tuesday and Wednesday will review the implementation of the Convention on Cybercrime, the only legally binding international treaty to address online crime.
It also will discuss new guidelines for cooperation between police and investigators and Internet service providers in the fight against crime in cyberspace.
Separately, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's summit in Romania beginning Wednesday will debate NATO's own guidelines for coordinating national cyber defense efforts.
The Council of Europe convention – which helps protect computer users against hackers and Internet fraud – has been signed by 43 countries, mostly from Europe but also including the United States, Japan and Canada. The convention also covers offenses involving electronic evidence such as child sexual exploitation, organized crime and terrorism. (((Of course, these conventions are dead letters until some signatory starts howling, and that would be Estonia. And I don't blame 'em.)))
As the Internet becomes an essential part of daily life across the world, experts from police forces, as well as technology companies Microsoft Corp. and eBay, Inc., will debate possible legal solutions to cyber-related crime and training possibilities at the Council of Europe workshop in Strasbourg, France. (((Of course, this leaves open the question of who's supposed to protect the populace from the cruel depredations of Microsoft and eBay.)))
The challenges posed by cybercrime are different from conventional terror attacks because of the fast exchange of data and the vast international reach of computers, said Marco Gercke, a lecturer in computer law at University of Cologne in Germany.
''Compared to regular terror attacks, it is much easier for the offenders to hide their identity. There are at least 10 unique challenges that make it very difficult to fight computer-related crime,'' said Gercke, one of the conference participants.
''The success rate of cybercrime is very high,'' he added.
Tiny Estonia has been active in battling cybercrime since attacks last year that it blamed on Russia seriously affected its economy because so much of it was dependent upon the Internet.
Russian officials deny any involvement in the cyber onslaught, which erupted during violent protests by ethnic Russians against the decision to move a Soviet-era Red Army monument out of downtown Tallinn, the Estonian capital....
