Having a universal cyber law that can be accepted globally is “difficult”, according to cyber security expert Melissa Hathaway.
Hathaway previously worked on cyber security with two US Presidents – George W Bush and Barack Obama – until August 2009. She then left to establish Hathaway Global Strategies – a cyber security consultancy firm.
“I believe it will be very difficult to get a common view of the (cyber security) law across 196 countries because there are different approaches, cultures, history on how we think about freedom of speech, the right to privacy and freedom & security,” she said here in the city.
During her visit to the city, Hathaway met start-ups at the Nasscom warehouse (start-up centre) here, spoke to the students at Jadavpur University and also met representatives of the cyber-crime section of the city police (Kolkata Police).
Citing the example of the ‘Budepest Convention on Cybercrime’, she said that many countries have on a “multilateral or bilateral basis” agreed to work together on issues of cyber crimes and security.
Delayed investigations“India has also proposed an international cyber crime treaty – a new treaty; where more countries can come to a common view on crime. And I think, that is very important to pursue because there is criminal activity happening at and across all our borders and (it) is important for us to cooperate, partner, investigate (and) prosecute criminal activity. And, make our online and off-line internet world a safer place,” she said.
The common theme for her discussions – across Kolkata and Mumbai (where she had been earlier) – has so far centred on the “speed with which you can investigate and prosecute” incidents of cyber crime.
“By definition international cooperation is too slow at the speed of the internet,” Hathaway said further explaining that “crimes happen too fast” on the internet and when they (investigators) have the right indication of the probable cause (to see the crime taking place) then it is in “somebody else’s territory”.
In cases where the data moves to another country, the investigators need that country’s assistance to be able to gather the evidence and deal with the crime. But, this is a slow process.