Legal Systems Can't Stop Cybercrime

This is a follow-up to the July 5 posting on Phishing.

According to the McAfee Virtual Criminology Report, by anti-virus software company McAfee, the nature of the Internet changed dramatically at the turn of the millenium, when cybercrime ceased to be a recreational activity and started to become big business.

The anonymity and global connectivity of the Internet have reduced the risk of capture. As well, the criminal acts tend to attack a large number of victims at once, making the cybercrime more difficult to prosecute.

The report identifies an uneven international patchwork of legislation. "Disagreement over what constitutes a crime; inadequate, uneven, or absent authorities for governments to investigate and prosecute cybercrime; and paper-based procedures for international co-operation have at times hampered international co-operation on cybercrime."

The report predicts increasing criminal activity involving cellphones, Voice over Internet (VoIP) telephones, wireless networks, phishing and identity theft.