EBay goes far to fight fraud — all the way to Romania
December 26 2007
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-ebay26dec26,0,2611360.story
While some may applaud E-Bay’s, the US FBI, US Secret Service, and other’s activities battling cyber-crime in Romania, this article does not paint a picture of optimism. The reality is that we’ve had NO success in Romania – where success = someone successfully prosecuted and locked up (see article for details).
There is really no government commitment in Romania, it is all lip service with US, Interpol, and companies “pushing rope.” Donating equipment does not set up a “solid anti-cyber crime unit.” I’ve been there doing/facilitating donations in Singapore and other countries in parts of Asia. In Singapore it worked – because the government had a policy to hammer the organized crime which threatens the (real or perceived) country’s Business objectives. The prosecutors were all over the criminal cases – working them through to successful prosecution. The consequence is real deterrence.
No change will happen in our battle with cyber crime internationally until the economic pain is felt by all. The reality is there is NO economic incentive for the Romanian government or Romanian society to clamp down on cyber crime. Just do a Google New archive search for Romanian Cyber Crime and look for sources from Romania which announce government driven efforts which go after the leaders of organize crime, new laws to prosecute, or new tools funded to tackle the problem. It is not a happening because No Romanian is getting hurt. There is no impact on the Romanian economy. Business is booming, with company investing in “security startup” companied in the country. Until there is a perceived economic risk to the local society, no amount of outside cooperation will help. With today’s telecommunications infrastructure migrated to a seamless and boarderless mesh, nothing done in one country can stop the actions in another if it is allowed by civic society.
Depressing – since there is no real light at the end of the tunnel.