Black Cluster
September 19th, 2005, 12:17 AM
A substantial majority in the Dutch Parliament's lower house is behind justice minister Piet Hein Donner’s proposals to fight the more serious forms of cyber-crime.
Computer hackers, mass spammers, denial-of-service perpetrators and spreaders of virulent viruses, for example, could face a year in prison. And those caught stealing information could receive a maximum of five years in the slammer.
According to minister Donner, public prosecutors and the police would also be given additional powers. On the resource front, there are some 150 police personnel in the Netherlands currently deployed in fighting cybercrime. The public prosecution service is also steadily increasing its anti-cybercrime personnel. Furthermore, detectives involved in tactical operations will receive supplementary training by 2008.
The minister also reported that the future of the National High Tech Crime Centre (NHTCC) - a temporary collaboration involving the national police and Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs and Economic Affairs whose mandate expires at the end of November- would be decided shortly.
However, the minister does not harbour any illusions, considering the scale of the cyber problem: 'We should not be fooled into thinking that internet surveillance is just as simple as street surveillance.'
Source (http://www.crime-research.org/news/17.09.2005/1496/)
Good calls, indeed.
Computer hackers, mass spammers, denial-of-service perpetrators and spreaders of virulent viruses, for example, could face a year in prison. And those caught stealing information could receive a maximum of five years in the slammer.
According to minister Donner, public prosecutors and the police would also be given additional powers. On the resource front, there are some 150 police personnel in the Netherlands currently deployed in fighting cybercrime. The public prosecution service is also steadily increasing its anti-cybercrime personnel. Furthermore, detectives involved in tactical operations will receive supplementary training by 2008.
The minister also reported that the future of the National High Tech Crime Centre (NHTCC) - a temporary collaboration involving the national police and Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs and Economic Affairs whose mandate expires at the end of November- would be decided shortly.
However, the minister does not harbour any illusions, considering the scale of the cyber problem: 'We should not be fooled into thinking that internet surveillance is just as simple as street surveillance.'
Source (http://www.crime-research.org/news/17.09.2005/1496/)
Good calls, indeed.