UK Foreign Secretary to speak on cybercrimes

PanARMENIAN.Net - It has never been easier to become a cybercriminal, Foreign Secretary William Hague is to warn an international conference in Budapest, according to BBC News.

He will tell delegates that cybercrime is "one of the greatest global and strategic challenges of our time."

Hague is highlighting the UK's determination to be a world leader in cyber security - it is spending £2m setting up a cybercrime centre. He also wants international hotlines set up to help tackle emergencies.

In one example to be outlined by Hague, an unnamed company had files stolen by hackers which were equivalent to 20 million A4 pages.

The foreign secretary will also reveal that cyber criminals are selling off-the-shelf malicious software packages that can target people's bank accounts, for as little as £3,000.

Such deals sometimes include access to a 24-hour technical support helpline for cybercriminals.

Hague will say: "It has never been easier to become a cyber criminal. Today, such attacks are crisscrossing the globe from north to south and east to west - in all directions, recognizing no borders, with all countries in the firing line."

The UK's cybercrime centre will offer other countries assistance in dealing with the problem.

Hague will also draw attention to countries that use the internet against their own people - by for example shutting down the network at times of unrest, or criminalizing legitimate self-expression online.

"Those governments who attempt this are erecting barricades against an unstoppable tide," he will say.

Hague is attending the conference with the Cabinet Secretary, Francis Maude.

The two-day event in Budapest is intended to build on progress made at a similar conference in London last November.