Lords to follow up cyber crime inquiry

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee's report on personal Internet security made a number of recommendations, including the introduction of a data security breach notification law to provide an incentive to banks and other companies trading online to improve the data security.

Other measures included the establishment of a centralised and automated system - administered by the police - for the reporting of Internet crime and the introduction of a security "kite mark" for Internet services.

The Committee also called for the reversal of the requirement that victims of online card fraud report the incident to their banks rather than to the police.

But the Government's response to the original inquiry, which was presented to Parliament on 24 October, made no commitment to accept any of the major recommendations.

The Lords Committee is now asking those who gave evidence in its inquiry - including financial organisations such as Apacs, The Financial Services Authority (FSA), Visa and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - for their views on the government's response. These will be published in a short follow-up report in early summer.

"The Committee was disappointed with the Government's response to its report. We felt they had failed to address some of our key concerns about people's security on the Internet," says Lord Sutherland, chairman, House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. "The House of Lords is likely to be debating the report in the summer and to ensure that the debate is as well informed as possible we have decided to seek key stakeholders' views on the Government's response."

However the Committee says circumstances have changed since the publication of the Government's response. Following high profile data losses - such as the HM Revenue and Customs scandal - the government has, in accordance with recommendations, increased the powers of the Information Commissioner to inspect organisations holding sensitive data on members of the public.

The Committee's original report can be found here

The Government's response can be found here