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Saturday, 21 July, 2001, 18:29 GMT 19:29 UK
US targets cyber-crime
![]() Business spent $300bn fighting cyber-crime last year
The US Attorney General has announced the creation of 10 new special units to fight cyber-crime.
John Ashcroft said the new Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (Chip) units, to be based in cities across the USA from Los Angeles to New York, would be backed up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Mr Ashcroft was speaking on the day that the White House web site was almost shut down by hackers. And sceptics say the government is not up to the task of preventing cyber-crime - as illustrated by the latest attack on the White House site. Jim Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology, an organisation which fights for internet privacy, said, "There is a world of difference between web site vandalism and serious computer crime, like stealing money and stealing proprietary networks. "You can lock up all the hackers you want, but it is not going to make the networks more secure." Jail cells Mr Dempsey believes there are far more hackers than jail cells.
There will be 48 prosecutors working in the Chip units, who will be targeting hacking, "copyright and trademark violations, theft of trade secrets and economic espionage, fraud and other internet crimes."
He was speaking in Silicon Valley after discussing security issues with executives of high-technology firms. |
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