Resellers urged to speak up on cybercrime policy
Lobby group calls for more channel input as government formulates legislation
Parliamentary lobby organisation the European Information Society Group (Eurim) has called on resellers to have their say in the formulation of cybercrime legislation before it is too late.
Eurim has released a series of papers in response to government invitations for input as it formulates a national strategy for e-crime, but has complained of a lack of interest from the channel.
Philip Virgo, the group's secretary general, said: "We've not had ways of getting input from the reseller community other than via [trade body] Intellect. We want more input from resellers."
Eurim's latest paper, Building Cybercommunities: Beating Cybercrime, may be its last official response before the government announces its cybercrime policy, in time for a likely May election.
Some of Eurim's recommendations - which include plans for industry experts to be given police powers to help catch cybercriminals and make up for the lack of police expertise in this area - may affect resellers.
Stephen Warren, director of Early Warning, an online anti-fraud scheme, said: "The police have limited resources and education around cybercrime. Any legislation that helps this will be a positive thing."
A Eurim paper released in December, Reducing Opportunities for E-Crime, proposed a greater role for resellers.
"There's a need for resellers to sell security as part of their packages. This should be seen as a mainstream part of the computer industry," said Virgo. "E-crime is costing the industry a great deal in lost user confidence."
Warren said card not present fraud, which often occurs online, is on the rise, and that this will continue until action is taken.