Written by Tony Neate, Managing Director, Get Safe Online
A few years ago you would regularly hear me say that one of the biggest risks to the internet was ‘lack of public confidence’. If users felt they couldn’t trust a particular website, their computer or the internet as a whole, then they might decide not to use it. Yet it is now so familiar that we treat it like our mobile phone, something that is there and that we couldn’t contemplate being without.
Almost everyone now buys goods online, from groceries to cars to houses. Internet banking is now no longer an alien concept, and it is more common for people to book their holiday’s online than at a travel agent. The internet is also a vital communications tool, which people use to keep in contact with friends and colleagues, and even to chat to people they don’t know. The criminal element of society has certainly cottoned on to it, and with an estimated £30 billion spent online in the UK last year, it isn’t difficult to understand why.
Now that we seem to be in a financial recession, is internet shopping also going to be affected? With less disposable income, are people going to steer clear of shopping online, or will they turn to the internet as the place to find that elusive bargain? Either way, e-crime protection and prevention should be the first thing people think of when they go online.
But should it always be the end user who has the responsibility for security? They are certainly going to be the one affected, if not monetary then certainly in time and inconvenience. Isn’t security a joint responsibility, one that the end user, the hardware manufacturers, software vendors, ISP’s, banks, retailers, law enforcement and the Government should work in synergy to achieve?
At GetSafeOnline.org, we work hard to bring these different groups together. It’s hard work but the results are worth the effort. But there’s always more to do. And if you want to do your part, our newly-redesigned website, www.getsafeonline.org, is a good place to start.
Working together to beat e-crime
by John Evelyn on January 16, 2009
Written by Tony Neate, Managing Director, Get Safe Online
Almost everyone now buys goods online, from groceries to cars to houses. Internet banking is now no longer an alien concept, and it is more common for people to book their holiday’s online than at a travel agent. The internet is also a vital communications tool, which people use to keep in contact with friends and colleagues, and even to chat to people they don’t know. The criminal element of society has certainly cottoned on to it, and with an estimated £30 billion spent online in the UK last year, it isn’t difficult to understand why.
Now that we seem to be in a financial recession, is internet shopping also going to be affected? With less disposable income, are people going to steer clear of shopping online, or will they turn to the internet as the place to find that elusive bargain? Either way, e-crime protection and prevention should be the first thing people think of when they go online.
But should it always be the end user who has the responsibility for security? They are certainly going to be the one affected, if not monetary then certainly in time and inconvenience. Isn’t security a joint responsibility, one that the end user, the hardware manufacturers, software vendors, ISP’s, banks, retailers, law enforcement and the Government should work in synergy to achieve?
At GetSafeOnline.org, we work hard to bring these different groups together. It’s hard work but the results are worth the effort. But there’s always more to do. And if you want to do your part, our newly-redesigned website, www.getsafeonline.org, is a good place to start.