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.

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.

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.