NEWS RELEASE

ICT Authority and National Cyber Crime Prevention Committee set up International Cooperation to fighting Cyber Crime

Port Louis : The international dimension to fighting cyber crime was under discussion during a public lecture on Cyber Laws given by the Chairperson of India's Cyber Appellate Tribunal, Honourable Justice Rajesh Tandon yesterday. The public lecture held at the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Centre, Pailles was organised by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority. The Chairman of the ICT Authority Mr Trilock Dwarka chairs the National Cyber Crime Prevention Committee tasked with reviewing the state of play in fighting cyber crime but also with coming up with implementable recommendations.

Interacting with an audience of around 125 participants, comprising leaders from the ICT sector and law students and observers alike, Justice Tandon shared his wide experience in the field of cyber laws and in particular the Indian approach to bringing cyber criminals to justice not just in India but across other national jurisdictions.

The ICT Authority is one of the main partners in national efforts to combat cyber crime, that is crime committed through the use of computers, mobile handsets or any devices connected to a virtual network. Preventing and prosecuting cyber criminals is complex and requires a swathe of instruments including legislation, regulation, economic and technical measures to make the fight effective.

In Mauritius working groups have been set up to explore the various approaches required to tackle cyber crime. These working groups have been set up under the National Cyber Crime Prevention Committee. The committee has representation from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Human Resource, the Data Protection Office and the Police IT Unit.

These four working groups have been categorized as Legal, Technical and Procedural, Organisational/Capacity Building and International Cooperation.

Honourable Justice Rajesh Tandon's visit to Mauritius is line with efforts to step up international cooperation in the fight against cyber crime. The authorities concerned with cyber crime are seeking to benchmark against international best practices on these four fronts. Cyber crime range from gaining illegal access to confidential information held on computers and networks to computer related crimes like identity theft often related to banking and financial fraud. There are also content related offences like child pornography, libel and defamation and spamming as well as the intrusion into privacy.

The core legislation in Mauritius to tackle cyber crime are the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act 2003 modelled on the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime (2001); the ICT Act and the Data Protection Act. In drawing parallels between India and Mauritius , Justice Tandon was keen to point out that the Mauritian legal framework may differ from the Indian one in its arrangements and procedures but that when it comes to substantive provisions the Mauritian framework is on a par with its Indian counterpart in many respects.

The types of cyber crimes were highlighted by Honourable Mohammed Asraf Dulull, Minister of Information and Communication Technology who underlined the Government's concern to protect vulnerable citizens both in cyber space and offline since cyber crimes have the spill over effect of affecting real people in the real world.

Mr Dulull underlined that the setting up of the National Cyber Crime Prevention Committee is a reflection of the Government's commitment to put paid to the economic, social and moral damage wreaked by cyber criminals.

For his part Mr Trilock Dwarka, the ICT Authority Chairman pointed to the challenges posed by cyber crime and the critical question of jurisdiction in the borderless world of cyberspace.

Dr Krishna Oolun, the Executive Director of the ICTA told the audience that the hope is that the public lecture will lead to a widened and informed debate on the subject of cyber laws and cyber crime amongst all stakeholders in Mauritius and advocate a culture of digital literacy and responsibility.

On Thursday this week, Honourable Justice Tandon is due to meet Mauritian students from secondary schools in an interactive panel discussion to be held at Cyber Tower 1, Ebene, Cybercity (10.30-12.30) to discuss cyber crime and the dangers which young people face online.

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority will launch a guide for students on how to stay safe in cyberspace.

23 March 2010