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Threat posed The UK, it appears, is well aware of
the threat being posed to companies and individuals by such crime. It was a point the foreign secretary was keen to emphasise in the briefing when he made great efforts to convey his belief that the UK is doing what it can to counter those who conduct cyber- attacks. Close co-operation with what he called the UK’s “international partners’’ will, he argued, not only provide a response to the threats but will also deter the gangs and the arms of state that he believes lie behind such threats. Strong words. But they only carry weight
if they are backed up with actions – and those actions prove to be effective. And this may be where things become less straight- forward for a government looking to tackle such crime.
Action To be fair, there has been action – or at least talk of the need for urgent action. The “Interim CPS Charging Protocol – COVID-19 Crisis Response’’ agreed between the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Crown Prosecution Service states “All Covid-19 related cases will be dealt with as immediate cases for the purpose of obtaining a charging decision, whether they are custody or subsequently on bail.’’ This can only be seen as an indication of the seriousness with which the prosecution authorities are viewing pandemic-related attacks upon us at this vulnerable time.
But it remains to be seen just how effective
such a stance is. Such comments are no doubt well-intended but a look at how successful the UK authorities when it comes in tackling cybercrime hardly provides reassurance.
Increase in scams Last month, the NCSC created the
Suspicious E-mail Reporting Service after seeing an increase in coronavirus-related e-mail scams. In its first week, the service received more than 25,000 reports – resulting in 395 phishing sites being taken down. Action Fraud also reported last month
that 18.5% of all fraudulent e-mails were directly linked to the COVID-19 crisis. Yet while there can be little criticism of the reporting of cybercrime, the reporting of it is, arguably, the simple part. The real challenge comes in the prosecution of such crime. And, according to the latest figures, cybercrime in the UK accounts for only 2% of all offences recorded in England and Wales for the first quarter. What is even more concerning is that the percentage of offences that are prosecuted is even lower. While we have not yet had the 2019 figures, of the 17,900 incidents of computer hacking reported in the UK in 2018 there were only 65 prosecutions – representing way below 1% of offences. The low proportion of prosecutions
reflects the scale of the problems faced by the authorities in tackling cybercrime – the perpetrators are difficult to identify and pursue.
The UK, it appears, is well aware of the threat being posed to companies and individuals by such crime. It was a point the foreign secretary was keen to emphasise in the briefing when he made great efforts to convey his belief that the UK is doing what it can to counter those who conduct cyber-attacks
Conclusion The government’s comments maybe well intended, and no doubt efforts will be made to try to prosecute such criminality. But whether in the weeks and months to follow it succeeds remains to be seen. In these extraordinary times, the goal for
most of us is surely to firstly “Stay Safe” and secondly to “Stay Cybersafe”, particularly as the internet is currently providing so many of us with our access to the world and the avenue through which our businesses can hope to survive. The goal for the government, however, is
to meet the challenge it has set itself. If it cannot improve on its current record on combating cybercrime its statements about taking action in this time of crises will seem worryingly hollow. CCR
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www.CCRMagazine.com
June 2020
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