Cybercrime pays... in the UK

I think we could all agree that cybercrime is a growing threat. Online fraud, phishing, viruses, hacking, DDoS, and spam, consumer are increasingly at risk from online security vulnerabilities that could translate in financial loss. What is the UK's response to the threat? "Call your bank".

The Guardian carries a story today on the UK's enforcement reply to cybercrime. Back in April the Association of Chief Police Officers announced that it would not be dealing with financial fraud conducted online, and that enforcement and reporting would have to go to the financial institution directly. The argument behind such move is that apparently, the banking industry is responsible by having credit cards in the first place. Yes, and the copyright industries are responsible for infringement by having music and movies. Lamest excuse for failure to regulate evah!

I'm literally loss for words. It seems like the Luddites have taken over and have decided that there is a vast section of criminal behaviour not worth pursuing. Let the private enterprises handle it! I guess that the only way in which some of these people will notice the Interweb is if they hear that there is cannabis being sold somewhere, or simply utter the word "pedofile" (misspelt on purpose because the correct spelling seems to attract some strange people to the comments section). While online fraud goes unpunished, the only hacker who has seen the sharp end of the law is Mr Gary McKinnon, guilty of hacking into NASA servers looking for aliens. You can get away with stealing credit card numbers, but Buddha forbid you are into aliens. Off to jail for 80 years you go.

2nd rant in two days, must need a holiday.