I was at the Get Safe Online summit this morning at the Commonwealth Club.
Speakers included the boss of eBay.co.uk, the Deputy Director, e-Crime at SOCA, a government minister and our own illustrious MD, Tony Neate.
Attendees ranged from IT security folk to NGOs, such as Age Concern, and representatives from government and industry.
I formed three strong impressions, all somewhat personal and somewhat subjective.
- Lots of people care a great deal about this issue and there is a real need for discussion and co-operation. Our campaign is part of that and this summit was a valuable contribution, but it is only a start.
- Sharon Lemon, from SOCA, said something that was both obvious and subtle at the same time. She urged us to talk about online crime in plain language. For example, fraud on the internet is still “lying to get money.” Phishing doesn’t mean a lot to most people but fraud does.
- We watched videos of people in the street being interviewed. It’s clear that progress has been made, partly as a result of the campaign over the last year, but more work needs to be done. Our latest survey backs this up.
