29 June - 5 July 2000

Computer misuse bill: a policeman's perspective

While the introduction of this is much needed, there are no statistics on computer crime available, Inspector Paul Caruana told the participants.

He said that statistics were unavailable because private companies preferred to handle computer abuse internally to avoid embarrassment and adverse publicity.

"Computer surveys of computer abuse are often ambiguous, making it difficult to interpret the data and most computer abuse is probably not discovered," Inspector Caruana said.

Another reason, he added, was that no law results in no remedial action, thus a lack of enthusiasm to report the incident.

He said that there were four important aspects of the proposed legislation: the unlawful access to, or use of, information, misuse of hardware, committing an offence outside Malta and penalties incurred by those found guilty of braking the law.

While the law was important, Inspector Caruana said that it was not enough. "Definitely not. Each organisation must implement and enforce control procedures, increase employee awareness in the seriousness of computer abuse, the amount of costs and the disruption it creates," he said.

Organisations, he added, also had to establish a code of conduct and to enlist top management support so that awareness of computer abuse will filter down through management ranks.

Turning to the role of the police force and its level of preparedness, Inspector Caruana said local police officers had attended courses organised by Interpol and contacts had been secured with Computer Crime Units in other police forces.

"Resources at Interpol and Europol can be accessed by the local police, and local experts may be consulted during the course of an investigation," he added.

Stressing on the importance of people and the authorities working together, Inspector Caruana said that the missing link required people to work together in an attempt to reduce the risk of being victims of computer misuse,

"The Computer Misuse Act will only come into play when the damage has already been done," he said.