CHENNAI: In the era of borderless business and commerce made possible by the Internet, close cooperation between Governments and the private sector is vital to protect critical national assets.

The private sector owns and operates much of the infrastructure that is enabling the economic linkages and it is important for the two sides to enter into a beneficial partnership, said William B. Brown, an expert in information systems security, delivering the Honourable Mr. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Endowment Lecture at the Madras University's Department of Criminology on Tuesday.

Key initiative

Advocating strong private-public partnerships as a key initiative against crime in cyberspace, Dr. Brown described it as a "two-way street" in which trust should be built between Government and the private sector. Such models had been successfully created in the United States.

Speaking on "Public Private Partnerships in Cyber Security Law Enforcement," he said businesses were bound to have many concerns when participating in such an exercise, including the potential for negative publicity, data secrecy and the need for unimpeachable processes. They might even consider the choice of simply keeping quiet when attacked by criminals. Co-operating institutions may require law enforcement to issue subpoenas to make information available, rather than do it privately, to ensure an orderly set of processes.

FBI programme

Dr. Brown cited the example of Vermont INFRAGARD, a programme sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to build information security partnerships with the private sector, to explain initiatives that help share information among Government, business and law enforcement, without unwanted exposure to the public. The Electronic Crimes Task Force co-ordinated by the secret services involving bankers (who may be targeted by criminals), universities (to provide skill levels for solutions), security experts and local police, was another model. A third example was the Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (ISAC) which involved agencies in areas such as finance and banking, oil and gas, telecom, water supply and sewerage. One of the functions served by such bodies was to talk to the federal government and relay information back to members.

International mechanism

The network of Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT) in different countries, including India (accessible on the Internet at www.cert-in.org.in) was evolving into an international mechanism to track security challenges and to keep citizens informed.

Definition of crime

At the global level, it was important to develop conventions that facilitate the pursuit of those who commit crimes. National definitions of crime may vary but there could be agreement on many issues, facilitating such protocols. Awareness, training of police and clear legal guidelines were important. An appropriate First Information Report should be filed and "escalating jurisdiction," — where a case registered by local police moves to State or national investigating agencies depending on its scale and impact — should be recognised. Individual users should ensure their safety in cyber space through the use of legal software and downloads and protection against viruses, spyware and intrusions. Dr. Brown is former director, Cyber Security Exercises Program, Institute for Security Technology Studies, Dartmouth College, Hanover, U.S.

Among those who attended the lecture were U.S. Consul General David T. Hopper and the former Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, V.R. Lakshminarayanan. U.S. Public Affairs Consul Ravi S. Candadai introduced Dr. Brown. Director of Valiant CISSTech, Chennai, Rama K. Subramaniam and Head of the Department of Criminology R. Thilagaraj discussed various perspectives in cyber security.

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