Cyber crime experts to front House of Reps enquiry

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 18 August 2009 11:26

IT Industry - Strategy

Experts on computer-related crime from the Australian Institute of Criminology Dr Russell Smith and Dr Raymond Choo, will both present key findings on cyber crime to the House of Representatives Communications Committee's first public hearing for its Inquiry into Cyber Crime tomorrow, 19 August.

The presentation will cover areas such as cyber bullying and stalking, hacking, scams, future directions in high tech crime and obstacles to investigating international cyber crime.

According to committee chair Belinda Neal, "The Institute is playing a key role in the investigation of the nature and incidence of cyber crime. They have a wealth of research expertise so it is important the Institute is one of the first witnesses to give evidence to the Inquiry. We need to identify the obstacles to combating new forms of high tech crime and have reliable research on which to base our response."

The Institute is the national centre for research into crime and justice, and provides information for policy and law makers. It claims to have undertaken extensive research into various forms of crime relating to the use of electronic communications and computing systems. It has published two major works: ''Crime in the digital age and 'Electronic theft: crimes of acquisition in cyberspace'.

The committee wil also be able to appraise Smith and Choo's forecasting skills, They along with others co-authored in September 2007 the AIC publication 'Future directions in technology-enabled crime: 2007-09' which aimed to "identify the crime risks which will arise over the next two years (2007-09) out of the environment in which Australians use information and communications technologies."


The inquiry was referred by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy on 18 May. The committee is required to inquire into and report on the nature and prevalence of e-security risks including financial fraud and theft of personal information, the impact of malicious software such as viruses and trojans and emerging technologies to combat these risks; the implications of these risks on the wider economy, including the growing economic and security impact of botnets; the level of understanding and awareness of e-security risks within the Australian community; measures currently deployed to mitigate e-security risks; and future initiatives that will further mitigate the e-security risks to Australian Internet users.

The committee wants to hear the views of consumers, businesses and experts in the field, as well as federal, state and territory governments. Its first public hearing will be held Wednesday, 19 August 2009 12.30 pm to 2 pm in Committee Room 1R4. The hearing will be audio webcast .