Dear GKD Members, Cyber-security has become a big attraction for programmers here in India. Just for example, there are two conferences on e-security within a couple of months. One is at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, in Punjab on e-security and cyber-crime in July. And another one is a joint conference for Indian and American companies on cyber-security, that will happen this month in New Delhi, and will draw people coming from around India as well as from the U.S. government including the new Department of Homeland Security. So it is clear that we are starting to catch up to the Americans in their interest in e-security.
But I think we have a more basic question than asking what international legal framework we should develop. There is a problem with the entire movement against cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism. It is doomed because the West, which is leading this movement is self-contradictory. I will explain by my own example. I work for a software company here in India. Our company develops custom software that makes it possible to get into websites and search around them and get information and never be detected. Of course we are not alone in this market around the globe. Some of our competitors are well-known companies like SafeWeb that are funded by the American government to develop software that prevents tracking whether someone comes to a website and how they travel around it. For example I was told that it is used by companies and human rights organisations in China to keep the government from tracking which websites people go to. There are many companies making software for the market of those people who want to browse websites without governments or companies knowing they were there. This software could help a humanitarian company browse a government website without being detected, and that is all well and good. But this very software can also be used by criminals and even terrorists that want to catch information from government or humanitarian websites without leaving any tracks, and then do a lot of harm. Another example is encryption and decryption software. The American government does not want certain kinds of encryption software to be legal anywhere in the world. At the same time, the American government funds development of very strong encryption and decryption software. Believe me if there is a market for this type of software, we will find a way to develop it. And then how long is it before that software is available for a price to some cyber criminal or terrorist? My point is that even if the governments put in laws and international agreements to stop use of these tools for wrong deeds, still they will help develop the very same tools. As long as the governments -- usually those in the West but sometimes others -- fund development of this type of software, we programmers will build it. And when we do, it will eventually fall into wrong hands no matter how many laws or agreements there are. I myself have been offered quite good financial opportunities to work on underground software projects that are doing the same type of projects as the governments are funding -- decryption, anonymous browsing, and others. So far, I have not had to go for this type of thing, but I can not say that I will always be in this situation. So it does not matter what laws there are. It is not practical or maybe even fair to say that development of certain software is illegal and will be prosecuted if it is done in developing countries, when some companies in the West are being paid by their governments to develop the very same type of software. But when we do develop it, then it is a small step before this software falls into the wrong hands. CS Sharma ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
