US stress on cyber crime

India must adhere to european principles to firm up laws on cyber security: US

The US today urged India to adhere to the principles of the Council of Europe's convention on cyber crime for strengthening national laws in the areas of cyber-security.

"We believe that the Council of Europe's convention on cyber crime provides a useful model to follow, as it sets forth principles for strengthening national laws concerning cyber crimes and encouraging international cooperation on the investigation of such crimes. We urge India's adherence to the principles of this convention," the US under-secretary of commerce, Kenneth I Juster, said in the India-US Information Security Summit organised by Nasscom here.

He also called for the establishment of a 24/7 watch and warning capability to help prevent and recover from incidents, in which security is compromised.

"We anticipate that these and other topics will be open for discussion when we host the next meeting of US-India Cybersecurity Forum in November," Juster said.

He said cyber security was the key issue in free trade. "International trade can flourish if it is built on a solid foundation of security. A cyber attack can be considered as a weapon of mass disruption, in which one person with relatively little training, inexpensive equipment, and access to the internet has the potential to disable an entire network or infrastructure," Juster said.

He said India and the US must work together to develop appropriate standards for cyber-security and to strengthen national laws and enforcement capabilities.

He also said that public-private partnership was another significant requirement for development of cyber security initiatives.

Juster also emphasised on harmonisation of national laws for cyber crime. "While we favour a regulatory approach that is not excessive and burdensome on legitimate business and consumers, we also believe that national laws on cyber crime be harmonized, so that hackers and others do not move from country to country in search of lax enforcement and non-existent penalties," he said.

The minister of state for science and technology Kapil Sibal, who was a key note speaker, said India should have a law on right to privacy.

"We have right to life, liberty but not right to privacy. We must start thinking putting in place laws to protect critical information infrastructure and assets," he said.

Sibal said the public and the private sector must work together in the area of cyber security. He also emphasized on raising the quality of human resource and skilled work force so that information security can be achieved.