[LINK] Industry warns against rushing cybersecurity laws

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/22/2934059.htm?site=news

> The peak body representing internet service providers (ISPs) has  
> backed moves to appoint an Australian "cyber tsar" to oversee  
> internet security arrangements, as recommended by a federal  
> parliamentary committee into cyber crime.
>
> But the committee's report, tabled this morning, has sparked debate  
> about how much government intervention is needed to to stop criminal  
> activity online.
>

......

> The Internet Industry Association (IIA) says it would be premature  
> for the Government to mandate a code of conduct when a similar  
> voluntary code was launched only two weeks ago.
>
> The voluntary code has guidelines on how ISPs can identify  
> suspicious activity and what steps to take once a compromised  
> computer is discovered.
>
> IIA chief executive Peter Coroneos says even without mandatory  
> arrangements, ISPs have a vested interest in preventing malware from  
> infecting their customers' machines.
>
> "Given that the code won't be implemented until December, I think  
> that people rushing to mandate things, before we've been able to  
> demonstrate their effectiveness in a voluntary way is a bit pre- 
> emptive," he said.
>

....


> But network engineer Mark Newton, who has worked in the industry for  
> 20 years, says it would be hard to find people who have invested  
> more time and energy into stopping malware than ISPs.
>

.....

> "There's a lot of hype about how things are getting worse, but I  
> don't really see that," he said.
>
> "Things get different from time to time because criminals react to  
> countermeasures by changing their approach, but that just means we  
> need to deploy more countermeasures to deal with the changing threat."
>
> Mr Newton says the problem with a mandatory code is that it will not  
> be flexible enough to stay up-to-date, as criminals invent new ways  
> to compromise networks.
>




-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
T: +61 2 61402408  M: +61 404072753
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