| Identity Theft and the Gullible Computer User: What Sun Tzu in The Art of War Might Teach (2008) | |||||||||||
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| Securing trust is now a priority. Identity theft, phishing and pharming have exposed shortcomings in the criminal law. The online environment is now seen as the playground of criminals. Online criminal activities pose significant social and economic costs. Apparently, the Fraud Act 2006 is the instrument that will now neutralise the threats posed by phishers and identity thieves. This concept paper is an attempt to chart a less tenuous path of claim and counterclaim that often rears its head when the subject turns to personal Internet security. Accordingly, the paper aims to initiate a debate on how we can begin to think about information security and the role of law against the growing threats posed by identity thieves and phishing. I draw on the insights of Sun Tzu in The Art of War as way of understanding how best we can manage and reduce complexity. The debates have all too often focussed on liability rules and legal reform. The resulting impasse can be overcome if the problem is first of all properly characterised. A balanced policy debate requires an understanding of two key matters - ‘trivergence’ and the gullible computer user. The hypothesis is that before we can think about regulatory tools to curb practices like phishing an identity theft we need a better understanding of the interactions between data, devices and networks. | |||||||||||
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