Curbing cyber terrorism and crimes stressed
Anjana Samarasinghe
TELECOM SECTOR: Today is World Telecommunication Day and this
year's theme is "Promoting Global Cybersecurity".
As the ICT sector develops cyber crimes too increase parallel to
development. It is important to have cyber-laws to combat cyber-crimes.
DirectorLegal Affairs: TRCSL P.R. Amarasiri.
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In Sri Lanka, the e-Transactions Bill was passed in Parliament
recently. The Bill is based on both UNCITRAL Model Law on e-Commerce
(1996) and UNCITRAL Convention on e-Commerce.
Director of Legal Affairs of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission
of Sri Lanka TRCSL P.R. Amarasiri said this is a very important piece of
legislation but with it we need to have laws to deal with Cyber-crimes
and infringement on personal data privacy.
A committee was appointed to draft the Computer Crimes Bill and work
was being done on Data Protection/Privacy Code. It is important that
other legislative measures will have to be in place as there will be
issues relating to security when you deal with e-money, Amarasiri said.
'It is important to consider the impact on global socio-economy which
goes beyond a country's jurisdiction. For matters relating to Internet
there is no limit. They go beyond national jurisdictions to a world of
global information infrastructures. There are no geographical
boundaries. There is hacking and viruses in many forms which would
certainly damage digital data.
COMPUTER CRIMES : Need to protect data takes centre stage.
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She said that she is not happy with the present situation regarding
the legal environment for ICTs in Sri Lanka. "We have to do a lot more.
In the area of Intellectual Property much work has been done.
The Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003 have adequate safeguards
to take care of Intellectual Property related issues like copy rights
etc. We have to expedite the passing of laws on Cybercrimes and Personal
Data Protection "she said.
"There must be a proper legal framework to protect critical
infrastructure against cyber attacks and it is also important to improve
the security of the national information system.
"Globally, efforts are being made to create a harmonised policy and
the necessary infrastructure to enable a globally integrated system
capable of responding to cyber threats.
"For example APEC leaders issued a statement on fighting
cyber-terrorism and promoting growth and talked about cyber security
strategy to protect information and communication systems.
Work was in progress to develop a Data Protection Code of Practice
which is still not accepted legally. Personal data protection is
important because it is a basic resource for e-commerce. There will
definitely be misuses and abuses.
"Some countries have basic guidelines, but each country will have
different approaches', she said. "It is very important to create a
secure legal environment in order to generate confidence in the
cyber-trade", she added. |