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IIAC Paper No. 06/2000

INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Establishment and Work of

Inter-departmental Working Group on

Computer Related Crime

Purpose

This paper outlines the background to the establishment of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Computer Related Crime and its tasks.

Background

2.The rapid development of the computer technology and the growth of the Internet have brought about an increase in computer related crime. The number of computer crime reports handled by the Police increased significantly from 34 cases in 1998 to 317 cases in 1999. A breakdown of the cases reported since 1996 is as follows –

Case Nature / 1996 / 1997 / 1998 / 1999
Hacking / 4 / 7 / 13 / 238
Publication of obscene articles / 6 / 6 / 13 / 32
Criminal damage of data / 4 / 3 / 3 / 4

Internet shopping fraud

/ 0 / 2 / 1 / 18
Others / 7 / 2 / 4 / 25
Total / 21 / 20 / 34 / 317

3.The cyber world is an intangible environment. Traditional investigation techniques practised by law enforcement agencies do not lend themselves easily to procuring evidence in cyber crime investigation. Our ability to extend existing legal concepts to cope with all situations in the cyber world is also not unlimited. In addition, cyber offences are committed without regard to geographical boundaries. For example, it is technically feasible for someone to manipulate a keyboard in country A, altering data stored in country B, resulting in the fraudulent obtaining of goods in country C. The question of jurisdiction that this brings about was previously not catered for in traditional legal concepts. New challenges face law enforcement agencies as the cyber environment makes it far more difficult to trace an offender’s trail or to decrypt records. The availability of and access to electronic records are additional problems.

The Working Group

4.Against the above background, an inter-department working group was set up in March 2000. Its terms of reference are set out at the Annex. The Working Group’s focus is on strengthening the framework or environment within which law enforcement against computer crime may be carried out. This includes identifying problems and recommending solutions, legislative or otherwise, regarding crime prevention, evidence gathering, investigation and prosecution arising from computer crime. Specific crimes committed via the computer on the Internet should however continue to be considered in the relevant policy context. For example, consideration of Internet gambling forms part of the overall policy consideration on gambling in general, and should continue to be led by the Home Affairs Bureau.

5.The Working Group is chaired by the Security Bureau. Core members of the Working Group include representatives from the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau, Department of Justice, Hong Kong Police Force, Independent Commission Against Corruption, Customs and Excise Department, Immigration Department, Information Technology Services Department and the Office of the Telecommunications Authority. The Working Group will also coopt members from other bureaux and departments to take part in the work of the group on a need basis. The Working Group will discuss with interested parties such as academics and Internet service providers matters of mutual concern.

6.The Working Group is expected to finish its deliberations in September/October 2000.

Security Bureau

May 2000

Annex

Inter-departmental Working Group on

Computer Related Crime

Terms of Reference

Having regard to the rapid development associated with the computer and the internet, and the potential for them to be exploited for carrying out criminal activities, the Working Group will -

(a)identify the challenges to law enforcement, for example, in respect of evidence gathering and prosecution, arising from developments;

(b)review the adequacy of existing legislation and relevant administrative measures to deal with the challenges identified in (a) above;

(c)examine international developments and trends in this area, and draw lessons for Hong Kong as appropriate; and

(d)make recommendations to address the inadequacies identified, taking into account the need to balance law enforcement facilitation on the one hand and the cost of compliance, financial or otherwise, on the other.

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