[pchelpers] News:Act closes cyber crime loophole, but will it make any difference?

By Struan Robertson

The Police and Justice Act strengthens protections against denial of
service attacks but it is unlikely to lead to more convictions

Among other things, the passing of the Police and Justice Act last week
closed a perceived loophole in Britain's cyber crime law. I say
perceived because, although critics claimed that our Computer Misuse Act
— now 16 years old — was hopelessly out of date, that was an unfair
exaggeration. In fact, the Act had proved itself resilient to the
internet's rapid evolution and there was little evidence of criminals
exploiting the so-called loophole. 

Each week has brought a new scare story of the country's computers being
at risk from hacking teenagers, terrorists or teenage terrorists or
warnings of a new strain of virus, worm, Trojan or spyware. But along
the way, the Act has generally been ready for action. That it hasn't
seen much action — devious geeks are a rarity in our courtrooms — is not
the fault of the legislation but the fault of the authorities for not
catching and prosecuting the perpetrators.

More here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28009-2454823,00.html
-- 
John Durham
Site http://modecideas.com
Good advice is like good paint. It only works when applied.



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