the-BA : BA Press Release - 4 September 2006 (Fafinski)

16 years have passed since the primary piece of legislation to govern cyber-crimes and cyber-criminals (the Computer Misuse Act 1990) was passed, but the power of computer technology and our access to it in the workplace and the home have grown at an exponential rate. Computer misuse has increased in both scope and frequency and is now too ill-defined and fluid to be regulated effectively by the criminal law alone, argues Stefan Fafinski, law researcher at the University of Leeds and Managing Director of 1871 Ltd.

“Certain forms of computer misuse were first criminalised 16 years ago, but the extremely rapid pace of technological innovation has since left the law behind,” he says. “New regulation will require a reflexive and cohesive approach and in a globally networked society this will only be possible by combining both legal and non-legal governance. It is therefore important to monitor the multitude of ways in which computers can be misused as well as to understand the social motivations of those who engage in such conduct which many may see as deviant.”

Fafinski will make his comments as part of the BA ‘Joseph Lister Award Lecture – "Computer says no": the social aspects of computer misuse’, an event at the BA Festival of Science – taking place in Norwich from 2-9 September and bringing together over 300 of the UK’s top scientists and engineers to discuss the latest scientific developments with the public.

Regulating computer misuse has proven to be particularly challenging for the criminal law system and the interpretation and application of the Computer Misuse Act has often been inconsistent. Recent cases include the acquittal of a teenager who caused around £30,000 worth of damage by bombarding his former employer with five million emails and a software tester who was convicted of hacking after having doubts about the authenticity of a website raising funds for the Tsunami disaster. Although the email-bomber later pleaded guilty after an appeal, these cases demonstrate how something self-evidently malicious was uncertain in law.

In addition, the current legislative proposals to amend the Computer Misuse Act within the Police and Justice Bill have received criticism from the software profession because they could potentially criminalise so-called ‘hacking tools’, the tools of the trade for information security professionals.

The difficulties with legal regulation may arise because cyber criminals are people who would not otherwise engage in criminal behaviour, says Fafinski. Often, the intellectual challenge of fooling a system plays an important role in motivating individuals to commit computer crime and those who do tend to be relatively honest and in a position of trust. Few would do anything to harm another person and many do not even consider their crime to be truly dishonest (perhaps due to the sense of physical dissociation provided by a computer).

According to Fafinski there are a range of ways in which society can react to the ever-changing problem of computer misuse: from amending the existing criminal law to a variety of means of informal regulation or social control. All carry potential problems and the key to combating the problem is finding the right blend of responses.

The opportunity to present a popular and prestigious BA award lecture at the Festival of Science is offered to five outstanding communicators each year. The award lectures aim to promote open and informed discussion on issues involving science and actively encourage young scientists to explore the social aspects of their research providing them with reward and recognition for doing so.

ENDS

For further information on the BA Festival of Science, visit www.the-ba.net/festivalofscience.

This year’s Festival is supported by the University of East Anglia, the East of England Development Agency and Microsoft Research. The Press Centre is sponsored by AstraZeneca.

For further information please contact:

Lisa Hendry, Press Assistant, the BA
Tel: +44 (0)20 7019 4946
Email: lisa.hendry@the-ba.net

Note for editors

1. The BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) is the UK's nationwide, open membership organisation that exists to advance the public understanding, accessibility and accountability of the sciences and engineering. Established in 1831, the BA organises major initiatives across the UK, including the annual BA Festival of Science, National Science Week, programmes of regional and local events, and an extensive programme for young people in schools and colleges. For more information about the BA, please visit www.the-ba.net.

2. Speakers have been asked to submit press papers for their talks, which include a summary of the talk and what is newsworthy about their research. Press papers will be available from mid-August at www.the-ba.net/presspapers.

3. To register for access to the press papers or to the Press Centre at the 2006 BA Festival of Science, visit www.the-ba.net/pressregister.

4. The BA Festival of Science 2006 is being hosted in Norwich by the University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park and Norwich City Council.

5. The University of East Anglia (UEA) is an internationally renowned, research-led University. Over 13,000 students from more than 100 countries and around 2500 staff enjoy its architecturally distinguished campus on the edge of the city of Norwich. UEA is known for its pioneering and collaborative approach to research, bringing together academics from different disciplines to create innovative research groups. The latest Research Assessment Exercise (2001) confirmed the breadth and depth of UEA's research excellence through the achievement of the top 5* or 5 ratings in eleven subject areas, with staff inclusion rates in the top 10% across the board.

6. The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Its vision is to create a leading economy, founded on a world class knowledge base, creativity and enterprise to improve the quality of life for all who live and work here. EEDA aims to do this by: (1) Setting and shaping the direction of economic development in the region, (2) Persuading and influencing others to bring resources together, (3) Investing in imaginative projects that challenge the norm. For further information visit www.eeda.org.uk.

7. Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Its goals are to enhance the user experience on computing devices, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and invent novel computing technologies. Researchers focus on more than 55 areas of computing and collaborate with leading academic, government and industry researchers to advance the state of the art in such areas as graphics, speech recognition, user-interface research, natural language processing, programming tools and methodologies, operating systems and networking, and the mathematical sciences. Microsoft Research employs more than 700 people in five labs located in Redmond, Wash.; Silicon Valley, Calif.; Cambridge, England; Beijing, China; and Bangalore, India. Microsoft Research collaborates openly with colleges and universities worldwide to enhance the teaching and learning experience, inspire technological innovation, and broadly advance the field of computer science. More information can be found at www.research.microsoft.com.

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